President — James Lord, 19 Mallard Lane Lexington, TN 38351; phone: 731-614-2531 or 731-968-7581; e-mail: jlord2003@aol.com
Vice President — John Daniel, 13740 Birchwood Pike, Birchwood, TN, 37308; phone: 423-595-0986; e-mail: johndanielgc@yahoo.com
Secretary — Lora Daniel, 13740 Birchwood Pike, Birchwood, TN, 37308; phone: 423-227-5704; e-mail: johndanielgc@yahoo.com
Membership Secretary/Treasurer — Nancy Rogers, 235 Burke Lane, Dayton, TN 37321; phone: 423-570-8467; e-mail: nrogers03@bellsouth.net
State Organizer — Paul Antczak, 843 West Millers Cove, Walland, TN 37886; phone: 865-724-4569;
e-mail: predatorsandprey@comcast.net
FTA Director — Bob Beckwith, 156 Brush Wood Dr., Sparta, TN 38583; phone: 931-935-5602
Legislative Director — Doug McKenzie, P.O. Box 284, Madisonville, TN 37354
NTA Director — John Daniel, 13740 Birchwood Pike, Birchwood, TN 37308; phone: 423-595-0986;
e-mail: johndanielgc@yahoo.com
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Hello trappers,
Trapping season is just about over as you are reading this, and both of our fur sales will be passed as well. Information concerning the sales will be in the next report or you can always go online to our Web site at www.tfhaonline.net to get the information a little quicker.
I hope all of you had a good season, and that your fur brought more than expected. At the time I am writing this, the fur market seems to have a few upsides to it. So, maybe this season wasn’t as bad as expected.
Now that trapping season is about over and fur sales passed, it’s time to start thinking about conventions and meetings. The SE NTA will be in Calhoun GA, April 9-11. I hope to see a lot of TN Fur Harvesters there showing your support. Should be a great event. Our spring meet is just around the corner also. Big Ridge State Park is the location again this year, and the dates for that is April 16 and 17 the following weekend after the SE NTA. There will be a meeting of Elected Officials and Directors the evening of the 16th. Anyone wanting to be a Director of their area is welcome to attend.
TFHA Trapper training camp at Hiwasee will be held in late April this year, and more information will be available as we get a little closer to the event. These training camps are a great way to reach a large number of younger kids and get them to enjoy our sport of trapping, which you all know will be the future of trapping in years to come. So, if you can support this event by attending, it will be greatly appreciated. Your help will be needed. If you are interested in helping out with either the cooking, cleaning up, trapper training or you want to learn more about trapping, be sure to contact John Daniel and/or Paul Antzac and they can assist you with information.
Randy Husky of TWRA has contacted me, and they are interested in getting the Trapper Certification Class up and running. On March 13 in Crossville TN, TWRA will hold a seminar for trappers wanting to teach Trappers Education and certify the trappers in order to do that. Randy is planning on having at least three of these across the state, to of course have Trapper Trainers through out the state. For more information or if you wish to attend, call me and I will help all I can. More information for future classes will be listed as it becomes available.
Be safe out there, and I hope to see you at the next event. In the meantime, if you need to contact me, you can do so at 731-614-2531 or e-mail me at jlord2003@aol.com.
Thanks.
— James Lord
VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
I hope this report finds everyone doing well. By the time you read this, our fur sales will be over and trapping season will be coming to a close. I hope everyone has had a safe and enjoyable season. With trapping season coming to a close, it’s time to start thinking about booths at sportsman’s functions, conventions and trapper training workshops. You might have received a T.F.H.A. calendar of events in which the Hiwassee trapper training camp was scheduled for March 20. Due to a scheduling conflict, it has been moved to April 30-May 2. Everyone is welcome and any help offered is appreciated.
Our spring meeting at Big Ridge State Park is also in April. And don’t forget that we are hosting the N.T.A. South Eastern Convention along with the Ga. Trappers. This convention promises to be a good time for all. The Ga. FFA is sponsoring a special contest in conjunction with the convention. Anyone interested in helping out, please let either myself or James Lord know. This is an event that T.F.H.A. can be proud of for years to come so let’s all pitch in and make this a success. In closing, I just want to remind everyone how proud I am to be a part of such a great organization with so many good hard working people involved. Hope to see everyone in the spring. As always, if you need me, I’m only a phone call away.
Talk to ya next month.
— John Daniel
SECRETARY’S REPORT
Hello everyone, by the time you read this, we will already be done with our fur sales. Spring is right around the corner and a lot of communities will be having sportsman functions and if any of you plan to have a T.F.H.A booth, please let me know so I can include it in the next newsletter.
If you haven’t checked out the new T.F.H.A Web site, you should check it out at www.tfhaonline.net.
April will be a busy month for T.F.H.A. We will be co-hosting the Southeastern N.T.A convention with Georgia Trappers Association April 9-11 and then our spring meeting at Big Ridge State Park is from April 16-18 and the Hiwassee Trapper Training Camp will be April 30-May 2.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me and if any of you are still having trouble with getting the T&PC, please let Nancy Roger know.
— Lora Daniel
STATE ORGANIZER’S REPORT
Well, it’s about over for the year. My boy, Chance, had a big season. He got a few firsts. First otter, first muskrat, first coyote, first red fox and his first double on canines! What an achievement for an 8 year old! I think the people in Illinois don’t want me to come back for a while. Every time I go up there, the temperature drops, the duck holes freeze up and it snows! So the locals kicked me out till the leaves are on! My catch this year really suffered on beavers. When 6 inches of ice comes on, you have to be right on top of them. That’s OK. Fewer to skin!
TFHA has a busy Aprill coming up. The NTA southeastern, Spring Meet at Big Ridge state park and the Hiawassi Trapper training camp. So keep the sleeping bag in the truck!
My trapping mentor from 22 years ago gave me four pairs of kid snowshoes! This will be fun for the kids at any one of these events. I’m thinking relay races!
I’m making this short I just rolled in from Illinois and there are a few things that need to be done.
I hope all your chains are tight!
— Paul Antczak
NTA DIRECTOR’S REPORT
At the time of this writing, I’ve just spent the last two days playing in the snow. This is probably the best snow we’ve had in 10 years or so. I’ve spent a lot of time walking around with my shotgun studying coyote tracks. For a southern boy that doesn’t get this chance often, it is interesting to see how they hunt and travel versus how you think they do.
The appeal in the Maine Lynx case continues. This is something that has the potential to affect all trappers and should be followed closely. Also, I found out just this week that the anti’s are once again trying to outlaw trapping in a county in Maryland. Montana still has their looming problem over their head. So again I’d like to encourage everyone to bring items to our fun auctions and earmark them for raising money to help other states fight their battles with the anti’s.
Remember our southeastern leadership conference will be in Calhoun this year in conjunction with the Southeastern N.T.A. convention. So, if you have anything that you’d like discussed, please let me know. If there is anything going on in your county that has the potential of affecting trappers or trapping, the N.T.A. wants to know, so if anything comes up, please contact me so that your issues get the attention they deserve.
The N.T.A. has recently asked its board of directors to vote on a contract for a new DNIA Rep. for the N.T.A. The contract was sent out to the B.O.D. last week and I will let you know the result in next month’s report. I hope to see every one at the convention.
Until Next Time, Keep Your Boots Dry.
— John Daniel
