President — Ron Elliot, 7244 W. 500 S., LaPort, IN 46350; phone: 219-785-2972; e-mail: thebirdieman@verizon.net
Vice President — Frank Lamm, PO Box 110, Lebanon, IN 46052; phone: 765-676-5600, 866-907-PEST; e-mail: bugs@pestdetectivellc.com
Secretary — Stu Grell, 2220 E. 1400 N., Attica, IN 47918; phone: 765-572-2207; cell: 765-363-2207; e-mail: sgrell@tds.net
Treasurer — Travis Allen, 6862 Jackson St., Attica, IN 47918; phone: 765-585-3284; e-mail: allenscrittercontrol@yahoo.com
NTA Director — Stu Grell, 2220 E. 1400 N., Attica, IN 47918; phone: 765-572-2207; cell: 765-363-2207; e-mail: sgrell@tds.net
FTA Director — Doyle Flory, 2094 Fir Road, Tippecanoe, IN 46570; phone: 574-498-6354;
e-mail: doyleflory@hotmail.com
Furbearer Biologist — VACANT
Directors of Membership — Randy Sowder, Bill Crum and Jim McIntyre
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
By the time you read this, the trapping season will be all but over. Our state auction in January went well with prices a little higher than expected. We hope that you will consider bringing your fur to the auction next year to support your association.
The fur prices are as follows:
Raccoons — 406 sold, High $14, Low $.50, Avg. $7.75
Beaver — 21 sold, High $20, Low $9, Avg. $13
Muskrats — 655 sold, High $6.25, Low $1, Avg. $5.50
Coyotes — 18 sold, High $7, Low $1, Avg. $4
Opossums — 21 sold, High $2.50, Low $0.25, Avg. $1
Mink — 21 sold, High $15, Low $5, Avg. $10
Red Fox, Grey Fox, Skunks — None sold
Feb. 19, 20 and 21 is the Indy Boat and Turkey Expo. We will be there all three days. Stop in and say, “Hi.”
Feb. 27 is our FBU Banquet at Lafayette, IN. Contact Stu Grell. The money we make on this will go toward our Trapper Education Program.
April 10 is our Spring General Membership Meeting at Decator County Fairgrounds in Greensburg, IN. It will start at 10 a.m. Contact me for any questions.
Frank Lamm and I, along with Tim Rose and Tim Julian and two members from the ’coon dog running association had a meeting with Lennay Peterchaf. We talked about the coyote problems we are having and what to do with them. Also, we talked about extending our raccoon season and starting it on Oct. 15 instead of Nov. 15. We discussed establishing a new housing requirement for live furbearers possessed during the trapping season. We also talked about keeping fur year round. No decisions were made at this time. I will have more about all of this in our spring newsletter.
That’s all for now. Hope everyone had a good trapping season.
— Ron Elliott
NTA DIRECTOR’S REPORT
The NTA Cash Calendar fundraiser has been going well. If you have not sent in your calendar donation, please do so and get in on the chance to win a prize every day of the year.
I’ll be attending the Midwest Conference Leadership Conference March 13. If you have an issue that you would like me to bring up with the NTA leaders, please let me know.
Our Indiana membership is holding steady, but we sure could use more support. Try to sign up a new member when you are talking to some of your trapping buddies.
The Maryland Fur Trappers, Inc. has another obstacle to overcome. The MD DNR has eliminated the Furbearer Program in that state. This doesn’t mean that trapping will stop, but there is concern that without up-to-date science supporting the harvesting of furbearers to control populations, protecting habitat and assure public safety, there will be a real possibility that with a poor political climate at the state level, trapping could come under further attacks from the anti’s. The science previously provided has been an important part in the strategy to defend trapping and the tools required to do the best job. The NTA is in regular contact with Ron Leggett, President MFTI, offering our assistance and helping in any way possible to support them.
— Stu Grell
SECRETARY’S REPORT
We have scheduled a Trapper Education weekend for June 26-27 at Danville. Tom Setser will be leading this class.
The spring newsletter should be mailed about about March 1.
Our spring members meeting will be at the Decatur County Fairgrounds in Greensburg on April 10 at 10 a.m.
— Stu Grell