President — Doren Miller, 26500 Pike 244, Clarksville, MO 63336; phone: 573-242-3319
Vice President — Robbie Page, 108 McCulley Street, New Franklin, MO 65274; phone: 660-888-2369; e-mail: trapperpage@sbcglobal.net
Secretary — Charlie Brown, 7130 Drury Lane, Maplewood, MO 63143; phone: 314-644-1364; e-mail: charliet1961@SBCGlobal.net
Treasurer — Paul Webb, 124 Mooreview Dr., Gravois Mills, MO 65037; phone: 573-374-2768
Conservation Director — Rick Friedrich, 11504 Hawk Hill Lane, Booneville, MO 65233; phone: 660-621-2131
NTA Director — Ron Pantry, Rt. 1 Box 84, Lancaster, MO 63548; phone: 660-457-2192
FTA Director — Henry A. Wendt, P.O. Box 123, Couch, MO 65690; phone: 417-938-4519
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $25
• Lifetime membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $365
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
MTA Secretary
Charlie Brown, 7130 Drury Lane, Maplewood, MO
63143; phone: 314-644-1364; e-mail: charliet1961@
SBCGlobal.net
http://www.motrappers.org
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
As I am trying to put my thoughts together, we are headed to District 6 with Robbie Page and Dale Verts for a Fall Rendezvous planning meeting. There has been a lot going on since the last Mountain Man. In my last report I wrote about being on the offense instead of the defense. At the first auction the Columbia Tribune came in and asked questions. We were on the front page the next day. It was a very positive report. I think our auctions went real well thanks to Jim Weberry and the committee. There were a few rifles but they handled it very well. Fur prices were a whole lot better than we thought they were gonna be.
Feb. 20th we were at District 6 for their well attended spring meeting. The things discussed at the meeting were mainly the Fall Rendezvous at the Missouri Trapshooters Association. Dale and his guys have many things planned and like always at Fall Rendezvous we try new stuff. I’m sure Robbie and Dale have more in their reports on this meeting and stuff for the Fall Rendezvous.
Feb. 25-27th we were at the Conservation Federation of MO meeting at the Lodge of the Four Seasons. I was fortunate to be able to visit a little with the new MO Department of Conservation Director, Bob Ziehmer and also with the Executive Director of CFM, Dave Murphy. I attended several meetings; wetlands, the Conservation Leadership Corp, and small game. Thanks to Ken Drenon, not only for writing and helping to pass the resolution, but also for chairing the small games committee on short notice. Look at Ken’s report on the Resolution passed at CFM.
Also on Feb. 27th we ended up at District 9’s fundraising banquet. That was very well attended and I know there were several dollars raised for the district. Many thanks need to go to Kenny Wells and Greg Stephens, Randy Adey, Dwight Holman, Hank Wendt and that is just to name a few. There was a whole lot of work and District 9 members involved to make it a success.
The first weekend of March we stayed home and worked fur. Second weekend in March I went to the NTA Leadership Conference in Bloomington, IL with the NTA Director, Ron Pantry. They discussed a variety of opportunities and things that could be implemented within the state organizations to offensively promote trapping and education in our state.
We got to visit with several other NTA Directors to understand some of the stuff that is working for them in their state. One of the things that Ron and I will be asking for from you when you do clinics and outdoor days with the MDC, teaching and promoting trapping, is to jot down a word or 2 and send it to Ron. He needs dates, the number of participants, were they school kids or mainly adults – who was your audience? Was it trappers or educating public on trapping? Send that info to Ron, he can take it back to the NTA. They want to build literature and make it available to the states to promote trapping education.
On March 20th the MTA Spring Meeting was held in District 7 in Boonville with 8” of snow. Everyone got home safely. I definitely want to thank everyone who attended in the adverse conditions. Some of the things we discussed were: the fur auction committee recommended and it was passed to keep the $0.25 per pelt fee. I was asked by the Board to appoint a committee to look into building our own building for some of the activities and meetings we have. Arlon Held volunteered to chair the committee. It is a large endeavor. I’m sure he will have more in future reports.
We voted to send $500 to the FTA for the Advantage Management spots on the Outdoor channel. It was voted to sponsor part of the tuition to FTA College for Elizabeth Ball if she is accepted to the college. There were several different issues on rules and regulations discussed. One of the things we passed was to ask the MDC for an additional 15 days after close of the regular season to have fur sold. I’m sure Rick Friedrich will have more on these issues in his Conservation report.
Thanks to Karen Reed for her work on the website and for getting it started. In the short time 9000+ people have checked it. Paula Evans is the new webmaster. Paula would like pictures, articles, news, etc. You can reach Paula at webmaster@missouritrappersassociation.org and the MTA website is missouritrappersassociation.org.
We all need to try to utilize the website more on upcoming events because even I, an illiterate internet person, admit there are a lot of positive things we are going to be able to do in the future.
The next weekend Lynn and I didn’t have to drive far for the District 2 meeting, it was our place. Unfortunately Tom Westhoff wasn’t able to be there due to the passing of his mother in law. We extend our condolences to him and his wife for their loss. Thanks to Gene Whyte for stepping in. We had a good turn out. I think we all learned something. Thanks to Lara, Cody, Ben and Charlie Brown, Danny Myers and all the other guys standing around, teaching and telling their experiences. I was honored to have so many people from District 2 at the shop for a meeting.
We were kinda in a dilemma as to where I could be the most help the 1st weekend in April. Tom Westhoff, District 2 had a booth with Ducks Unlimited in St. Charles. Fortunately a couple of guys volunteered to man the booth. District 3 had their spring meeting. I talked to Jim Love, he was a little disappointed in the turn out, but had a good meeting and things moved forward. Lynn and I went to District 8 spring meeting in Albany where several things were discussed; their fall clinic and the 2011 Fall Rendezvous. District 8 has seen a lot of growth in the past few years and they are utilizing some of their potential in that part of the state. Because of the leadership in their district I see great things happening for trapping all across Missouri.
We are fortunate to have so many volunteers across the state. They drive countless miles and spend countless hours in their counties, districts, communities making a difference for the seemingly endless challenge of educating clubs, schools, kids, families on utilizing some of our abundant resources. For all of these volunteers, a simple thanks is not enough, but most of the time is all that is required. — Doren Miller
VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Hi everyone,
I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable trapping season. In spite of all the snow and ice that we had last winter, I still found it very enjoyable to be out trapping. Rick Friedrich and I partnered up last season and had a great time. We weren’t expecting much as far as prices were concerned, but thanks to our fur auctions and loyal fur buyers, we got three times more for our fur than we expected.
After all the ice thawed out, we spent about a week trapping some beaver this last spring. We did pretty well catching 21 beaver. We did pretty well on the prices we got on the hides and castor glands. Overall, it was the most enjoyable season I ever had.
On March 20th we had our spring meeting at the Cooper County Fairgrounds in Boonville. In spite of the seven inches of snow that got dumped on us that day, we had a pretty good attendance. There was as always some talk about our fur auctions. It has been two years since it was decided on a 25 cent per pelt commission for a trial period of 2 years.
It was voted on again this last spring and was decided to keep it at 25 cents per pelt. President Doren Miller appointed a committee to work out plans on possibly having our own building built for our fur auctions and spring and summer meetings. As of now, possible locations are the Boone County Fairgrounds in Columbia or the Cooper County Fairgrounds in Boonville.
Keith Donaldson is doing a good job with the Scholorship Committee. He has received more applications this last year than we ever had thanks to his efforts of getting it out there on the internet and several college websites. Jim Weberry did a great job with his first year as Fur Auction Chairman. The 2009-2010 auctions were a success.
Jim was able to get 16 buyers there and overall the auctions made over $1,300.00. MDC’s Furbearers Biologist, Jeff Beringer was there with some talk about fur handler permits and trapping and hunting on public grounds. Our Rules and Regs Chairman, Rick Friedrich talked about regulation changes for the 2010-2011 season where you will be able to get your cable restraint permit at you local vender. You will still be required to take the cable restraint course if you have never done so.
Otter and muskrat season will be extended to February 20th and there will be no otter zones. Rick also talked about the NTA convention that will be held in Columbia at the Boone Conty Fairgrounds. He will need some help, so give him a call.
Dale Verts and I have had a couple of Fall Rendezvous Committee meetings on February 20th and one was held on April 10th. We were meeting along with District #6 on plans for our 2010 Fall Rendezvous coming up on September 17, 18, and 19th in Linn Creek. The event will be held at the Missouri Trapshooters Associations grounds. Linn Creek is located between Osage Beach and Camdenton on Highway 54.
Turn east on county road A and the grounds are on the left about 4 or 5 miles down. Our host motel will be the Super 8 Motel at 5927 Highway 54, in Osage Beach. It is located about 4 miles north of county road A on Highway 54. BE SURE TO GET YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW.
There is going to be another major event that same weekend in that area. The other event will be the Bikefest where there will be a lot of motorcyclist and all the other hotels are already booking for this at this time. I was able to reserve 30 rooms for that weekend at the Super 8. The price will be $69.99 plus tax per night. If you need to cancel, they will need a 30 day notice. So, BE SURE TO MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS TODAY BEFORE THE 30 ROOMS RUN OUT. The phone number to the Super 8 Motel is (573)-348-4773. Be sure to tell them that you are with the Missouri Trappers Association to get that discounted rate.
