President — Mike Renfro, 401 Norton Hollow Road, Erwin, TN 37650; phone: 423-330-8134
Vice President — Jerry Scott, 190 Mockingbird Drive, McMinnville, TN 37110; phone: 931-692-2035
Secretary — Cindy Jacobsen, 938 Tyree Springs Rd., White House, TN 37188; phone: 615-672-8546
Membership Secretary/Treasurer — Cindy Jacobsen, 938 Tyree Springs Rd., White House, TN 37188; phone: 615-672-8546
State Organizer, NTA Director and FTA Director — Chris Jacobsen, 938 Tyree Springs Rd.,
White House, TN 37188; phone: 615-672-8546
Trapper Education/Public Relations Coordinator — Jackie McMurtry, 143 Pond Rd.,
Cottontown, TN 37048; phone: 615-672-4163
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $18
• Family membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $20
• Junior (16 & under) with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $12
• Lifetime membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $200
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
TFTA, Membership Secretary/Treasurer
Cindy Jacobsen
938 Tyree Springs Rd., White House, TN 37188
615-672-8546
http://www.tennesseefreetrappers.com
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Hello Tennessee Free trappers. Let me begin this month’s report by saying congratulations to the winners of the election. Officers and Directors are as follows: Mike Renfro – President, Mark Griffith – Vice President, Cindy Jacobsen – Secretary, Chris Jacobsen – State Organizer, Jackie McMurtry – Membership Secretary and Treasurer, Bruce Carr – Public Relations, Trapper Education Director and NTA Director. Edgar Kane has been appointed Middle Tennessee Director. You can contact Edgar at 931-454-0595. Jeff and Mike Shaffer have been appointed East Tennessee Directors. They can be contacted at 423-976-5514.
Congratulations everyone. I look forward to working with you all. In the future, I would like to have a few active directors from each section of TN. If you are interested, please contact me.
The TFTA held a meeting at Cherokee Park in Morristown on Oct. 17 with a pretty good turnout considering the bad weather. I’d like to thank Scott Rainbolt and Earl Barns for the trapping demos that they performed. The new members just getting into trapping loved all the info we provided. A special thanks to Linda Jenkins for all the great food. The TFTA is also planning bi-monthly meetings in East TN to discuss plans and functions in East TN.
The meeting at Montgomery Bell State Park was a huge success. I’d like to Thank those who donated to the fundraising auction – Jackie McMurtry, Bruce Carr, Jackie Adams, Chris Jacobsen, Jeff Watters, Jordon Goodwin, Dan Ribis, Danny Cochran, Avery Harris, James Vance, Jeff Davis, Edgar Kane and Mark Griffith. I would also like to thank Jeff Davis for making a donation to pay for the shelter rental at Montgomery Bell and thanks to Jackie Adams for making a donation for the fur auction building rental location in Alexandria. We had several new members to join the TFTA at this event. Welcome aboard and thanks for your support. Thanks to Jeff Watters, Jackie McMurtry and Bruce Carr for doing the trapping demos. Thanks for all the wonderful food. Everyone had a great time. As always, it was awesome getting to talk to old friends once again.
At the membership meeting, we discussed several things including fur auction dates for this season (which are listed further in this report). Members also discussed possibly charging a commission at the fur auctions, but decided to hold off. The TFTA did however decide to increase the membership dues beginning in this spring after this Trapping Season. The TFTA will be raising membership dues this spring to $20 for Individual or Family with the Trapper & Predator Caller Magazine subscription. The Individual TFTA membership without the T&PC Magazine will be $12. The Junior TFTA Membership with the T&PC Magazine will remain unchanged at 12. Again, this will be in effect this spring.
The fur auctions have been scheduled and the buildings have been reserved for three TFTA fur auctions this season. As a benefit for the TFTA members, there will be no commission on the fur or ginseng sold by the TFTA members at any one of these fur auctions. However for non-members there will be a 4 percent commission charged for the sale of fur and 1 percent for ginseng.
Remember, you are responsible to have your otters and bobcats tagged with the US cites tags before bringing them to the fur auction. Contact your regional TWRA office for information on how to obtain the cites tags for otter and bobcat.
THE TFTA FUR AUCTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Auction #1 – Bulls Gap – VFW Post 9683 – Jan. 2, 2010, beginning at 9 a.m. EDT. This auction will be held at the VFW Post 9683 located off Hwy. 11E. Directions: Take I-40 towards Knoxville, then take I-81 North towards Bristol. Take exit #23 (Hwy. 11E, Mosheim/ Greensville/ Bulls Gap). Keep left at the fork in the ramp. Turn left onto W. Andrew Johnson Hwy. which becomes Hwy. 11E, turn right onto North VFW Road. Follow the TFTA signs.
Auction #2 – Waverly, Tenn – Humphreys County – Jan. 30, 2010, at 9 a.m. CDT. This auction will be held at the Humphreys County Agriculture Center (next to the Farmers Co-Op) on Blue Creek Road in Waverly, TN. Directions: From I-40, take exit 143 to Hwy. 13 North. Travel on Hwy. 13 approx 12 or 13 miles, turn left on Blue Creek Road just before you get to the square in Waverly. Note that the driveway entrance has moved to the other side of the co-op. Look for the TFTA signs.
Auction #3 – Alexandria, Tenn – DeKalb County – Feb. 27, 2010, at 9 a.m. CDT. This auction will be held at the DeKalb County Fairgrounds in Alexandria, Tenn. Directions: From I-40 take exit 254 (Alexandria Exit). Turn right off the interstate. Stay straight continuing on Hwy. 53 South, then take a right on Hwy. 70 in Alexandria and follow the TFTA signs.
FALL MEETING 2010 – The TFTA is planning a Fall Meeting at Mark Griffith’s place. This will be a three-day event. Let’s get started early. Please plan on attending and helping out. It takes a lot of planning and volunteers for a three-day event. Please contact myself or any of the officers if you would like to volunteer. I’m sure trapping supply dealers are also welcome. This event will be next year in September near the end of the month. Look for more information in future issues of the Trapper & Predator Caller Magazine.
FUR HANDLING and TRAPPING SEMINARS 2010: At the TFTA fall meeting, we also discussed having fur handling and trapping seminars. Consider saving any of your unwanted catch for these seminars. More information to come in future issues of Trapper & Predator Caller Magazine.
SNARING – All Tennessee trappers worked hard to get the privilege of snaring in East TN. All of you East Tennessee trappers, please use your snares wisely. Let’s not mess up what all Tennessee trappers worked so hard for.
I do not know what the outcome of fur prices will be for this season. Might be a good season just to get out there and experiment and have some fun. You might want to have a nice fur garment made with your fur or hold on until later and speculate on fur prices if they are low.
I understand that beaver castor prices are on the up and up. Europe is moving away from synthetics and going back to natural ingredients in perfume. So if you are trapping beaver, hold on to the castors because there are buyers out there this season.
The battle to curtail raccoon rabies in East TN continues. Vaccine baits are once again being dropped in various counties of East TN. Treat suspicious animals with caution and always wear gloves when skinning your catch.
This trapping season opens Nov. 20, 2009, and closes Feb. 28, 2010.
I’d like to close by adding my contact numbers and e-mail. 423-330-8134 or 423-743-7256. E-mail: mikejrenfro@yahoo.com
— Mike Renfro
STATE ORGANIZERS REPORT
Fall has come and gone and the winter months are upon us. For me, I’ll be trapping close to home this season. I won’t be traveling too far. I’m going to get out and have some fun no matter what fur prices are.
You might want to talk to some fur buyers or check out the NAFA Web site for speculations on recent sales.
I want to thank the TFTA members whom operated the election committee for this year’s TFTA Election. Many thanks to Pat Pangle, Clarence Dies and Roger Seward for all their help.
Bruce Carr and myself attended the history of Cedars of Lebanon State Park event once again. I was asked by a park ranger if we could set up a booth at this event in order to highlight on the fur trade in rural Tennessee back in the day. We had all the tanned fur of legal fur bearers native to our state for all to handle.
Also traps were put on display for viewing. This is the second time we attended this event and all the attendees were fascinated with the collection. Several old timers came by and talked about how they trapped back when. Even one of the fellows raised mink. I questioned him and he was not lying. He worked with Burl Gibson raising mink. Burl was a friend of mine. Burl also had a mink farm. I listened to his stories of mink farming and trapping during the depression years. Back then, fur helped pay for Christmas and items like shoes, etc. for his children. We trapped together when Burl was up in years and was afraid to get out very far by himself. I miss ole Burl.
Anyway, if you have the opportunity to educate the general public about modern day trapping, do not pass it up. There are so many folks out there that just don’t understand like you and I do. Good trapping this season.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
— Chris Jacobsen
