www.txtrappers.com
President — Bill Applegate, Box 883, Marfa, TX 79843; 432-729-3349; fax: 432-729-3623
Vice President — David Pilgrim, 1323 RR 2341, Burnet, TX 78611; 512-756-4609
Secretary — Deborah Pilgrim, 1323 RR 2341, Burnet, TX 78611; 512-756-4609
Treasurer — Keith Jackson, 306 CR 2717, Alto, TX 75925; 936-675-2047
Membership Administrator — Tasha Jackson, 306 CR2717, Alto, Texas 75925; (936)858-3384
Public Relations Officer — Mitchell Simpson, 1295 CR 12, Silverton, TX 79257; (806) 847-7562
NTA Director — Jeff Dunnier, 5286 Harris Lake Road, Marshall, TX 75672; (903)938-9800
Membership Options:
• Family lifetime (husband & wife) — $300
• Lifetime (payable $25 monthly) — $250
• Lifetime oldtimer (age 70 or over) — $25
• Business membership — $25
• Lifetime Business — $300
• Family membership (2 members) — $20
• Single membership — $15
• Junior membership (under 16) — $5
• 1-year subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller (members only) — $13
Payments for dues are non-refundable.
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
TTFHA, Membership Administrator
Tasha Jackson
306 CR2717
Alto, TX 75925
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Review the new procedures regarding trapping tip submissions and prizes as well as display advertising; look for them in the Texas Fur Trails. A special thanks to Tom Beaudette of High Country Control for donating the Coyote Cuff 33 traps that will be awarded to the winners of the trap tips.
Promoting trapping through outreach is vital if we intend to pass it down to future generations. You can help spread the word by offering to do a demo during a hunter education training course. The participants are typically youngsters who are eager to learn and friendly to work with. Contact your local game warden about helping out. Texas Parks and Wildlife has recognized trapping as one of oldest forms of hunting. Take some membership forms with you as you may have people wanting to join after you have finished.
The Southeastern Regional NTA convention has been scheduled for October 9-11 in Arkadelphia, AR. This is a joint effort of several states including Texas. If you plan to attend and would like to offer a helping hand, contact Jeff Dunnier; any amount of help would be most appreciated. Our Fall rendezvous will be on October 17-18 in Junction and the 2015 Spring rendezvous will be in April in Jacksonville. We are looking for a location to hold our 2016 spring rendezvous; if you have any suggestions, please let us know.
I realize how hard it is to interest or motivate people when fur prices are low and that is one reason to focus on nuisance animal work. Your Association has established a Nuisance Animal Control program for its members. The names and contact information of trappers willing to participate are provided to state agencies as well as individuals and companies looking for someone to help them out. We also post this list on our web site. I have personally received work from this program. Contact Sammy Petty at (254) 471-3128 if you have an interest. Members, don’t forget to take advantage of free classified advertising in the Texas Fur Trails.
Dave Hastings still needs your stories, news, pictures and anything else of interest to keep the Texas Fur Trails first class. Material from all across the country is welcome. He is particularly looking for some photos to be used for the covers of future issues of the magazine. We really need you to send in something for the magazine; some of us are pretty well tapped out on ideas and stories. I would really hate to see the quality of the magazine deteriorate, but this is likely to happen if the members don’t help out. Everyone has at least one story of an event that took place during his or her lifetime. We can use stories from just about anywhere. Dave is willing to work with anything. He will make sure that all submissions are professionally presented in the magazine. This really is a growing concern or I would not be begging for material. If you have any reservations or concerns about sending in something, call Dave or call me and we will do our best to put you at ease. Those of you who have submitted material for the magazine are most appreciated; without your effort the Texas Fur Trails would not be the fine publication it has become.
If you experience any problems with your membership status or magazine subscriptions, contact the Membership Administrator directly for faster results. A special thanks to Jeff Dunnier for donating traps as prizes for the membership recruitment contest. Mitchell Simpson of Silverton is our new Public Relations Director; we are pleased that he has accepted the administration of this important position. Look in the July issue of the Texas Fur Trails for the Trapper of the Year nomination form; complete and submit it by the deadline for anyone you believe is deserving.
Animal rights activists are infiltrating Texas and have been working to destroy our way of life. We have seen it in state agencies in the past, but now we should be aware that biologists are promoting their personal agendas through research and studies. It is hard to dispute the work of biologists as they are generally believed to be educated and credible with documented grounds for their opinions and recommendations. Documentation can be biased, inaccurate, misinterpreted, incomplete or irrelevant to the study. Regardless, misleading results may accompany biased recommendations. Bear this in mind as we are seeing this more and more and it is likely happening in Texas.
Share your thoughts with any board member regarding what you would like to see our Association accomplish. Many of the achievements we have made are results of membership input. The Association is in process of reviewing and restructuring all committee assignments. If you would like to serve on a committee or offer your services in some other way, please contact me or any other officer or director.
Since animals reproduce, trapping and fur harvesting utilizes a renewable resource. Many of the furs harvested in America are exported which helps to reduce the federal trade deficit – trappers are working to strengthen America, not to destroy her. We are attempting to schedule several outreach activities over the next year and your participation would be most appreciated. If you are ready to help out with promoting and preserving trapping, let us know. We would like to put your unique talents to work for the benefit of all and future generations. Our antler drive was a huge success. We will continue to accept antlers at each rendezvous. Please bring as many as you can part with and they are acceptable in any condition; they all have value. If you are interested in buying antlers for crafts or other purposes, Keith Jackson will make you a deal from what has been donated. When everyone works together we accomplish great things – keep it up, you are appreciated! — Bill Applegate