President — Kevin Peacock, P.O. Box 522, Orangeville, UT 84537; phone: 435-748-2929
Vice President — Ronnie Hunt, P.O. Box 65, Teasdale, UT 84773
Secretary — Paul Jarvis, P.O. Box 571, Santaquin, UT 84655; phone: 801-754-3739
Treasurer — Leroy Loftus, 1465 E Hwy 119, Richfield, UT 84701; phone: 435-896-8913
Public Relations — Theron Taylor, P.O. Box 11, Stockton, Utah 84071; phone: 801-550-2765
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $20
• Family membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $30
• Junior (under 16) with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $8
• Senior membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $15
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
UTA, Secretary
Paul Jarvis,
PO Box 571, Santaquin, UT 84655
FUR SALE REPORT
As you know, the trapping season is upon us and our fur sale is set for February. The officers will be sending out the changes that will go into effect for this upcoming year. Check them out because there are some major changes.
For those of you that want to sell green or frozen fur, there is still a demand for it. This will probably be a tough year for our fur, but we have some pretty good orders for frozen fur. Animals that are wanted whole and not skinned are badgers, ringtail cats, mink, raccoons, muskrats and beavers. The beavers, raccoons and muskrats can be skinned or frozen whole. There is a pretty good order for frozen raccoons and muskrats. I am still working on the beaver, but it looks promising. We have a real good order for ringtail cats and badgers. If you have frozen pelts or animals that you want to sell that I have not mentioned, feel free to call me and I will see if I can find you a buyer. A lot of these pelts go to very small furriers that make blankets, hats or for taxidermists. So, they are small orders, but they all add up.
As far as payment, the trapper will pay no commission. The commission will be paid by the buyer. You will need to call me for prices. In the past, the trapper has received as much or more for their frozen fur as for their finished fur. Feel free to call me and I can explain and answer questions that you might have — 435-245-4508.
— Stan Bassett
NTA WESTERN CONVENTION REPORT
I was asked to report on how the NTA convention went in Montana. The convention was held in Lewistown Mont. It is a fun and beautiful place to have a convention. The weather was really pleasant and it was just a nice time of year. My family and I took a couple of extra days to get there and to get back home. We were able to see a lot of nice country as well as a lot of wildlife. It seemed that the numbers of people that attended were down. However, the demos were well attended and there were few seats left that were not filled. I felt that the demos were excellent. I learned a lot of tips that I will try out this upcoming year. I think that maybe I recruited a couple of trappers that did demos to come to our convention next year. There were a lot of vendors as well as tailgaiters that were selling about anything that you could want. As always, there was the smell that goes along with a trappers convention.
Lots of good lures and baits. At the banquet they had a fur fashion show. Looking at those beautiful coats makes me appreciate the beauty of the furbearers that I catch even more. They had a good meal as well as a successful auction. At the auction, they drew the UTA raffle for some traps. What was interesting about it was that earlier in the day, Josh Lodge asked me when the drawing was going to be because he was going to win it. Well, you guessed it, when they drew, they drew Josh’s name. Way to go! I would love some luck like that.
I want to thank my daughter Amber and son Cody for running the UTA booth. They did a good job and sold a lot of tickets as well as merchandise. While I am on my kids, they represented Utah trappers well by winning first place in the ladies and 12 to 17 year old trap setting contests. Of course, it became a long ride home for me having to be reminded constantly that I did not win anything.
It was a fun convention for me. I was able to meet with a lot of my friends from all around the country. I feel very blessed to know such wonderful people and to be able to call them my friends.
Next year the Western Convention will be held in Wyoming. I can hardly wait.
Until next time.
— Stan Bassett