http://www.watrappers.com
President — Bruce Vandervort, 5338 US Hwy 101, Humptulips, WA 98552; 360-288-2466;
brucevandervort@hotmail.com
Vice President West — Darryl Druzianich 49 Wenzel Slough Rd., Elma WA 98541; 360-482-4776;
druzi@centurytel.net
Vice President East — George Brady, P.O. Box 535, Pateros, WA 98846; 509-923-2326;
cascadeb@televar.com
Executive Secretary — Ralph Dobson, 711 196th Street NW, Arlington, WA 98223; 360-652-2132;
rlph.dobson@gmail.com
Treasurer — Jack Thompson 3420 Prill Rd Centralia, WA 98531; 360-807-0403;
capital@animalproblem.com
NTA Director — Bob Maier, 38 Francis Dr., Walla Walla, WA 99362; 509-529-9568; bobmaier38@yahoo.com
Membership options:
• Regular Membership (18 And Older) — $25
• Junior Membership (Under 18) — $5
• Associate Membership (Non-Trapper) — $10
• Family Membership — $30
• Senior Membership (Over 70 and must be a former paid member whose dues are current) — $0
• Lifetime Membership (One-Time Payment) — $250
• To receive Trapper & Predator Caller through WSTA (members only) — $12
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
WSTA
(A non-profit organization)
PO Box 3687
Arlington, WA 98223
Dues entitles members to all newsletters, meeting notices, discount entry to workshops and the annual rendezvous. All monies are used to protect your right to trap.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Been a while. Yea, I missed a few months. Sorry is all I can say. Not going to offer up any excuses.
I’ll go back a way and mention the Puyallup Fair. I didn’t really spend much time there this year. I could not get away but we had someone there every day to man the booth and from all reports it went well.
I have been trying to get a few things lined out for the Western WA fur sale. We are going to do things differently this year. The Fur Auction has been going down hill for a number of years now. The trouble is we cannot get enough buyers because we don’t have enough fur to offer and the high price of a WA Fur Dealers License. That leads to lower prices bid which leads to less fur at the sale and so on and so on. It’s a vicious circle that has been spiraling down.
What we are going to do is try to turn the get together into a mini-Rendezvous. We’ll still have CITES tagging and there will be a NAFA pickup but for the Fur Sale part we are just going to make a table and chairs available for each buyer and let trappers deal with them individually.
I didn’t really wan to go this route because our Fur Sale is one of the oldest in the west and I didn’t want to see it go.
It is to the point where we were having four people working for only $200 in commissions and spending most of the sale day working. By changing we are going to make time for demos and more of a Rendezvous atmosphere. A lot of guys come to just get together and we will have a place to sit down and BS plus demos, lunch, auction, membership meeting and a few drawings.
A full schedule will be in our newsletter but for now we have The Borden-Seibert building at the Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds reserved for March 15. That is just east of Elma and just off the freeway.
One thing I want to mention in regards to that date is the NAFA pickup. The 15th is after the last receiving date for NAFAs April sale. I have been assured though that NAFA will make there best effort to get any fur consigned at our event in the April sale. This is not a guarantee but they will try their best. If you want to be 100% sure of making the April sale you should get your furs to Adam the week before. Of course anything that doesn’t make the April sale will go on the June sale.
Earlier I mentioned the newsletter which will henceforth be known as The Fur Shed. What do you think? I think John has done a heck of a job. If you want to keep it going send John a little material. Doesn’t have to be an article, although that would be great, just a helpful tip for us trappers helps.
I’ve also reserved the Chelan Expo Center for July 18,19, 20th 2014 for our Rendezvous so same place and time as this years.
I don’t know if I reported this before but an ex-member received a 2nd degree animal cruelty ticket last summer for drowning a raccoon that was damaging his yard. We advised him on language in the Trapper Training Program dealing with this. The law is very vague on what constitutes animal cruelty and WDFW has no regulations on it. They do have some guidelines but they are not laws. I’ve spoken with the trappers defense attorney and she hopes to have it dismissed but I am on tap to testify if it goes to trial.
All I can think of for now. Trapping season starts in a couple days as I write this but I’ll be out chasing elk for a while. I might get started by the middle of the month. Found a buck to tag and I thought that might not happen as scarce as they are here but the elk hunting is even tougher I think. Have to give it a go. I was invited to go to the east side for rats and it was tempting but I really can’t get far from home so that’s out. Might be crowded over there with rat prices.
Hope everyone has a good season. — Bruce Vandervort
