www.arkansastrappers.org
President — Aaron Hitchcock, 9331 Sister Lane, Mulberry, AR 72947; 479-997-5361; AHITCH81@YAHOO.COM
Vice President — Charlie Bass, 6755 Bethesda Lane, Batesville, AR 72501; 870-698-1154; trapper38@hotmail.com
Secretary/Treasurer — Gary Gray, PO Box 493, Arkadelphia, AR 71923; 870-403-2469;
secretary@arkansastrappers.org
NTA Director — Mike Fischer, 13823 Masoner Road, Lonsdale, AR 72087; 501-939-2325
Editor — Gary Helms, 1092 Vanderbilt Rd., Texarkana, AR 71854; 870-772-3834; TrapperGWH@aol.com
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $22
• Family membership with subscription — $27
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
ATA, Secretary/Treasurer
Gary Gray
PO Box 493
Arkadelphia, AR 71923
EDITOR’S REPORT
Hello Trappers! As this trapping season winds down to a close, I hope everyone made it through safely and achieved all of their goals. Personally, my catch was down this year, mainly due to weather conditions. It seemed like if it wasn’t raining, it was freezing, and sometimes we had both! Despite this year’s harsh conditions, I’ll have everything cleaned up, repaired, and be ready to go again by next winter. It’s funny how we always remember the catches, but tend to forget how hard we worked for them.
We had a good turnout for this year’s Fur Sale. I want to thank our Fur Sale Coordinator, Heath Shaw, for getting everything together and doing a great job! Everyone who pitched in and volunteered to help deserves a big Thank You, as well. These types of events don’t happen without lots of volunteers, and we appreciate each one of you! We moved the vendors to another building this year to free up space and cut down on noise during the auction. It seemed to work real well, and I heard only positive comments from everyone, including the vendors. The only negative comments I heard were in regard to our computer system. This is an issue we need to look at during our Spring Board-Of-Directors meeting on May 3rd. Before this meeting, please let your District Representative or one of the Officers know of any issues you’ve had with this system. If you’re pleased with it, we want to know that, as well. Here are the results from this year’s Fur Sale:
ATA Fur Sale Results Russellville, AR – Feb. 15th, 2014
LISTED BY SPECIES, TYPE, #SOLD, HIGH, LOW, AVG. AND TOTALS
Beaver Green — 412, $18.00, $5.50, $13.87, $5,714.75
Beaver Dry — 60, $21.00, $2.00, $15.15, $909.00
Bobcat Green — 230, $160.00, $15.00, $70.48, $16,210.00
Bobcat Dry — 18, $125.00, $15.00, $63.89, $1,150.00
Castor Green — 16.75, lbs, $25.00, $12.50, $18.21, $305.00
Castor Dry — 8.25, lbs, $23.00, $7.50, $20.00, $165.00
Coyote Green — 54, $60.00, $1.00, $15.21, $821.50
Coyote Dry — 52, $27.00, $6.50, $18.88, $982.00
Deer Hide Green — 3, $1.00, $1.00, $1.00, $3.00
Gray Fox Green — 129, $27.00, $9.00, $22.16, $2,858.00
Gray Fox Dry — 24, $26.00, $3.00, $20.42, $490.00
Ivory (Coon) — 2, $2.00, $2.00, $2.00, $4.00
Mink Green — 11, $23.00, $11.00, $19.05, $209.50
Mink Dry — 6, $23.00, $5.00, $19.33, $116.00
Muskrat Green — 26, $10.50, $6.00, $8.69, $226.00
Muskrat Dry — 58, $11.00, $7.00, $9.02, $523.00
Nutria Green — 3, $4.00, $4.00, $4.00, $12.00
Opossum Green — 229, $10.00, $0.10, $0.92, $211.02
Opossum Dry — 123, $3.75, $0.75, $2.40, $294.75
Otter Green — 148, $75.00, $22.50, $61.47, $9,098.00
Otter Dry — 4, $75.00, $25.00, $58.13, $232.50
Raccoon Green — 1416, $52.50, $0.50, $6.93, $9,818.50
Raccoon Dry — 440, $19.00, $1.50, $9.72, $4,278.00
Red Fox Green — 21, $45.00, $21.00, $38.83, $815.50
Red Fox Dry — 4, $55.00, $3.00, $32.50, $130.00
Skunk Green — 9, $3.50, $1.00, $2.81, $25.25
Skunk Dry — 36, $5.50, $3.00, $3.88, $139.50
Spotted Skunk Green — 11, $35.00, $27.50, $33.14, $364.50
Squirrel Tails Dry — 179, $1.00, $0.17, $0.22, $38.73,
Total Furs — 3733
Total Fur Sale — $56,145.00
As I stated earlier, our Spring BOD meeting is scheduled for May 3rd at Whole Hog Cafe in Little Rock at 9 a.m. All Districts should be scheduling meetings throughout the month of April in order to send their District Rep to this meeting with any issues or concerns they may have regarding ATA. Get in touch with your District Rep. and find out when your next meeting is. If you’re not sure who your District Rep. is, or if you need contact information, call one of the officers listed at the top of this report.
2014 ATA Spring Convention will be held May 10th at the Northwest Arkansas District Fairgrounds in Harrison. The fairgrounds are located at 1400 Fairgrounds Road (just off highway 65), Harrison, Arkansas. The host motel is:
Quality Inn, 1210 US 62/65 N, Harrison, AR, US, 72601
Phone: (870) 741-7676
If you plan to stay there, let them know you are with the ATA Convention in order to get a rate of $76.49. The regular weekend rate is 89.99. If you choose to bring your RV, RV hook-ups are $20. Mr. Bill Duke, of Duke Traps has donated a doz. coil springs and a doz. DP’s to be used as prizes for kids. Vendors are welcome at no cost. All we ask is that you donate something for the auction. If you need additional information, contact Wayne Watson at info@arkansastrappers.org or 479-283-7004.
New hats and T-shirts are in and were for sale at the Fur Sale. Pick yours up at our next event! This month’s tip is clean and organize all of your traps and gear NOW! You’ve put it off in the past, and it never got done in time for the season opener. Am I right? Do it NOW! Replace all of those broken triggers and damaged pans, power wash everything and get them dipped or dyed and stored away as soon as possible, or you’ll regret it later and wish you had! Trust me…I speak from experience! Until next time — Gary Helms
DISTRICT 7 REPORT
Our next meeting is scheduled for April 5th at Rick Evans Grandview Prairie WMA. We’ll meet at noon at the shooting range pavilion for a fish fry, followed by our meeting. This is our last meeting before the Spring BOD meeting, so please try to attend. Try to bring along a friend and introduce them to the ATA, also! The shooting range will be available if anyone wants to participate. Bring your Shotgun and shells and have at it! For more info, contact Brad Townsend @
870-703-2728 or bonecollector15079@yahoo.com. If you plan to use the shooting range, please let Brad know ahead of time, so we have someone there to release the targets.
Our June meeting is June 7th at Millwood State Park pavilion. We’ll hammer out the details for that one at our April meeting. I would like to have a trap supply dealer at our June meeting. If any have that weekend available, we’d love to have you set up at our June 7th meeting at the lake. Contact me @ 903-824-2804.— Gary Helms