President — Robert Wilson, 21562 Pike 227, Eolia, MO 63344; phone: 573-485-7478
Vice President — Doren Miller, 26500 Pike 244, Clarksville, MO 63336; phone: 573-242-3319
Secretary — Troy Crooks,P.O. Box 92, Newburg , MO 65550; phone: 573-578-6532; e-mail: isaiah52_7@hotmail.com
Treasurer — Herb Binsbacher, 29535 Hwy. J, Gravois Mills, MO 65037; phone: 573-372-6711
Conservation Director — Arlon Held, 10075 Janes Creek Rd., Caledonia, MO 63631; phone: 573-766-1382
Delegate to NTA — Ron Pantry, Rt. 1 Box 87, Lancaster, MO 63548; phone: 660-457-2192
Delegate to FTA — Robert Wilson, 21562 Pike 227, Eolia, MO 63344; phone: 573-485-7478
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $25
• Lifetime membership with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $365
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
MTA Secretary
Troy Crooks
P.O. Box 92,Newburg , MO 65550;
phone: 573-578-6532; e-mail: isaiah52_7@hotmail.com
http://www.motrappers.org
President’s Report
Vice President’s Report
Treasurer’s Report
Public Relations Committee Chairman’s Report
Pageant Committee Chairman’s Report
District 6 Report
District 8 Report
District 9 Report
Greetings again from Pike County,
I hope everybody’s freezers are full of fish and deer meat for the winter. Hope you have caught plenty of fur. By now, trapping season is in full swing and deer season is about over.
Grizzly is back home after a week and half in the hospital for intensive rehab for his new leg. Who knows maybe he will be able to trap a few fur bear this year.
Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you and your family have a joyous and happy holidays with family and friends.
I hope the trouble on Wall Street and the economy does not have a negative affect on fur prices this season. Good luck on your trapline and be safe.
Take a kid hunting, fishing and trapping.
— Bob Wilson
The 50th Anniversary Rendezvous of the Missouri Trapper’s Association is over. We did really good, short of the rain on Friday night. We reached a milestone. We’re 50!
I want to thank all those guys who really made it the great success it was. Thanks to District 4 for being great hosts. Thanks to the Arena folks for their help. They have a great facility and were very helpful. There was an extreme amount of help from folks all over the state and I thank all of them.
I was definitely impressed with our Board of Directors, who almost all showed up for the Thursday meeting. It really helped hammer out some details which moved the association into the future. I really appreciated the Board of Directors and Committee chairmen who showed up, took an extra day off, to be there. Almost everyone showed up and voiced their opinion in the meeting.
I know the extra curricular activities that were provided were well attended. The feedback that I have heard is that our 50th Rendezvous was very successful.
Lynn and I were fortunate, the next weekend, to attend the District 8 fall meeting in Chillicothe. There were several new members signed up. There were several demos to help educate trappers and a lot of people absorbed information that will help them. Christopher Samuels, Junior Trapper of the Year, was there doing his part to show trappers a thing or two. Congratulations to this young man.
We then went to District t5 to the Robert A. Tolbot Conservation Area in Mt. Vernon on Sunday. We skinned and scrapped some of the stuff the kids caught at the clinic the day before. They had some good instructors from the Department and the MTA, who, working together, helped further the education of trapping. The cable restraint class was held on Sunday afternoon.
Tom Westhoff, District 2, held the Youth Trapping Clinic on Oct. 11 to 12. We broke into small groups and set some traps after the initial introduction to trapping. On Sunday, Lynn went with me. My group did catch a muskrat. All the fur was taken back and we did the fur handling portion of the clinic. One young lady scrapped a ’coon and did a pretty good job for the first time. Lynn told her that girls tend to be better at scrapping and she replied, “because we don’t give up.”
John Daniels from District 5 held a Youth Trapping Clinic at the Hulston Mill Historic Park on Saturday, Oct. 18. There was a good group of young men and ladies there. They were able to see how to set traps in various types and locations and learn some of the basics of trapping from MTA members and the Conservation Department working together.
There are many efforts around the state to further the education of our young people to trapping and showing them that it is a management tool to protect and manage wildlife populations. The men and women participating in this education are dedicated and give up their time so that trapping doesn’t die away. I salute them.
If anyone is planning a meeting or clinic that we can help with, just call me at 573-242-3319.
— Doren Miller
Greetings from Gravois Mills!
I’m back home and out of jail! However, I’m still under house arrest. I spent 10 days in house therapy at Capital Region Hospital in Jefferson City and they worked me hard! I wasn’t gaining my strength back as much as they wanted so I had intense strength training and it worked! I am feeling good for a change.
I am still trying to get through the results of the fall rondy. We might have made a small profit, but we sure spent a lot of money. I hope everyone had a great time. I know the rain caused a lot of problems and dampened the spirits of some, but we can never control the weather. We take what we get.
I’m sending our affiliation dues in the next few days. Troy says we now have 1,500+ members. Isn’t that great? Someone is doing a great job of handing out applications. Cheers to all of them! We are growing fast and I hope it continues. May God Bless everyone. Take a kid with you on your trapline and, as always, be safe.
Later.
— Grizzly B
PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
To everyone that was unable to attend the rendezvous, you missed a good one. Jonathan Flieger from Gravois Mills was announced as the winner of the young trappers essay contest. Traps and supplies were purchased and donated from several vendors. Paul Webb presented the prizes to Jonathan while he attended a trapping clinic hosted by John and Linda Everhart in early October. He was excited to say the least.
I would like to thank Doug Herzog from Holden for donating his handcrafted log furniture at the auction. The $240 paid went to help sustain the John Haden Fund so that the MTA can keep this contest going for many more years. NTA President Kraig Kaatz also made a cash donation for this same cause. Anyone can make a cash contribution by sending a check to our MTA treasurer and notifying Herb it is for the John Haden Fund.
Assorted MTA literature is always available to members doing demos and displays by simply contacting me. My position as chairman of the Public Relations Committee will expire in the spring of 2009. If you are interested in this position, contact me and I’ll give you some insight on your responsibilities. Trap and act responsibly. We are all members of the Public Relations Committee.
— Kevin Whitworth
PAGEANT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Queens, queens and more queens. If you attended the fall rendezvous on Saturday and didn’t meet royalty, it was your fault. Lacey Fitzgerald, Miss Missouri 2008, was committed to Miss America preliminary activities and was unable to attend. Mary Bauer, Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen 2007, from Cape Girardeau and eight different queens from the Miss Missouri Outdoors pageant were on hand to visit, sign autographs and pose for pictures. The ladies also participated in the Fur Fashion Show and helped at the auction.
Thank you ladies for attending and supporting our cause.
Starting next year, the MTA will become more involved wit the Miss Missouri Outdoors program by purchasing fur teddy bears for the queens. Freddie Cox has been doing this for several years and we think it’s time the association steps up to continue these gifts. Thank you Freddie for becoming involved with this organization and your support on behalf of the MTA. Some of these ladies have shown interest in becoming ambassadors for our association. This topic will be addressed at the spring meeting.
My four years as Pageant Committee chairman will come to a close next spring. We need someone to step forward and continue our relationship with the Miss Missouri and Miss Missouri Outdoors organizations. I’ll be more than happy to discuss responsibilities with anyone interested. If you have time to travel to some events, make some phone calls and visit and help educate beautiful and talented young women about trapping, let me know. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
— Kevin Whitworth
Hi everyone,
By the time this comes out, our trapping season will be open and our deer season opens the same weekend. Please be safe and careful if you’re out setting traps. Wear hunter orange.
I love this time of year. There is so much to enjoy in God’s great outdoors. If you get a chance to take a kid or adult out, let them see what it is like to be out on a trapline.
I have got a little left to do on a few traps, but for the most part, I’m ready. Let the fun begin. Til next time, God bless.
— Paul Webb
Greetings from District 8,
By now the season should be open and I hope the weather is good. District 8’s fourth fall training and education seminar was held Sept. 27, 2008, near Chillicothe, MO. The weather was great and so was the crowd. We had over 80 people sign in and we know of some that did not sign in.
As usual, there was a lot of discussion around all the demonstrations. It appears there are lot of folks who don’t mind sharing their ideas or different sets of what works for them.
The most attended demo was given by Mark Finnegan of Furharvesters Auction, Inc. of Northbay, Ontario, Canada, along with Doren Miller. They put on an excellent demo on stretching and grading fur.
After the demos, the fall meeting was held and we recognized Chris Samuels for winning the youth award for the year. This young man is an avid trapper and hard worker for our district.
The drawings for the District 8 raffle prizes were held with the following results:
1st prize, $300 gift certificate to Cabelas was won by a man from Ottawa, KS.
2nd prize, $150 cash, went to Pam Samuels, Maryville, MO.
3rd prize, $75 cash, wend to Kenny Dorane, Independence, MO.
We signed up several new members and answered a lot of questions about our organization.
The spring meeting will again be held in Albany, Mo., with the date in April 2009 to be announced later. The fall meeting will be help Sept. 26, 2009, in the Bethany, MO. area. We have folks looking for a spot now, but if you know of somewhere in that area, let me know.
I hope you all have a good season and be safe.
— Larry Liebig
Hello from the Missouri Trappers Association 9th District. We had a good rendezvous at Cape. Our winner for our gun raffle was Steve Robinson from Chaffee, MO. Congratulations Steve!
We have a permanent booth at the Cultural Center of Nature and History in Salem with literature on trapping and a fur collection for the public to see. If you are in Salem, come by and see this display and let me know what you think. We need fur donations for another display because our current display was donated by Doran Miller and we need to pay him back.
Our 2009 Fall Rendezvous will be held in Salem, Missouri at The Commons. We will need lots of help to make this another success.
Our slate of officers for the 9th District are as follows:
Kenny Wells — District Director — 573-729-3642
Hank Wendt — Asst Director — 417-938-4519
Randy Adey — Secretary/Treasurer — 573-674-2650
Brian Glenn — Dent County Director
Marvin Adey — Texas County Director
George Dement — Reynolds County Director
Oscar Stacey — Shannon County Director
Al Spencer — Carter County Director
Ralph Kelsick — Ripley County Director
Ronnie Barton — Oregon County Director
John Nye — Howell County Director
Have a great trapping season and good luck and God bless!
— Kenny Wells
