President — Stephen Pickard, P.O. Box 52, Rockhold, KY 40759; phone: 606-528-2726; cell phone: 606-521-0968; e-mail: spickard1@bellsouth.net
Vice President — David Kriege Jr., 3513 Cowie Ave., Erlanger, KY 41018-1608; phone: 859-342-8109
Financial Secretary — Dave Dykes, 152 Mapleview Ct., Mt. Washington, KY 40047; phone: 502-538-3290
Executive Director — Chet Hayes, 3951 Neises Rd., California, KY 41007; phone: 859-635-3102; e-mail: lhayes@fuse.net
Membership Options:
• Class A Kentucky trapper including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $25
• Family Membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $35
• Associate Membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $20
• Youth Kentucky trapper including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $15
• Lifetime Class A Kentucky trapper — $250
Complete membership application on first page of
association section and send dues to:
UTK, Financial Secretary
Dave Dykes
152 Mapleview Ct., Mt. Washington, KY 40047
502-538-3290
President’s Report
Executive Director’s Report
Financial Secretary’s Report
As you are reading this, many of you are already putting fur in the shed. It looks to be a very unstable year as far as fur prices go. Who could have predicted the market crash worldwide?
Oh well, this will be my 33rd year on the trapline and I haven’t gotten rich yet so going one more without doing so won’t matter much. Don’t take my advice or follow my lead, but I will not be selling any of my fur until the May NAFA auction. I am hoping a disappointing opening price structure on fur will lead to a slight shortage that will be evident by May. By that time, the world should be on steadier ground financially. Again, this is just my plan. You may want to sell early and often.
The fall meet went very well. We had almost perfect weather and an excellent facility. I know Chet mentions several people in his report so I won’t be redundant except to say you guys did a great job up there. We sure had a lot of possums Jimmy Childress brought for the kids and he says judging is getting harder.
I have been unable to access Yahoo Geocities to manage our Web site so the pics aren’t up yet, but I promise kids, I’ll get them up soon. I will also be adding the Elk Hunt flier as well as the pledge form. It looks great. All directors should have received a pack of fliers by now. If not, let us know.
On Oct. 18, we had a 9th District get together with around 30 people in attendance. Stacy, Hannah, Calah and Canaan White did a lot of work before and after the meeting to make it happen. Jim Vaught and Ronnie Simpson came down from Laurel County as well. We had a half dozen or so very interested teenagers there and the general consensus was that we should do this during the season as well just to get together and swap tales if for nothing else. Just getting together with good people that have similar interests is good for our sanity these days. We should do it more often instead of watching TV.
I have learned for a fact the new hunter ed test includes five trapping questions and trapping is to be included in the discussion. This is a great positive for all of us. Trapping should be included. After all, it is the “Hunting and Trapping Guide.” I know many students won’t become trappers and aren’t interested in it, but at least they will be aware it exists and is a “favorable” activity in Kentucky. You would be surprised how many people I run into at the hunter ed classes that think trapping is illegal or that you must set your traps 18 inches back in a hole on land. We need to become hunter ed instructors to be able to take part regularly in the classes. It is rewarding once you do it. It’s like a lot of other things in life, getting started is the hardest part.
Also, will all the officers and directors with e-mail access please e-mail me at spickard1@bellsouth.net if I don’t have your address? I want to establish a master list to send UTK news out all at once. Anyone else that wants to be included feel free to e-mail me as well.
We are leaning towards no official spring meet this coming year. Instead we’ll have a “camp out with Oral Jones” down at Camp Energy at LBL. This will be a long weekend, probably in April, that any of us that want to go down can go at the same time and have a get together at the camp. UTK won’t be putting on demos or meals. It will be an “on-your-own” camp out. This will allow a little more energy and enthusiasm for the fall meet, which will be in western Kentucky next fall. Justin Walker will be scoping out a site for us by spring.
Overall, just get out and have fun on the trapline and be safe. Those of us with medical conditions need to let someone know where we’ll be. My blood sugar dropped at the fall meet while skinning the beaver and I got very confused while skinning it. Those watching the demo probably caught it. Just be sure to pack along some snacks and water if you’re going to be out several hours. Matches and dry clothes are not a bad idea either.
Don’t be made to feel you are not a good trapper unless you fill the shed up. We all have different life situations and time limitations. Just have fun with the time you have and make the most of it.
— Stephen Pickard
By the time you read this, trapping season will be in. As I write this, it’s several weeks away. But with recent frosty mornings and an army of raccoons being hit on the highways, I’m sure most of us have caught the trapping fever. I wish every one of you trappers a safe and productive season. Trap ethically and responsibility.
It was great seeing so many of you at the Fall Fling. It was an outstanding meet in many ways — well-attended, good food and entertainment, lots of dealers and supplies, excellent seminars and demos, youth activities and successful fundraising.
There are so many people to thank for so many different things, I will just start naming names and hope I don’t forget anyone: Oral Jones, Rodney Mattingly, Robbie Hoover, Eddie Covie, Dave Kriege, Kevin Hughes, Patrick Ritchie, Greg & Vicki Fields, Vikki Rawe, Robert Fraley, Officer Bob Newman of KDFWR, Linda Hayes, Leon Smith, Charlie Hornback, Steve Pickard, Dave and Dan Dykes, Stacy White, Bob and Margaret Maurer, Ronnie Stewart and the Blue and Lonesome Band, Jimmy and Heather Childress, Hal Sullivan, Mike Wilson and the Kenton County Fair Board, Jamie Osborne, Perry Robinson, our auctioneers, all of our dealers and vendors and especially our members who donated and bought so generously for our fundraising.
We sold a ton of hats and t-shirts, lots of new and renewed memberships and had very successful auctions and fundraising. We tried a silent auction for the first time ever and raised $425 for our Scholarship Fund.
At the officer’s meeting, we ironed out a plan for marketing the elk tag given to us by KDFWR. We have already received our minimum $7,500 bid and there looks to be a lot of interest in the elk tag.
Also discussed was the fact that there have been some discrepancies regarding trapping on one or more W.M.A.’s, which will be investigated and hopefully resolved through clarification with the Department.
Another topic of discussion was the desire of a number of our members, officers and directors to have UTK officially request implementation of a Trapper I.D. number on trap tags as opposed to listing one’s name and address. I would like each of you with thoughts on this to contact me by mail or e-mail so I can document your opinions and any negative experiences you may have had with the present system. I know trappers can be subject to harassment and retaliation at times from various persons, through no fault of their own. At a time when eco-terrorism is on the increase, it is conceivable an honest trapper could run afoul of one of these violent zealots simply by virtue of a trap with his/her address on it. We certainly support the idea of Conservation Officers being able to identify the owner of a trap for investigative/enforcement reasons. We just worry about our privacy and identity falling into the wrong hands. This system of a trapper I.D. number has been implemented recently in several states and has been in use for years in others. The system seems to work well.
In closing, there are a few of you Kentucky trappers reading this magazine who don’t belong to United Trappers of Kentucky, Inc. yet. Our membership includes this magazine plus membership in the League of Kentucky Sportsmen. This organization has done an awful lot for trappers in the past several years, and will continue to represent your interests. Do the right thing and join us today if you consider yourself a dedicated, ethical trapper.
Until next month.
— Chet Hayes
Hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays and a successful trapping season.
If anyone has an address change, phone number change, magazine problem or any membership questions, just give me a call. Also if you need any membership applications, let me know.
The UTK, NAFA fur pick up in Shepherdsville, KY will be on Jan. 1 and March 21 at the Bullitt County Co-Op Extension Service Building from 8 to 8:30 a.m. both days.
Directions – Shepherdsville is located off I65 between Louisville and Elizabethtown. Take I65 to Exit 117, travel east on Hwy 44 for approximately 2.5 miles, turn left on Halls Lane. Travel about ½ mile. The facility is on right. You need not be a member to ship fur, all is welcome to ship with UTK. Jimmy and Heather Childress our NAFA agents and others will be there to help everyone bag and tag their fur.
UTK, Inc. Officers elections are due this spring. Nominations will be accepted from Feb. 1 to April 30 by phone or mail to secretary Dave Dykes at 152 Mapleview Court, Mt. Washington, KY 40047 or 502-538-3290. Ballots will be mailed out May 1. The election committee will do the count in June and new officers will take office July 17, 2009. Reminder to receive a ballot you must be a KY resident and current with dues.
Till next time.
— Dave Dykes