Association News
Email reports to Chris.Berens@Media360LLC.com
Arizona Trappers Association
President — Wayne Boring, traparizona@gmail.com 928-243-0973
Vice President Rick Van Horn, Kingman, 928-757-3860
Secretary Grace Van Horn, Kingman, 928-757-3860
Treasurer Mike Huffer, Scottsdale, 480-970-5904
Membership Carrie Crouther, Flagstaff, 928-699-4305
Directors: Apache County Scott Trowbridge, Chinle, 928-349-0405
Cochise County Bob Lackner, Willcox, 520-384-3279
Coconino County Lance Crowther, Flagstaff, 928-607-9380
Gila County Vacant
Graham County Park Romney, Thatcher, 928-428-6952
Greenlee County Vacant
Lapaz County Vacant
Maricopa County Vacant
Mohave County Rick Van Horn, Kingman, 928-757-3860
Navajo County Jim Manard, Heber, 928-535-9029
Pima County Atom Hatley, Arivaca, 520-444-7116
Pinal County Jeff Serdy, Apache Jct., 602-820-4429
Santa Cruz County Vacant
Yavapai County Vacant
Yuma County Ryan Trousdale, Tacna, 909-499-8226
Membership Options:
• Adult membership including subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $30
• Junior (under 16) with subscription — $20
• Family membership with subscription — $35
• Oldtimer membership with subscription — $75
• Lifetime membership with subscription — $275
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Good morning to all of the trapping community from AZ:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I woke up this morning to a booming tempurature of 10 degrees, in fact, a couple nights ago it actually was below zero like the good old days. We are just winding up one of the best storms we have had in many years. Not really good for legholds in this area, but for those of you who are using cage traps, which is most of AZ. If you can get to them it should be really good.
Talking to Rick Van Horn last night, he is a little farther south and lower in elevation than I am, he says he has been having problems with the actions on his cages freezing up and not letting his cages function. This was because the actions get wet and freeze, which is uncommon in his area. One thing I have learned living in a colder area is if you put some Vaseline coating on all the moving parts of your action, it will keep it working in wet freezing weather — don’t forget your pan hinges, as well.
We have been working on tying up the fur sale, it has been decided that we will be having our sale on the second Saturday of March, which is the 14th. It will be hosted by Navajo county and will be held in Flagstaff. The most important part of putting a sale together is making sure we have a number of buyers. We will be having our sale at the same time that Idaho will be having their sale, so if we know how much fur we have to offer this will be a determining point of whom will be buying from our sale.
So it is important if you will be supporting us at this sale to let us know what we can expect, as to the number of furs and the type of fur you will have to offer. The support we have will also determine how the sale will be ran. That may seem like a lot of trouble to go through but it is info we need to make a successful sale. There will also be a small fee charged to cover the cost of the operations of the sale.
If you are reading this report and are not a member of our association, we would welcome your membership. If you are already a member then we need all the help we can get to make our association a strong club. If we want to keep our right to harvest the renewable resources of fur with the use of traps, it is necessary to make our voices heard
As we look around we see that California has basically lost their trapping rights through foolish regulations and bureaucratic manipulation, and we are on that same radar, and now the ATA is the only thing that stands between them and us. We have many vacant positions and holes in our organization and are in need of volunteers that are willing to be involved. If you would like to help we have lots of room for anyone wanting to help, the more help we can get the better our program can be and the easier it will be for all.Remember the old saying that lots of hands make for light work.
As most of you may know the Southwest Fur Harvesters had to dissolve their club. The reason they had to close up shop was because they were unable to get the leadership they needed to go on, and if we don’t do something, we are faced with the same dilemma. WE NEED MEMBERS WHO will step forward to help. If we don’t get them we are going to stumble and fall also. We are the only voice in Arizona that speaks for the trapper, and if we fail then we will lose all the few rights we have left. We can see what happened in California and we are just next door. The writing on the wall tells us we will be next.
We need to remember that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and if we don’t make ourselves heard we will dry up — that will be a man, to trapping in Arizona. So right now the future of trapping in Arizona lies in our hands. I know that many of us feel like we have been overworked, but someone has to keep going. So thanks for all you have done and please don’t stop even if we feel we have done more than our share. I personally want to thank Jim Maner and Navajo county for stepping forward to help with the fur sale this year. Also I want to thank Ryan Tousedale who has been working on getting us up to date and online with our website, which we are in hopes to have up and running by the end of the month. You can reach us at arizonatrappersassociation.com or you can google Arizona Trappers Association. All business will be able to be conducted through that website. So please give me a call at 928-243-0973 or I can be reached at traparizona@gmail.com.
Thanks to those who showed up for our meeting last month, our numbers were really few. Give thanks to Ryan Trousdale, who will take on our Internet and get it up to speed, which has been a real concern.
A few things to remember
1. A trap in the ground is worth more than 100 traps in the truck.
2. If the animal is not there you won’t catch it.
3. If you should catch the animal and dispatch it, it is not there anymore. Nor is any of it’s increase.
4. If you catch all the animals out of an area, then there won’t be any for next year.
Happy trapping and may the force be with you and, may the trapping god smile upon you.
Your President: Wayne Boring
Arkansas Trappers Association
President — Wayne Watson, 1482 Leesburg Ave., Springdale, AR 72764; 479-283-7004, president@arkansastrappers.org
Vice President — Danny Ross, 401 Japonica Lane, Hot Springs, AR 71901; 501-844-5091, drossscoutmaster@aol.com
Secretary/Treasurer — Karen Fuller, 7611 White Oak Road, Mulberry, AR 72947; 479-221-4416, secretary@arkansastrappers.org
NTA Director — Mike Fischer, 13823 Masoner Road, Lonsdale, AR 72087; 501-939-2325
Editor — Eric Kindsfater, 265 Sunny Gap Road, Conway, AR 72032, 501-730-8208, ekindsfater@gmail.com
Membership Options:
• Individual membership — $13
• Family membership — $18
Complete membership application on first page of association section and send dues to:
ATA, Secretary/Treasurer Karen Fuller, 7611 White Oak Road Mulberry, AR 72947; 479-221-4416
EDITOR’S REPORT
The Arkansas Trappers Association is sad to report the passing of our Association President, Wayne Watson, during the overnight hours of 10-4-19 into 10-5-19. Wayne was passionate about the ATA and trapping in general, and his presence will be sorely missed. Please keep his wife and family in your prayers
The 2019 ATA Workshop was held Oct. 25–27 at Camp Clear Fork, and as always, Aaron Hitchcock did a great job coordinating the event. Many thanks to the cooks, the instructors,
