President — Scott McAuley, 621 13th St. S., Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494-4910; phone: 715-423-3229; e-mail: scott@wcts.net
Vice President — Lee Sillars; phone: 715-218-5041; e-mail: Isillars@aol.com
Secretary — Dorothy Abrahamson, 508 E. 9th Ave., Stanley, WI 54768; phone: 715-644-0644
Treasurer — Ellen Elia, P.O. Box 367, Fremont, WI 54940-0367
NTA Director — Chris Bezio, 5479 Hawthorne Dr., Pulaski, WI 54162; phone: 920-822-3427
Trapper Education Coordinator — Nicke Shumaker, P.O. Box 28, Caroline, WI 54928; phone: 715-754-2121; e-mail: wctep@mwwb.net
Public Relations Director — Ken Kasper, P.O. Box 367, Fremont, WI 54940; phone: 920-446-3815; e-mail: wtapr@centurytel.net
Trapper Correspondence Course Director — Mike Widner, P.O. Box 483, Baraboo, WI 53913;
phone: 608-356-3621
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $25
• Junior (under 17) with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $12
• Lifetime (under 62) with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $300
• Lifetime (over 62) with subscription to The Trapper & Predator Caller — $100
• Husband & wife lifetime — $400
Complete membership application on first page of
association section and send dues to:
WTA Treasurer
Ellen Elia
P.O. Box 367, Fremont, WI 54940-0367
http://www.wistrap.org
District 2 Report
District 6 Report
District 8 Report
I would like to first offer my condolences to the Ken Kasper family on their loss of Cindy. It is a sad day when someone so young is taken from a family.
Trapping should be in full swing for most of you. I just got back from a second week of chasing ducks, pheasants and other flying creatures around North Dakota. It was a good time even though we went through snow and over 70 mph winds and then a couple of days later it was in the upper 60’s. It made for tough hunting and wore the dogs out in short order.
Time to think of the coming year and what we would like to accomplish as a district. Any thought on this or when to hold a meeting contact myself and we can discuss this.
The spring banquet is also not far off and donations and help are always appreciated at this as with all of our functions.
I received an e-mail with some bad media coverage in the central part of the state about a person getting their foot in a trap. This makes all trappers look bad and we need to think and make good set locations while out running traps.
In case you missed the ad, the WTA is looking for candidates for the position of Treasurer. If you or anyone you know is interested please contact myself or Lee Sillars for a position description or about any questions you might have about the position.
Good luck to all deer hunters for a safe and successful season. Time for me to pack and head north to help a friend go after bobcat and fisher.
— Mike Abrahamson
I hope your trapping season is going well.
District 6 will have a spring meeting in February or March, exact date and time are yet to be determined, but, it will be a Friday night starting at 6 p.m. Refreshments and door prizes will be provided. Please attend and help plan our rendezvous and other activities within the district.
Our District 6 2009 rendezvous is scheduled to be held at North Wood County Park on Saturday, June 20. Vendors can start setting up any time after 8 a.m. on Friday, June 19. Vendors please contact me with your reservation.
Make your plans now to attend the Annual Spring Banquet at the Stoney Creek Inn, Wausau. Sell some raffle tickets!
2008 District 6 rendezvous – Winner of the Ruger 10/22 was Mark Kolodziej, packbasket won by Gary Olson, hooped beaver won by Dorothy Abrahamson. Thank you to prize donors, Terry Beeman, Chris Burt and Al Nickel. Thank you to vendors Richard and Mary Ann Clark, Lee Sillars, Don Campbell, Jim and Roseanne Zoromski and Jeff and Ethan Noe. A good time was had by all; I’m looking forward to next year. We have approximately $1,600 in our district account. Many trapper education classes were held throughout the district this year. Thank you to all instructors. Your commitment and efforts are greatly appreciated.
2008 WTA State rendezvous – Thank you bartenders Al Nickel, John Irwin, Ron Arneson, Jim Winkler, Jim Talley, Gary Olson, Maynard Breunig and Mark Bangsberg.
District 6 trapper education materials (traps, furs, etc.) are being stored at Al Nickel’s home. Instructors need to contact Al when they need these training items. Al can be reached at 715-570-8718 or afivecents@yahoo.com.
County Directors-ADAMS Terry Beeman (608)564-7761, CLARK James Mertens (715)669-3046, JACKSON Rene Rommel (608)488-4753, JUNEAU Dan Carroll (608)847-5538, MARATHON Maynard Breunig (715)845-9999, MONROE Shannon McCracken (608)823-7277, Dale Ritter (608)269-7256, Dan Willis (608)343-6295, PORTAGE Ron Arneson (715)423-2206, Mike Nicholson (715)341-5708, WOOD Jim Winkler (715)886-3362.
I appreciate the opportunity to serve the District 6 membership. Do not hesitate to contact me with your questions, concerns, or suggestions. I can be e-mailed at greenmoose63@yahoo.com or phoned at 715- 570-6692.
— Michael D. Leiser
I have a more lengthy and detailed report in the December WTA so I will keep this short. It is Nov. 1 as I write this report. I have been dry land raccoon trapping for about 10 days now and the catch is OK, quality looks good for late October and yes there is a huge increase in competition this fall. Many of you are probably noticing this as you prospect or set out your lines.
We had a trapping related incident in Manitowoc County this fall. A miniature Australian Shepherd dog was killed in a #160 body gripping trap in a private camp that has part of the land base open to hunting and trapping. There are many trails in the camp area and there are no leash laws for this area as it is a hunting area. The local Manitowoc paper had an article last Saturday on the front page. The local warden called me to inform me of the incident. The trap was legally set and tagged. I will have more details for our BOD meeting in January.
District 8 needs to set a date for our winter meeting. I will try to do that this next month so we can post the date and location in the T&PC a couple of times before the meeting. District 8 also needs to have members helping at the Green Bay Deer Classic this year.
I will have exact dates for that event in the next issue as well. District 8 bought several items at the WTA fall rendezvous that we can use as raffle prizes and door prizes for the future.
District 8 extends their sympathy to the family of Cindy Kasper. Cindy fought a tough battle with Leukemia for almost a year. A memorial service was held on Sunday October 26, 2008. We will all keep Ken, Krystle, Alex, and Adam, Jeremy and all the family and friends of Cindy in our prayers.
At our winter meeting I would like our district to come up with a plan of work and then attach a budget to that plan. An organization needs goals and benchmarks to help it run more efficiently and effectively. Bring your ideas to this meeting when we have the date.
The WTA will host the NTA at Marshfield in August of 2010. Start making plans now for attendance and volunteering.
Just got done fleshing some ’coons and am in need of a break. The muskrat sign at my marsh was so low this year I am not even setting it up. More time for some canines hopefully. I am doing a lot of crop harvesting for our farm trial plots now and that interferes with running a trapline also.
“The future is always a head of schedule”
— Bryce Larson
