www.idahotrappers.com
President — Patrick B. Carney; 208-599-5009;
president@idahotrappersassociation.com
Vice President — Andy Smith;
vicepresident@idahotrappersassociation.com
Secretary — Andy White,
secretary@idahotrappersassociation.com
Treasurer — Vacant
NTA Representative — Dan Davis; 208-458-4303; dandavis@idahotrappersassociation.com
Election Chairman — Billy Dyer; 208-587-6696;
billydyer@idahotrappersassociation.com
Director — Mark Collinge; 208-376-2963;
markcollinge@idahotrappersassociation.com
Director — Rusty Kramer; 208-870-3217; rustykramer@idahotrappersassociation.com
Director — Angel Lovan,
angellovan@idahotrappersassociation.com
Director — Tim Conant; 208-544-2766;
timconant@idahotrappersassociation.com
Director — Bruce Bartow; 208-521-4235;
brucebartow@idahotrappersassociation.com
Membership Options:
• Individual membership including subscription to Trapper & Predator Caller — $25.50
• Family membership with subscription — $30.50
• Life Membership — $500
DECEMBER DIRECTOR’S REPORT
I hope everyone’s holiday turned out well. Trapping season is getting towards the end for some types of trapping and just starting for some water and cat trapping. Please be very careful when setting bobcat traps this season. Be aware of high frequented areas for chucker hunters and be very, very, very careful with snares and bodygrippers. I hope you all realize the work that trappers from North Idaho and the Idaho Trappers Association officers did in keeping bodygrippers on land when it was brought up for discussion at the last Fish and Game commissioners meeting. A very big shout out to Pat Carney our president. He personally spent a lot of time and talked to every commissioner about how these restrictions would severely handicap the trappers of this state. There are discussions of mandatory trappers education classes in the future for new trappers and trappers that have recently received trapping licenses in the past five years. This hopefully will teach some ethics to the influx of new trappers we have received in the past few years. The fish and game is asking for help from the ITA and Upper Snake River Trappers.
You always hear about being careful what you put on social media and pictures on the internet. I always blew them off as that couldn’t happen to me or that happens to people in big cities. I’m not a huge social media guy but had a Facebook account to keep in contact with the parents of my football team I coach and to keep in touch with friends and family out of town. I had my account hacked in November and a picture of a wolf I caught in a trap was shared several hundred times across pro-wolf sites. This picture was of a wolf caught in 2010 across the pad in a #3 coyote trap with no blood and no injury. In fact this wolf was collared and released by fish and game officers due to no season on wolves in that unit at that time. Well the anti’s proceeded to blow my phone and Facebook account up with threats and even flooded my employers head office with calls and emails to get me fired! I have since changed my email address and cancelled my Facebook account, but this has opened my eyes up to the dangers of the Internet. Be very careful putting personal info out there and be very careful about pictures posted, especially wolves!
The ITA is a shipping agent for NAFA now! Please watch for info and emails on pickup spots across the state. Support ITA and get the most money for your fur! Now please get out and trap this winter and think about giving a ITA membership to a fellow trapper/sportsmen as a Christmas present. — Rusty Kramer
NOVEMBER DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Last week we received notification that the dry-land bodygripper issue was up for discussion at the IDFG commissioner meeting up in Post Falls. There was some wording on the suggested changes that worried the ITA a lot. Essentially all 330’s would have to be completely submerged in the water, no half sticking out and no setting on a beaver crossover. Also, the restriction on baited bodygrippers on land would go clear down to a 4 1/2 inch jaw spread. Some very restrictive guidelines discussed for two dogs being killed by the same new trapper out of millions of trap nights across the state. These restrictions would severely handicap trappers especially beaver trappers. Now none of use want to see dogs killed but we wanted to discuss options that didn’t take valuable trapping tools away from trappers.
With Post Falls being a 8+ hour drive for most of us in Southern Idaho and with only a couple days notice the officers of the ITA regretfully could not make the trip. We called regional supervisors and every single commissioner voicing our concerns. Pat Carney worked tirelessly on this and we had this thing squashed before the meeting. My many thanks to the north Idaho trappers that came to the meeting and voiced their concerns. I heard through many outlets that they were very well spoken. I hope that one day we get some better trapper representation from North Idaho with the ITA. I know they feel like they are the forgotten part of the state and we would really like to bridge that gap.
There is a lot of discussion on making a trappers education course mandatory to new trappers and anyone that has owned a trapping license for 5 years or less. The thoughts behind that are that new trappers just aren’t aware the impact their actions are having on the entire state when they set close in high frequency dog areas like trailheads, parking areas, and when they set baited 330’s where dogs may be caught. With the high fur prices and the renewed interest in trapping wolves there is a lot of inexperienced trappers in the state. The IDFG is wanting to work with the ITA and the Upper Snake River Trappers to get a trappers ed program up and running. I know summer conventions, hats with emblems and Nafa pick up days are what people think the ITA should be about and those are nice. But the ITA is in existence for this very reason! We need to continue to expand our membership so we can have the numbers to fight to keep our rights. The ITA now has a very good working relationship with our fish and game commissioners and they want to work with the ITA on all trapping issues. I cannot encourage you enough to support the ITA in any way you can and continue to send us your opinions and concerns
Thanks. — Rusty Kramer
