Greetings all. Hope everyone is enjoying mushroom and turkey hunting this time of the year. All our planting and field work was finished on April 28th . A couple repairs to be made and I will be done for this part of the season.
The ITA Spring Board meeting was held April 2nd at CrossRoads Shooting Sports in Johnston. Guests were Kristie Lambert, Sandy Eckhardt, Joice Hill, Judy Sells, Dale Rowson, Jeff Milner, Justin Deaver, Tim Anderson, Peter Fritzell, Laurent & Jase Sarrazin. Thank you to everyone for attending. We currently have 1,189 members with 479 lifetime. We had 18 new members join in February/March and 2 new lifetimes since my last report who are James Roe and Craig Kunkel. Thank you to all our new and renewing members.
The ITA website now has the ITA History book available for purchase. There are 14 chapters with 194 pages of ITA history and information from inception to 2019 which was our 60th anniversary. Mike Sells spent a lot of time gathering info for writing of this book. Also, Jim Mesler, our first ITA President and Dean (Lucky) Hoffman, longest serving director at 51 years, assisted with funds to publish this book. There is a lot of good information and reading contained within those 194 pages for a low cost of $25 postage included. Check out our website for membership options as well.
The legislative “NUISANCE” wildlife bill, which has been in the Statehouse for 2 sessions, passed recently pertaining to raccoon, opossum and skunk. Under this bill an owner or tenant of agricultural property or an associated residence, may take, capture, shoot, or temporarily possess, for the purpose of destroying or disposing of, a raccoon, opossum, or skunk without receiving prior permission if the owner or tenant deems the animal to be a nuisance. The bill also specifies that the taking of the animal can only take place outside of the corporate limits of a city; allows for only the use of cage traps or dog-proof traps; and adds the legal standard of “good faith” that would be required for anyone who wishes to take a nuisance animal. This bill will take effect July 1, 2023 and does not change what nuisance wildlife control operators can currently do inside city limits. This bill is NOT the same as what the DNR is currently proposing. The DNR proposal is different which includes extending of regular trapping season to February 28th , except beaver which will remain April 15th,, and a continuous open season on raccoon. Final wording is not out currently, but hear some changes will occur from the original wording due to our input. I expect that release sometime in the next couple of months.
Mike Fletchall and Justin Stiens will be hosting a SW Iowa Trappers Get Together Saturday June 3rd from 1:00 to 4 P.M. at Lake Icaria North of Corning. They have a shelter reserved by the marina which is located on the south side of the lake. There will be both youth and adult demos during the day. Youth will also receive a trapper starter kit due to some generous sponsors. Last year had a good turnout and expecting the same again this year as well.
During the meeting, I announced that I had been nominated and accepted that nomination for the FTA Governing Board. My hopes are not high on being elected due to other names that are running. No matter the outcome I will not be disappointed and will hear the outcome this fall.
ITA officer positions up for election this fall are Vice-President and Secretary. Nominations from the Board are Cody Hutton for Vice-President and Kristan Barclay for Secretary. Nominations from the membership will remain open until the General Membership meeting on Sept 9th for these positions. To be placed into nomination for either position you must be a current member of the Iowa Trappers Association and consent of the nominee is obtained prior to being placed into nomination.
The ITA fall Convention and Sportshow will be held Sept. 8-9thth at the Mitchell County Fairgrounds in Osage. There will be electrical hook-ups and locations for primitive camping onsite. Fairgrounds are located 4 blocks south of Hwy 9 on South 10th St – S.10th street runs straight into the main gate of the grounds. The address for the grounds is 1006 Chestnut St. There are 2 motels in town, AmericInn and Super 8 both are a little over a mile from grounds on east side of town. I have 20 rooms blocked at AmericInn under Iowa Trappers. Their direct number is 641-832-2200 when you call state your with the ITA to get those rooms. The Super 8’s direct number is 641-732-1800. My current vendor list is: Cumberland’s, Funke Trap Tags, Mill Creek Trap Supply, No B-S Lures, Roberts Trading, R&M Lures, Kansas Trapline Products, Keg Creek Baits & Lures, MJ Enterprises, Fiber Tuff, AJ Skinners, Sleep Creek Tannery, Mike (Red) O’Hearn, Hutton Valley School of Taxidermy, Bret Smith, Backwater Baits, Papio Creek Trap Supply, Cedar River Pheasants, Cedar River Taxidermy, Life is now Outdoors, FTA, NTA, ITA and looking to invite other outdoor groups as well. All buildings are close together and connected by concrete making easy navigation between them.
The Summer ITA Board of Directors meeting will be held July 9th, 10 A.M. at CrossRoads Shooting Sports 5550 Johnston Dr. in Johnston. For those who have not attended before, enter the building from the rear (south) side of the building. All current ITA members are always welcome to attend any of these meetings. The fall Directors meeting will be held 1 P.M. September 8th at the fairgrounds in Osage. The General Membership meeting will be held at 1:30 P.M. Saturday September 9th on the grounds as well.
That is about all for now. Be safe and have a good Spring.
Til next time - Craig