Greetings all. There has been a lot going on since my last report. First, Scott Webb our District 20 Director passed away suddenly June 16th. Scott was on the ITA Board prior to me then stepped back in September of 2013. He was a person of the outdoors and worked heavily in forestry including operating his own saw mills. He was also a coach for Clay Crushers shooting team from Cresco. Scott knew about everyone as was apparent at his Celebration of Life where some people waited for 3 ½ hours to get through the line. His wisdom and generosity will be greatly missed by all those who knew him. RIP Scott.
There is a NEW furharvester regulation change pushed and supported by the ITA that passed this past legislative session to give youth trappers parity with hunting and fishing. That change pertains only to youth trapping and reads as follows - A person under age 16 is not required to have a furharvester license to trap furbearing animals if accompanied by a parent, guardian or other competent adult, who possess a valid furharvester license while trapping furbearing animals. There must be one licensed adult for each person under 16 years of age.
Additional info - IF a youth under 16 is trapping BY THEMSELF ALONE a furharvester license IS still required. This new rule allows youth who have never trapped to “tag along” and be able to “participate” to see if it will interest them before a license is required.
June 1st I was at Lake Icaria for the SW Iowa Trappers Get-together hosted by Mike Fletchall and Justin Stiens. They had a few less kids and adults attend than last year, but still had a good crowd. There was a raccoon demo for the kids, Logan Exline did a beaver demo and Jason Jenkins a coyote demo. All kids left with traps, bait, lure, stakes, magazine, information and other items to assist their trapping this coming fall. Thank you to Mike and Justin for hosting this event and all their sponsors who donated supplies for the kids – Funke Trap Tags, A&J Skinning Machines, Keg Creek Baits & Lures, Backwater Baits, Cedar Creek Lures, Fletchall Predator Control and Adams County Conservation.
June 10th I headed to Harrisonburg, VA to attend the FTA Board meeting and Rendezvous. The biggest item from the week was announcement of the location for 2025 National Rendezvous. The 2025 FTA National Rendezvous will be held July 25-27th which is a Friday -Sunday at Clay County Fairgrounds in Spencer. Mike Mazur has taken on overseeing this event, his plans are for vendors to be indoors in the AC of the southside of the Events Center and demo building will be in the same location as we had during our hosting of NTA in 2021.
June 14th and 15th was the Miss Iowa Teen/Miss Iowa Pageant in Davenport. Tom Walters is working with Dale & Grace Rowson to take over his presenting of the ITA’s sheared beaver coat and vest to the gals. Our 2024 Miss Iowa is Abigaille Bato-Tiako, Miss Iowa Teen is Avery Bradley. We hope to have both gals at convention in Winterset.
June 15th Kerry Baetsle, Bruce Rhoads and Luke DeMeulenaere set up at the Iowa County Outdoor Adventure at Lake Iowa near Millersburg. There were about 176 kids pre-register to participate in various activities related to the outdoors. They explained traps, showed different pelts that can be harvested in Iowa, handed out info pertaining to trapping. Thanks to Kerry, Bruce and Luke for helping run the booth.
June 23rd was the Summer ITA Board meeting. Kristan reported our membership 1,353 with 15 new members since April and 530 lifetime members. Of those 530 about 500 are currently living. Our new lifetime members since my last report are: Roger Tucker, William Van Deest, Terry Johnson, Mike O’Hearn, Christy Miller & Wes Schlenker. Thank you to all our new, renewing and lifetime members for their support.
Justin Deaver announced locations for beginner trapper classes. There will be 10 classes around the state for anybody wanting to learn basics of trapping. Online registration will begin through the DNR website soon for anyone interested. The following are dates and locations for those classes -- 8/4/24 Montezuma-Diamond Lake, Foster Center, 8/11/24 Exira-Audubon County Conservation Club 2592 Hwy 71 Exira, , 8/18/24 Mason City-Lime Creek Nature Center 3501 Lime Creek Rd, Mason City, 8/24/24 Inwood-Lyon County Nature Center 1831 Buchanan Ave, Inwood, 9/14/24 Cherokee-Silver Sioux Recreational Area, 9/15/24 Ames-Story County Conservation Area 56461 180th St, Ames, 9/22/24 Knoxville-Marion County Sportsman's Club 1702 Old Hwy 92, Knoxville, 9/22 Dixon – Wapsi River Environmental Learning Center 31555 52nd Ave, Dixon, 9/28 Burlington – Des Moines County Conservation Board Starr’s Cave Nature Center 11627 Cave Rd, Burlington, 10/19/24 Saint Charles -Hutton Valley School of Taxidermy 2514 Victory Ln. St Charles. Go to the DNR website, click on Hunting tab, under Hunting news go to “Learn to Hunt program open registration for beginner fur harvesting workshops”. Follow the event tab to select location and date to register. There is to be a QR code assigned to each location to register as well.
ITA is having a pre-convention gun raffle for a Beretta A300 Ultima 12 gauge. Tickets are $20 ea. with only 200 available. Contact Tony Evans or some ITA Board members for tickets. The gun will be drawn for on Saturday Sept. 7th at convention, you need not be present to win.
In my last report I indicated that the ITA is looking for person/s interested in being a FTA or NTA Director. Currently we have 2 members interested in the NTA Director position, but none as I write for FTA position. Requirements again for either position are: 1) You must be a current member of the ITA. 2) A current member of the respective organization of interest. 3) Attend annual Board meeting of respective organization: FTA – normally Wednesday prior to National Rendezvous, NTA - Tuesday/Wednesday prior to National. 4) Report to ITA Board 4 times a year happenings of respective organization, then to ITA membership at our convention. 5) Each organization requests volunteer time in their booth during their respective convention. 6) ITA Board of Directors shall appoint the affiliate director who shall be the I.T.A’s representative to the affiliated organization and a non-voting position on the ITA Board. Anyone interested in either of these positions can contact me for further information at 515-306-9385 or hightoweria@aol.com.
The ITA Fall Convention & Sportshow will be held Sept 6-7th in Winterset at the Madison County fairgrounds. The address is 1204 W Summit St or .6 miles east of the junction of Hwy 169 and Hwy 92 at the west side of town. Cost to tailgate will be $25 per space and my inside vendor space is currently full. There will be plenty of camping for either primitive or those that need electric PLUS 26 spaces with full hook-ups. Primitive camping will be $11 per night and with electric $17 per night. Fairgrounds staff will collect camping fees, also there is a dump station present on the grounds. My current list of vendors attending are: Cumberland's, Kansas Trapline Products, Keg Creek Lures, Funke Trap Tags, Fiber Tuff, No B-S Lures, Top Lot Stretchers, R&M Lures, AJ Skinners, MJ Enterprises, Robert's Trading, Backwater Baits, Mike O'Hearn, Life is Now Outdoors. Exline’s River Bottom Baits, Billingsley Brand Lures, Last Step Trap Supply/Tanning, Madison County Conservation Board, Delta Waterfowl, Cook’s Fur & Leather, Sleepy Creek Tannery, Blakeley’s Bait & Lure, Bret Smith/Lenon Lures and Papio Creek Trap Supply, Iowa Trapper Bears, Cedar River Baits, Mike’s Outdoor Sports, Fletchall Predator Control, DNR, FTA, NTA, ITA.
The two motels in town are: Covered Bridge Inn – 515-462-4888 is about ½ mile east of town off Hwy 92 and the Cobblestone Inn – 515-462-4889 is about ¼ mile west of Hwy 169 and Hwy 92 on the north side of town. I have 10 rooms blocked under the Iowa Trappers at the Cobblestone for $122 per night plus tax and 15 rooms blocked under Iowa Trappers at the Covered Bridge Inn for $99 per night plus tax. Indicate you are with the Iowa Trappers to get those rooms and prices.
Friday evening will be the potluck. We will again be holding a beginner trapper class starting at 9 A.M. Saturday morning as we have in the past for anyone interested. Also, don’t forget the ITA photo contest, mail your photo/s to, Tom Walters 1723 20th St. Bettendorf, IA 52722 or bring them to convention. If you bring them to convention, get your photo to Tom before noon Saturday for judging. Be sure to put your name on the back of the photo as well. Categories include: Animal in Trap, Trapper and Catch, Multiple Catch and Youth (16 & younger).
At the auction Saturday evening there will be a couple items to take note of. One will be the LAST and FINAL autographed hardcover ITA History book #10 of 10 written and complied by Mike Sells. This book was released in September 2019 and also available in soft cover for $25 postage paid to your door or $20 at convention. The other item will be a slightly used sheared beaver blanket approximately 95 inches wide by 102 inches long which will fit a queen or king size bed. To view a tentative schedule for convention, go to the website at www.iowatrappers.com under convention.
The Fall Board of Directors meeting will be held at 1 P.M. September 6th at the fairgrounds in Winterset. The General Membership meeting will be held 1:30 P.M. Saturday September 7th.
As always, all current ITA members are always welcome to attend any of these meetings.
Have a good Summer. Til next time - Craig