President's report
Greetings!
Recently we had our fur sale and I just want to say to everyone involved, THANK YOU! We had a few changes this year and the fur sale was able to happen because of everyone that was involved. Everything we do in this organization is all volunteer help, from someone coming to help set up to the officers running the organization, Its all-volunteer. So, thank you to all who help!
Our next event coming up is the UTA Campout. We will get you more details at a later date. As of right now it is tentatively planned for June 9-10 at Goshen Meadows. (Same spot as last year) I hope you will make it!
Best wishes,
-Cody Bassett
Recently we had our fur sale and I just want to say to everyone involved, THANK YOU! We had a few changes this year and the fur sale was able to happen because of everyone that was involved. Everything we do in this organization is all volunteer help, from someone coming to help set up to the officers running the organization, Its all-volunteer. So, thank you to all who help!
Our next event coming up is the UTA Campout. We will get you more details at a later date. As of right now it is tentatively planned for June 9-10 at Goshen Meadows. (Same spot as last year) I hope you will make it!
Best wishes,
-Cody Bassett
Vice-President's report
Good day Utah Trappers!
We have completed our yearly rendezvous and was very successful at this event with many demos and
Good Times. Always know that once the demos are done it's time to get busy with trap preparation and
locations to be found and scouted out it's amazing how fast time flies much like grandfather always told
me the older you get the faster time goes. With this being said time has come and opening day of trap
season is upon us. The cool fall air is all around us as we set out to do these tasks what we did the year
bring good prices and good luck only time will tell. Well as fast as fall give way to winter the long hours
of the trap line has been a very productive one. Now to the UTA fur sale preparation for this is a task
was pulled off with a fair amount of fur and prices was fair for the economy. I'd like to take and give
thanks to all that helped in this event donating their time is always good for reminiscing the Trap season.
Thanks!
-Jerry Swasey
We have completed our yearly rendezvous and was very successful at this event with many demos and
Good Times. Always know that once the demos are done it's time to get busy with trap preparation and
locations to be found and scouted out it's amazing how fast time flies much like grandfather always told
me the older you get the faster time goes. With this being said time has come and opening day of trap
season is upon us. The cool fall air is all around us as we set out to do these tasks what we did the year
bring good prices and good luck only time will tell. Well as fast as fall give way to winter the long hours
of the trap line has been a very productive one. Now to the UTA fur sale preparation for this is a task
was pulled off with a fair amount of fur and prices was fair for the economy. I'd like to take and give
thanks to all that helped in this event donating their time is always good for reminiscing the Trap season.
Thanks!
-Jerry Swasey
Treasurer's report
Spring has sprung and summer is sneaking up on us! With over 150 days until the next trapping season, many of us are pondering on what we might do differently next year. Even with the very weak market for most furs, our passion for trapping is still alive and well and most of us will be geared up and ready to go by the time the leaves start turning next fall. Maybe we won’t hit it as hard as usual and just trap the easy access places or possibly just focus on the more valuable species. This would be a good time to take advantage of the situation and get a youngster started trapping muskrats or mentor a new trapper on a small fox or raccoon line. We could help them with all aspects of being an ethical trapper, from scouting and reading signs to picking set
locations and checking traps. We could teach and encourage respect for the animals we trap along with proper fur handling to get the best return for our efforts.
Even with the anticipated lower prices and much smaller harvest which was partially due to some early heavy storms that made trapping very difficult in a lot of areas, our annual Fur Sale was a success. We had a good turnout and signed up quite a few new members. It is always exciting to see junior members joining our ranks. Their enthusiasm reminds many of us of the “Olden Days.” We implemented a new fur sale program this year and made a few changes pertaining to the fur check- in process and want to thank everyone for their patience while we all adjusted to these changes.
We have an awesome support group of members that donate their time year after year to make our events happen. A big thank you goes out to everyone who helped out and all of the next generation trappers that did a super job shagging fur as well as helping with setting up and cleaning up after the sale. Our board of directors are always there willing to do whatever is necessary and play a big part in making our Fur Sale successful. A special thanks goes out to Neil Chaney, Cory Farnsworth and Stan Bassett for sharing their expertise in the demos they put on.
We appreciate the DWR and their excellent staff for being there to tag bobcats and bounty coyotes. The service they provide makes it very convenient for all of us that need to get that chore done. Finally, we all need to thank all of the buyers for coming to our auction. They are the ones that make our sales possible.
We had many top quality very well-handled furs but also had some that were lower quality and some that could have brought a lot more money if they had been put up better. As a result, there was a big spread in the prices they brought. We all know that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but you can turn a potential $500 cat into a $100 cat pretty easily. Proper fur handling is probably more important in the current market than ever before. We encourage all fur harvesters to take advantage of the many resources that are available on fur handling. There are many good books and Videos available that explain each step of the process to ensure the
final product will be as good as it can be. Every fur should be handled like it will be competing for “Best of Sale.” The UTA is committed to getting the best prices possible for every fur sold and we will continue to do everything in our power to accomplish that. We are currently working on lining up some good demos on fur handling as well as trapping and snaring during our fall convention. With the craft market exploding like it has, we hope to be able to have someone there that can shed some light on what is in demand etc. on these items. If you have any ideas on things you would like to see or ways we could improve, please share them with us. Our next event will be our summer camp out in June. We will have details on our website and Facebook page as it gets closer.
Hope to see you there,
Kelly Laier
UTA Treasurer
locations and checking traps. We could teach and encourage respect for the animals we trap along with proper fur handling to get the best return for our efforts.
Even with the anticipated lower prices and much smaller harvest which was partially due to some early heavy storms that made trapping very difficult in a lot of areas, our annual Fur Sale was a success. We had a good turnout and signed up quite a few new members. It is always exciting to see junior members joining our ranks. Their enthusiasm reminds many of us of the “Olden Days.” We implemented a new fur sale program this year and made a few changes pertaining to the fur check- in process and want to thank everyone for their patience while we all adjusted to these changes.
We have an awesome support group of members that donate their time year after year to make our events happen. A big thank you goes out to everyone who helped out and all of the next generation trappers that did a super job shagging fur as well as helping with setting up and cleaning up after the sale. Our board of directors are always there willing to do whatever is necessary and play a big part in making our Fur Sale successful. A special thanks goes out to Neil Chaney, Cory Farnsworth and Stan Bassett for sharing their expertise in the demos they put on.
We appreciate the DWR and their excellent staff for being there to tag bobcats and bounty coyotes. The service they provide makes it very convenient for all of us that need to get that chore done. Finally, we all need to thank all of the buyers for coming to our auction. They are the ones that make our sales possible.
We had many top quality very well-handled furs but also had some that were lower quality and some that could have brought a lot more money if they had been put up better. As a result, there was a big spread in the prices they brought. We all know that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but you can turn a potential $500 cat into a $100 cat pretty easily. Proper fur handling is probably more important in the current market than ever before. We encourage all fur harvesters to take advantage of the many resources that are available on fur handling. There are many good books and Videos available that explain each step of the process to ensure the
final product will be as good as it can be. Every fur should be handled like it will be competing for “Best of Sale.” The UTA is committed to getting the best prices possible for every fur sold and we will continue to do everything in our power to accomplish that. We are currently working on lining up some good demos on fur handling as well as trapping and snaring during our fall convention. With the craft market exploding like it has, we hope to be able to have someone there that can shed some light on what is in demand etc. on these items. If you have any ideas on things you would like to see or ways we could improve, please share them with us. Our next event will be our summer camp out in June. We will have details on our website and Facebook page as it gets closer.
Hope to see you there,
Kelly Laier
UTA Treasurer