September, 2026 President's Report
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Greetings all. June 29thth was our Summer Board meeting in Boone. Guests were Sandy Eckhardt, Judy Sells, Joe Dudley, Grace & Dale Rowson, Kristie Lambert, Jeff Milner and Tim Anderson.
Kristan reported our membership at 882 with 592 lifetime members. Mike Fletchall has been our only new lifetime since my last report. If you do not know, you can join or renew your membership to the association by going to the ITA website, under the Shop tab are all our membership options. As always, Thank you to all our new and renewing members for your support.
Chris Grillot announced she has decided to decline the Board’s nomination for treasurer and will be retiring from the Board when her term is up. Chris has been treasurer since 2006, secretary from 1983 to 1986 then again from 1995 to 2005 and attended most meetings between with Ed. The nomination from the Board is now Dwaine Knouse for the treasurer position. What many people do not know is Dwaine was nominated for the FTA treasurer position when Thad Sickles and Laura Gidney were stepping down. With this change, officer positions up for election this fall are president & treasurer, but nominations from the Board will be Craig Sweet for president and Dwaine Knouse for treasurer. Nominations will remain open until the General Membership meeting on September 12th.
Grace and Dale Rowson presented the ITA’s sheared beaver coat and vest June 12 and 13th to Miss Iowa McKenzie Kerry of Des Moines and Miss Iowa Teen Emily Sutton from Dewitt. Congratulations to McKenzie and Emily and thank you to Grace and Dale for presenting. We hope to see the gals at convention in Charles City.
Our 2026 ITA sustaining donor patches with a bobcat and 2025 sustaining donor patches with a mink are still available. Since my last report Richard Gettle has been the only person to purchase patches – thank you Richard. If you have not purchased one, they are $25 per patch for either year and are a way for anyone to assist ITA whether you are a member or not. If you would like one indicate year wanted, send a check made payable to ITA or Iowa Trappers Association. Mail your request to me, Craig Sweet 1825 Kirkwood St. Saint Charles, IA 50240 OR I will have them available at NTA in Richmond, IN, FTA in Macon, MO, Charles City at convention and Lexington, NE.
Iowa Trappers Association will be hosting beginner trapping classes in several locations around the state. Classes cover basics of Iowa’s trapping regulations, basic water, predator and dryland trapping. Currently classes are scheduled for the following locations - July 11 Clayton Co. Conservation Board 29862 Osborne Rd. Elkader, July 25 Marion Co. Sportsman Club 1702 Old Hwy 92 Knoxville, Aug 1 Washington Co Conservation Board - Marr Park 2943 Hwy 92 Ainsworth/ Washington, August 8 Silver Sioux Recreational Area 5938 Silver Sioux Rd. Cherokee, Sept 20 (Fur Handling Only) Sleepy Creek Tannery 209 N. Adams St. Wellsburg - limited to 10 students per 8 A.M. morning or 1 P.M. afternoon class, Sept 26 Lime Creek Nature Center 3501 Lime Creek Rd. Mason City, Oct 3 Hutton Valley School of Taxidermy 2514 Victory Lane St. Charles. To register for a beginner trapper or fur handling class see link below, go to the DNR calendar, click on event date then click on “go to event” to register.
As in my last report the ITA will be raffling a Mossburg Patriot .22.250 bolt action with a Vortex 3x9x40 scope. Tickets are $20 ea. only 200 to be sold. Drawing will be held Saturday September 12th at convention. Proceeds from this will assist with funding of traps, stakes ect. for our beginner trapper classes. If you are interested in a ticket or two contact Tony Evans at 319-548-0029 or agevans1961@gmail.com
Convention will be held September 11-12 at the Floyd County Fairgrounds in Charles City. The fairgrounds are located just off Hwy 218 on Hwy 14. - address is 2516 - 7 Mile Rd. or about 1/3 mile west of Hwy 218. Motels are located about 3 miles south of the fairgrounds off Hwy 218. Motels in town and their direct phone numbers are: Sleep Inn & Suites 641-435-1949 – 20 rooms blocked under Iowa Trappers $110 per night 10 Double queen’s and 10 King. Super 8 – 641-228-2888, Hometown Inn – 641-228-4820. There will be plenty of electrical hookups available for everyone and plenty of primitive camping space but no real trees for shade. Primitive camping will be $10 per night & with electricity $20 per night, tailgating will be $25 per space for the weekend. Vendors that will be attending to date are: Funke Trap Tags, Cumberland’s, Keg Creek Baits & Lures, R&M Lures, Roberts Trading, No BS Lures, Top Lot Stretchers, Dakota Prairie Baits, Billingsley Brand Lures, Last Step Trap Supply/Tanning, Blakeley’s Bait & Lures, Fiber Tuff Pack Baskets, Cook Fur & Leather, MJ Enterprises, Sleepy Creek Tannery, Mike O’Hearn, Springleaf Stabilizers, Bret Smith – Lenon Lures, Blu-82 – Charise Oser, Charles City Chamber of Commerce, Iowa DNR, Roadrunner Snares, Scot D. Dahms, RM Skinning Machines, Backwater Baits, Papio Creek Lures, Frank’s Lures, Bass Brothers Lures, Mallard Curl Calls, WildFur By KB, NTA, FTA, ITA. A tentative schedule for convention can be viewed on our ITA website – www.iowatrappers.com
Friday evening will be the potluck as it has been for many decades. We will also be holding a beginner trapper class starting at 9 A.M. Saturday morning for anyone interested. Dealer buildings will be open 8-6 Friday and 8-5 on Saturday, auction will begin at 7:30 Saturday.
Don’t forget the ITA photo contest. Most bring their photos to convention, get your photo/s to Tom Walters before noon Saturday for judging. Also, remember to put your name on the back of your photo as well. Categories for the photo contest include Animal in Trap, Trapper and Catch, Multiple Catch and Youth - 16 & under.
The first of 7 Beginner Trapper classes was held yesterday in Elkader. We had 22 attendees, both youth and adult. I spoke with a gentleman whose family had traveled almost 3 hours to attend. We always ask attendees how they found out about the class. As always, social media has been the avenue which has the most votes by far. Thank you to - Joe Dudley who organized the location details at Clayton County Conservation’s Osborne Nature Center, Chris Jones and Vince Evelsizer covered regulations and DNR info, Jeff Milner covered dryland trapping, Bruce Rhoads covered predator trapping and using cages, Kerry Beastle covered water trapping, Cammie Milner served lunch and I covered ITA info. Everyone left happy with their new trapping equipment and bait, adults appreciated the class presentation and information.
That is about it for now. I will close this report with our final meetings for this year. ITA’s Fall Board meeting will be held THURSDAY September 10th 7 P.M. at the Floyd County Fairgrounds, General Membership meeting will be held at 1:30 P.M. Saturday September 12th.
As always, all members are welcome and encouraged to attend. Til next time - Craig