The NTA, or the FTA?

NTA. Your state association probably has more member's than FTA.

And NTA for the most part usually had the bigger conventions. Always looked at the FTA as the blue collar trapping organization with good people.

FTA Trappers College has helped many, especially back when the information didn't flow so freely.

Loyalty to them is easy for me since they were pretty much "it" from the 60's-90's around here....Kentucky used to not even have a NTA representative, and doubt they do now.

The UTK has done a fine job during their time here as well, and has made more effectual difference than the national organizations, IMO.

I don't know how current the stats are but a few years ago the NTA was about 9K and the FTA about half that or a tad less. Don't know what a decade of low trapping activity has done.

Bryce

T-Man has more members than the FTA and NTA added together.

I'm too cheap to join and too lazy to help.
I'm sure others have better excuses.

You guys ever notice a group standing around waiting on someone to do the work? i think that’s what you get when you rely on an umbrella national organization too much. If you can put together a strong group within you own state to work on issues within your own state and if many states did this I think trapping overall would be stronger. Most never trap outside their own borders. It’s surprising ,or was to me, how receptive our own fish and wildlife was to bringing trapping in Kentucky up to speed. We had numerous problems and outdated nomenclature we were able to clear up by going hat in hand and working directly with them. I realize some states are too far gone for this but if not, a group of you guys ought to try it. You can still support national organizations while doing this. We are affiliated with Sportsmen’s Alliance and they very quickly came in to help us when a baby anti trapping issue sprang up and they ended it quickly.

ky, just do like we did, let the game and fish dept run the trapping association, get rubber stamped anything they want to do now whether it helps trapping or not.

Look at it this way: by not joining or doing anything, you get to benefit from the work of others, plus you save a few bucks too. That should make you feel better.

We’ve been at loggerheads with them at times. They’ve been very good overall listening to trappers and working with us. We haven’t gotten everything our way. Trying for a long time to get a two day check on water sets. We were sabotaged by another group telling everyone we wanted two day check on land sets. I bet you can guess what group it was. They didn’t get our support for the next thing they wanted. If this method of working for trapping is undertaken you must know when to agree or disagree.

Revising that snare lock nomenclature was huge.... Big thanks on that one!

That and the issued number for trap tags so any problem as to who was actually in the right and wrong permission wise on a property was our first order of business. It wasn’t right having your name on a trap when an actual trespasser stole it and knew who you were and you had no idea. They still steal them though. The phone number on the tag was designed for all or any issues go through the conservation officer. These types of individual state things aren’t considered or touched by a national organization. They must be handled state to state.

Why did you do that?

Alot of bad blood existed between the boys in green and trappers in this state, had been that way forever. When i took over as prez. in 2000 i felt we needed a better working relationship with our game dept. same as what Ky has done. Kid workshop's is what brought the two groups together and healed old wounds. Next thing i know the state conservation director wanted to change some things which has to be done in our legislature which in itself is goofy and time consuming but a quick call to his buddy who id known forever and become involved with in the workshops helping get them off the ground and going was all that was needed for the entire state association to endorse the change he wanted.

A quick phone call to the then president and a letter with the letterhead was sent to present to the legislature showing all the membership was in favor it. No board meeting, no polling board member's their thoughts on it, NOTHING! Much less informing the membership it was even going on! And now you know why I resigned and walked away. Not a fan of one man shows, wasn't how i ran the association when i was president, board got to decide what we did and didn't do, not me.

Now the retired game warden and his wife run the whole association so it's just a rubber stamp for whatever montgomery wants to change. Thus the association is just an arm of the game and fish dept. now, members have no say in anything.