I’m sorry to report that Noel Carruthers recently passed away. His bright smile and stories will surely be missed by me and I’m sure many others. Services are yet to be planned but should be able to be found shortly at the following link.
https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/23298296/noel-carruthers/wall
If anyone has knows of any kids interested in going to either of the youth trappers camps there are still openings for both camps.
Lake Carl Blackwell Dec. 17-19th
Waurika Dec 31 -Jan 2nd
We will have traps to sell to the kids. 1 each #1.5,#3, dog proof and a sifter. We will have 24 starter kits available. If you are interested call Or email Shannon Sheffert
okshefferts@hotmail.com
(405) 742-7884
Hello from Southern Oklahoma. I hope that you had the chance to make the OFBA Fall Convention. We had a lot of great demos and vendors. I had the chance to meet a lot of new people and see a lot of old friends. I would like to thank all of the vendors that brought supplies and made donations for the OFBA and the OFBA Youth Camps. Thanks goes out to Catie Wyskup for donating all of the money that she made off her table of crafts. Thanks, Catie from the OFBA. The winners of the Ladies Skillet Toss were first place Cindy Murphy 26’9”, second place Catie Wyskup22’11 ½”, third place Jana Williams 21’6”. A big thanks goes out to Matt Yocham for everything that he does for the OFBA. Matt does all of our Auctions. Matt also does the Demo area at the Fall Conventions. Each year the Demo area improves. He is an exceptional person and we are very fortunate to have him in the OFBA. The Officers and directors for the OFBA are President Gary Jarman, Vice President Brad Thomure, Secretary/Treasurer R.C. Edgar and NTA Director is Shannon Sheffert. The Directors are Lloyd Teeters, Noel Carruthers, Matt Yocham, Dwight Keen, Evan Crosby, Noah Smith, Mike Bond, Catie Wyskup, Dana Wyskup, Tina Edgar, Dale Carson, and Tracy Anderson. Thanks for their support setting up for the Fall convention and helping to clean up the fair grounds.
Youth Camps will be December 17-19 at Lake Carl Blackwell and Dec 31-January 2nd at Lake Waurika. We are needing helpers at both camps and if you would like to help please get in contact with me at 405-238-0012. These camps are something that I look forward to every year and I know that the kids look forward to them also. I would like to thank Carrol Green for making her generous donation to Youth Camp. The money will go a long way for the kids. I used to feed cows for her before she moved to Montana. She always asked about the kids and Youth Camp. Carrol said that she appreciated what the OFBA did for the kids.
The OFBA Fur Sale will be March 5, 2022 at the Okmulgee Fair Grounds. The doors will open at 7:00 am. We will have a directors meeting after we get the building setup on Friday night. It was voted on to have the Spring Meeting before the sale starts. The Spring meeting will be at 8:00 am and the sale will start at 9:00 am. This is something different than what has been done in the past. We are hoping that we will have more people there for the meeting. Please bring 3 of your trap tags or mail them to me so that we can put them on a coon stretcher that we will auction off at the Fall Convention. We will set up the building on the evening of March 4 and could use any help that we can get. We can use help cleaning up after the fur sale also.
We have purchased a Ruger American Rifle that we are going to sell tickets for an OFBA fund raiser. It will be given away at the Fall Convention in 2022. Tickets are $10.00 each or 3 for $25.00. Look for information on Facebook and the website.
If you know anybody that is not getting their Trappers Post Please let me know so that we can find out why they are not receiving it.
Everybody be safe and hope that you have a good trapping season. Try to introduce someone to trapping or take someone along with you for the company. Remember to get a kid or kids involved with trapping as they are our future. Thanks R.C. Edgar
The OFBA Fall Convention is October 15 and 16 2021 at the Okmulgee County Fairgrounds. We have lots of demos and vendors scheduled up for you. Some of the vendors will be Okie Cable and Trap, Ozark Mountain Lure, Lee Reuwsaat, Gaylen Oppel, Dale Billingsly Lures, Dakota Harmon Peaceable Creek Fur, Lloyd and Robbin Teeters. Demo list is Jim Beavers NM, Mark Connor Texas, Derrick Search Missouri, James Lord Tennessee, Lee Reuwsaat SD, Justin Elliot Missouri, Gaylen Oppel OK and Brad Thomure OK. We will have the auction Friday night so bring something for the auction. The auction helps offset the cost of the building. There will be 3 stretchers that belonged to Monte Dodson and maybe some other things. We will have a fish fry Friday night and we ask that you bring a side dish for the meal. The Ladies Skillet toss will be Saturday, so ladies get your throwing arm warmed up. There will be a concession available both days. Lloyd Teeter will be doing how to make fur items. Robbin Teeter will be doing woman crafts. Catie Wyskup will have a craft table for the kids. Matt Yocham is in charge of the Demo area and he has had a year to plan this out. Every year it just gets better. Matt also does the auctions and as always, he does a great job doing everything. We are going to make 3 stretchers that have the trappers trap tag on them. We need 3 trap tags from each of our members. We ask that you bring them to the Fall Convention or send then to me. R.C. Edgar 16090 NCR 3270 Pauls Valley, Ok. Two of the stretchers will be auction off and 1 will be in a drawing.
We are having 2 Youth Camps again this year. The North Camp will be at Lake Carl Blackwell and the South Camp will be at Waurika Lake. Please call Shannon Sheffert a call at 405-742-7884. The camps fill up fast so get your name in soon. Last year there were around 150 people that attended both camps. They have been a big hit and they are growing. If you would like to help as an instructor, please give Shannon a call.
May 2021 Oklahoma Fur Bearers Alliance Treasurers Report
Hello from Southern Oklahoma. I would like to thank Charles and Lucille Spring from Miami Oklahoma for their generous donation of $200.00 to the OFBA. They are great people helping the OFBA. We will use the money towards the Youth Camps.
The 62nd Annual NTA Convention will be held at Spencer Iowa July 22 – 24 2021. The NTA needs our support to fight the antis from taking away our right to trap. Looking at the demo list and vendor list it should be a good convention. My grandson and I had the time to make the Twin Bridges Trapperman get-together, Texas and the NTA Southeast regionals and got to see a lot of old friends and make a lot of new friends. I didn’t see a lot of kids and that is not good for us. We need to get our young people involved in what we do. Please pass it down so that they can enjoy our sport.
The OFBA Fall Convention will be October 15 – 16, 2021 at the Okmulgee County Fairgrounds. We are working on the demo list and vendor list. If there is someone that you would like to see do a demo, please let us know as soon as you can so that we can try to get them here. Fish fry Friday night followed by the auction. Saturday we will provide the meat for lunch. We ask that you bring a covered dish for the meals. We are looking for donations for the auction. Anything that you can help out with will be appreciated. The auction is how we pay for the Fall Convention. Any ideas that you have to make for the OFBA will be appreciated. I am looking forward to the demo area that Matt Yocham builds. It just gets better every year. He is always coming up with a different twist. Hope to see everyone there.
The Oklahoma Wildlife Expo will be September 25 – 26, 2021 at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie Okla. The Expo is free to everyone. This is a great way to experience what Oklahoma has to offer in the outdoors. We are needing people to help in the OFBA booth. If you would like to please get in contact with the OFBA. We explain about trapping and show what we do. We also get a lot of kids for our Youth Camps there. Any help would be appreciated.
We are going to continue with 2 Youth Camps again this year. Last year there were about 75 kids and adults that attended each camp. Last year we had the largest turnout ever. We are always in need of instructors and helpers. The OFBA cooks are the best, but they can always use some support with their busy weekend. They do such a great job of keeping everyone feed so that the instructors can work with the kids. They always have enough and very good food. If you would like to get your kids in a youth trapping came please get with Shannon Sheffert at 405-742-7884. Sign up early before they are booked.
This is Election year and if you want to have your name put on the Ballot please get with me 405-238-0012. If you don’t like what the OFBA is doing, then become a director and help make the changes that you want to see. We need people that will help to build up the OFBA. If you want to put your name in, then expect to work. We need help with every event and youth camps. Thanks in advance for your support and help.
If you know anybody who is not getting their Trappers Post magazine, please let me know so that we can find out why they are not receiving it.
Remember to get a kid involved with trapping as they are our future. Thanks R.C. Edgar
Good morning! Dr. Takayama’s first surgery case this morning, so we are already up here at the hospital waiting for the OR to call for him. This is a big surgery. He’s going to be placed on the heart lung machine which means they will stop his heart and the machine will oxygenate his blood for him. The doctor will open the sternum, make an incision in his aorta and scope down into the left ventricle. Once the instruments are inside the left ventricle, the doctor will shave off the thickened part of the inside of the muscle of the ventricle. This will remove the obstruction to the flow of blood and restore the chamber of the heart to its normal size. After this is complete, the doctor will look at the mitral valve to determine if it needs to be repaired, also. This surgery is very rare, very complicated, and not very many places in the United States even offer this surgery; very few doctors specialize in it. Dr. Hiroo Takayama is one of the best in the nation, but he still only performs 20-30 of these surgeries per year.
While I was typing this, OR transport came to escort us all to surgery holding. This hospital has been nothing short of exceptional! And so many of the staff have told us that they are praying for us. It is truly miraculous!
I’ll keep you updated as we go! Thank you all for your prayers and support!
Terry Waggoner: Cage Traps (405) 586-2570
Okie Cable & Trap: Trapping supplies (918) 429-4648
Rugged Cross Outdoors: Trapping supplies & predator calls (918) 839-5540