Annual convention scheduled for Aug. 14-16 in Chisholm

The Minnesota Trappers Association will celebrate 50 years of existence Aug. 14-16 at its anniversary convention in Chisholm.

A 66-page book commemorating the anniversary of the association, a commitment to conservation and education, and 400 years of trapping tradition is being created by avid trapper and historian Ray Sogard of Hibbing, who serves as the association’s District 1 director. The book will be available for sale at the convention.

Sogard notes that the association’s District 1, which includes Koochiching, St. Louis, Cook, Itasca and Lake counties, has about 465 members. Sogard will seek the association’s presidency during an election to be conducted at the convention.

The family-oriented convention is expected to draw 4,000 people and will include trap-setting demonstrations, trap vendors, auctions, and presentations by the Department of Natural Resources and University of Minnesota Veterinary Public Health. Tours and a youth photo contest will also be offered. Camping sites will be available. For more about the event, see www.mntrappers.org.

A feature at the convention will be a primitive voyageur encampment with people from Hibbing and Bemidji donning traditional gear and “living” the life of a voyageur.

The book includes a history of the association’s presidents and features a photo of the late Robert “Bob” Himes, Ray, who served as the association’s first president, holding the carcass of a large wolf over his shoulder.

Himes, according to the book, was a full-time professional trapper from the time he moved from Wisconsin to Ray in the early 1930s until his death in 1975. He helped organize the association.

“He was always happy to help any young or new trappers and encouraged them to pursue the profession,” notes the book.

Another photo included in the book shows “seven Island View men who went hunting on propeller-driven snowsleds” posed in front of the carcasses of six large wolves hanging from a stand, killed in the Saginaw Bay area of Rainy Lake. The Jan 12, 1954, photo notes that the largest of the wolves, worth $35 each in bounty, weighed about 140 pounds. Stanley Swenson, one of the hunters, is shown with the wolves.

Sogard explained that the association was created in 1959 after a story in the “Fur, Fish & Game” magazine published a story about a similar group in Pennsylvania.

“They preached to start the association to protect their rights because of changes in thinking in the nation and the anti-groups coming along,” he said.

About that time the state Legislature discontinued the bounty system that paid money for the trapping of certain species.

“The bounty system was very important because the average income in the area at that time was about $5,000 and a lot of guys went out trapping to supplement their income,” he said.

Sogard said the association grew quickly and the first convention was held in Itasca State Park just four years after it was organized.

Even though trappers lost the battle on the state bounty system, Sogard said it motivated many to join the association, which continues to a strong advocate of the right to trap and take game.

Sogard also pointed to the Canada lynx, which is a protected species. While there are now restriction on traps, he said trappers may still trap.

“Without the trappers association, it might have been a worse scenario in the state,” he said.