My understanding is Indiana.

Just in case some missed it the old days are gone. Fur market in relation to costs is as bad as it's ever been, far less trappers, families are extremely busy. It isn't 1985 any more

The South Dakota guys (and a lot of Iowa folks and others) put on a great event.

No one can control the weather or people.

Times change

I hadn’t been to an NTA convention since Escanaba MI, maybe 11 years or so ago

I was invited by good friends from SD, and I was glad I went.

I got to deliver stuff to dealers, see people I haven’t visited with in years, and had a minute or two to talk to people that come to Coyote Days every year, and a LOT that are coming for the first time this year.
I also got to meet Heimo and Edna Korth, we’ve been visiting on the phone every summer for about 16 years now, and finally got to meet

I gave a coyote demo, and hope I didn’t ramble too much, since I could talk about coyotes for days.

Putting on events are a lot of work, and it was hot

I have to tip my hat to that group, good job !

Thank you John for making the trek, see ya in a few weeks!!

. Considering the fur market it was an excellent convention. Attendance was good and very well run and a good fairgrounds . Caught up with a few people I’d hadn’t seen for awhile. Saturday afternoon being dead is a trend that has been going on for a number of years now.. Friday is the big day for conventions The old days Saturday was pretty busy now I consider it pretty much over by noon on Saturday.

I was there from about 10:30 through a little after 2. Some interesting stuff to see and people to meet. I don't get to our fair grounds often, I don't think I've ever driven the road back by the river dike. Some talented and determined people at the show !

P.S. Probably the closest I'll ever get to a dead wolf. Seeing one in a zoo doesn't do justice to their actual size. Maybe the Paratroop Kid can snag a wolverine before he leaves Alaska...

I spent all 3 days there. Being only 3 hrs from home, I doubt it will ever be closer. Took my camper and stayed in a campground just a few minutes from the convention. There were some excellent demo's, by some of the top dogs in the industry. Hat's off_to the South Dakota Trappers Association for putting on a great show. It takes a lot of people, working very hard, to pull this off.

When it went to Sunday, did it open on Thursday or Friday? Dealers I talked to said Thursday and Friday were very good. The room being empty at 6 pm on the last night of the convention should be expected.

Thanks for coming out! It was something else to see you 4 up at the table Friday morning. I don’t think Major realized he was supposed to just do a quick intro….lol
Brian Flowers had a lot to say about you fellas, and how much a nice down to earth type of guy that Tom is.

I didnt get to look at as much as I wanted to, especially being there a couple days. Had little kids with me though, and they did well despite the temps. Whoever worked the kids cave, my hats off to you. That seemed to be the hottest place in SE SD! My kids had a blast though. Fans were going but it was just hot.
I i think I was at a national in Iowa around 1991ish if Im not mistaken, and I remember it being way busier. Just the times I guess. All in all, great event.

Then there’s the older fella that was buying all the old traps at the auction Friday evening. I was wondering “what’s he doing with all these things?”. He ended up announcing that all the youngins could come up and grab some free traps.

Dang so many T man folks at the convention and I had no clue who any of you were. I had a great time.

I thought the same thing. We probably all walked by each other a dozen times!

Yep, it would be nice to know who was there. Without name tags, it's kind of hard to put a name to all the faces.

Great show and couldn’t get over all the vendors there. Pretty darn cool and hope everyone has safe travels home.

DWC, I'm glad you all came up to the nasty city and the kids had a blast. I was impressed how many families I saw there with kids less than say 12 years old. That's was a great thing!!

Maybe someday I'll get to spoil some grandkids in the "Kids Cave". Maybe

Technically Thursday, although Wednesday was set up day and there would be business going on in the dealer building as early as Wednesday afternoon. Thursdays were the slowest day, with Friday and Saturday being the busiest. There were always still dealers selling Sunday morning for anyone who forgot anything. The dance on Saturday would be packed. If you didn't get there early, you might not find a seat. After the dance, vendors, tailgaters and plain ol trappers would hang out in the campgrounds and talk trapping around bonfires until the wee hours. On Sunday, everyone would get up, cook breakfast, and then mosey on out by early afternoon.

I guess those days are gone for good.

When Paul used to go to NTA conventions, many years he'd distribute name tags to Tman members, and set a time on usually Friday and Saturday for people to meet at his booth for a group picture.

And then for well over a decade, Tman also hosted the annual Tman Feed, with proceeds being split between the NTA and host association.

Normally I wont go there unless being paid to. Stopped at a gas station nearby to go to the bathroom before going to the fairgrounds and when I came out, the wife had the doors locked on the truck and pointed at two transients in the parking lot stumbling around at 9 am. I gave her a fist bump for recognizing and we went to fairgrounds. Kids had a blast. Great event. Town gets suckier every day, like most i spose.

On the back of the convention program it states that next years convention will be in Harrisonburg, VA. July 17th-19th.

I think there must be some critical mass when a metro reaches a quarter million people, especially if its a stand alone metro. The nicer neighborhoods move to the city's edges or out to the suburbs, the inner core becomes less desirable and more vacant or semi-vacant land for "troubled" people to hang out on.



I've heard, and seen photos, that the Shenandoah Valley is a beautiful region, pretty farm fields surround by the forests on the surrounding hills and low mountains.Hope you all on the east side of the country can get there next year.