Mark June - no more retail sales after June 1st

With Bossman's permission,
I'll announce that after selling trapping supplies to both wholesale and retail customers since we started in 1984, Mark June's Lures will end our retail (direct to customers) selling June 1st of this year. We will continue to "be in business", continue to produce our products, but will point our many fine customers to our many fine dealers.

Donna and I will also be moving from south Texas to the Dallas, TX area as soon as our home sells as I have applied to and been accepted to a 4-year graduate program at Dallas Theological Seminary. Classes begin in August and since I'll be at seminary campus full time 8 months a year for the next 4 years, there's no way my lovely, hard-working bride can be all things to the retail side of the business... so we are diligently working the wholesale side of the biz with MTP, F&T, PCS, Cumberland, Trap Shack, etc. to sell our MJL lures/baits/DVDs (as all of them have in the past).

Plus, this planning allows us to continue to trap and for Donna and I to travel more often to see our 11 grandkids scattered in multiple states. Gotta get those kiddos on the trap line with papa and mimi!

Mark

Some great preachers have passed through there.

Amen Mark,great to hear of you chasing a dream.wish you and the misses the very best.

Mark,

Thanks for all you have done for me and my son! Wishing you continued success!

Solomon and Garrett Pohler

Nobody will have to worry about Coyotes on their way to Church Gods Blessing's to you and yours

God bless you.
Heres a new one
Not a "fisher of men". But a" TRAPPER of MEN"

God bless you and your family! Im excited for you sir! The harvest is ripe, God's speed too you.

Seth

Mark that's completely understandable. Also that's awesome you're going to Dallas Theological Seminary. Years back I was looking into that school, but God had other plans and I went to school in Jerusalem. I'll keep you and Donna in prayer as you both embark on a new chapter in your lives.

Good for you Mr. June. I look forward to hearing a good sermon one of these days. What an opportunity for you and your wife. Good luck and God bless.

BYE BYE

Best wishes on your future endeavors!

Chris

Very exciting! God bless.

Hope all goes well mark, so does that mean you and rusty want be doing many trapping trips to gather?

Thanks y'all for the words of encouragement. Although not sure of exactly where the Lord is leading us, we've decided to be obedient and trust.

I would say, having already been involved in our local church in a leadership role (elder) including preaching a few times.... that a trapper has a very special bond with creation. A viewpoint that sadly, the world today, hardly knows. I advocate and encourage all trappers to teach, teach, teach our young people about nature and "who" designed and created it!

^^^yep!

11 grandkids? Didn't realize you were old enough to be a grandpa.

Mark good to see the move for you. Praying for you and Donna

Mark,
God is still working in you and molding you as his servant here on earth.
Best wishes to you and your family. I know his retirement plan is the best!

Jonesie, you and I have had some good times brother. To be continued!

eastwood,

yep. 11 grandkids. Oldest boy is now 37. Whew, are we getting long in the tooth or what!

Sent with prayers. What a noble change. Congratulations.

Mark

I hope you will always be active in the trapping industry and I'm hoping to cross paths with you some day. Your coyote book really helped me get my legs under me and start catching coyotes some what frequently. I also emailed you some questions when i just started and you took the time to email me back with detailed answers. I really appreciated it.

As the Aussies would say "Good on yah Mark" Trapping souls can be a challenge, but worth the venture.

Bryce

Mark, obedience and trusting the Lord is the best we can do. X2 on being a trapper and bonding in nature. Everytime I get my kids in the mountains i include age appropriate visual theological lessons, and worship as we rest and enjoy the beauty.

Good luck and God Bless you Mark!

Garry-

God bless and good luck. It was a privilege meeting you and Rusty at the academy. As they say you “don’t know what you don’t know” I learned a lot, and it surpassed all my expectations. I couldn’t have picked a better group of guys to spend my time with. My family will keep you in our prayers.

Mark - best wishes to you and your wife on the large and positive changes in your business and personal lives. Also, I am very impressed by your statement and testimony here about being obedient and trust. I wish you all the success with your calling.

Regarding a trapper holding a special understanding in the Lord’s Creation, I named my business Genesis Wildlife Services, Ltd. I do wildlife habitat improvement, land management, timber stand improvement, nuisance wild animal trapping, and predator management trapping and hunting. My business plan is contained in the book of Genesis.

Take care my friend.

Good for you mark.
I have a four year degree from St. Charles Borromeo seminary in Philadelphia. I didn't go on to become a priest obviously but I will never regret giving it a go to see if that life was for me. One incredible experience and very rewarding time for me. Taught grade school in a small west Phliiy parish. Met a lot of neat hard working folks.
Also got to see some great basketball between st Joe's and Villanova in late 80s.
I wish you all the best in your venture.
(and glad to hear I can still buy some widowmaker and fox frenzy in my future seasons!!!)

Jim

Big step Mark, best wishes to you.

Good luck to you and Donna in your new endeavors! Gotta make that time for family for sure ! Time is far shorter than most realize and family is important ! Wish you well !!!

Thanks Jim.
No hiccups as far as keeping the lures and baits formulating, bottled, and available to trappers. Especially since I'll have tuition due each semester
Backing off the retail end of the biz is a HUGE time saver and allows us a flexibility we haven't had in a while, what with orders shipping 6 days a week. But we are immeasurably blessed dealing with trappers and outdoorsmen as we do (great folks).
And the plan allows both Donna and I to trap together which we are excited about. We used to trap together in Michigan but because I trap away from home in Nebraska, Louisiana, Texas, etc.... Donna stays at the shop to ship orders to y'all. After June 1st, she's able to set traps again. Watch out coyotes and bobcats!

Best of luck to you and your wife, and God bless!
If you ever come trapping back in Michigan, get ahold of me! I'd love to spend a day on the line with you and see a real trapper trap! Sometimes I think I know what I'm doing, then the critters prove me wrong

DitchDiver,

Love to take ya out, but boy-o-boy I had good farms in all 3 game zones in MI, but I haven't been trapping there since 2004. I still remember opening day with my wife that year... 9 coyotes first morning as they had absolutely taken over the southern MI farms I grew up around in Fenton, Linden, Holly down to Oak Grove and Cohoctah. Had a great season in 2004. Fond memories for sure!

No problem, Mr. June. You can just run my line and I'll just take notes!
If nothing else, you and your wife come to Michigan and I'll buy you two a nice dinner. I would be happy to do so, as a thank you for all I have learned from you and all you have done for us trappers (not to mention the creation of "Fox Frenzy"). I was very happy to meet you at the Escanaba convention last year and hope to see you again.

Good luck to you Mark.

Best of luck, Mr June. God bless you and yours.

Good luck Mr. June

Wheelers, beachcomber, and HagZ,
Appreciate the encouragement.
Donna and I spent today in Dallas looking at housing options. Saturday I'll be on a high fence ranch setting traps in the brush country of south Texas. Talk about opposite ends of God's creation!!!
The Mrs. and I don't really ever have much moss growing beneath our feet!

We're getting PMs asking who carries our products and if we'll be listing them on our website after June 1st. We won't be listing them as sure enough if we do, we'll leave some out. We don't actually always know all the trap supply dealers that the bigger trapping wholesalers sell to anyway.

Short answer would be to ask whoever you order trapping supplies from if they carry the MJL products you're looking for.

Good luck Mark. Hope to talk with ya soon. Going to miss working with you at the Nebraska State Trappers convention.

Hopefully you'll still have time to trap 105 bobcats

Good luck to you young fella. It is never easy to change directions but you obviously have a calling.
Peace to you

Mac

Mark and Donna, Best of luck. I'm sure you will both make a difference in the lives of many along this new path. Your communication skills will be an asset to those who hear the message.

Best of luck

Paloduro, huntinhal, and Minkguy,

Humbling to get so many well-wishers from y'all... thank you from Donna and I both.

Donna and I just got back from Dallas seminary's campus visit day today and what a wonderful experience we both had. Chuck Swindoll, a DTS grad, was the chapel speaker and when I tell you he is an articulate, passionate, gifted pastor... well, it was a truly inspirational message from him along with many others today. Blessedly, humbly, rich.

DTS was started and is today noted as a seminary that teaches all 66 books of Scripture, along with the Hebrew and Greek languages so I'll have to prayerfully ask God for assistance at every step along the way FOR SURE.

And nope, no way I can trap as many critters these next 4 years. Focus will be more time with my wife (on and off the trap line), kids & grandkids, and of course God's calling.

Sure hope you don't use religion to promote your products.

Best of luck to you Mark. God Bless

Oh brother!

tbn... I'd like to hear you explain that one...

Sure,I accepted the Lord 30 some years ago,I see all kinds playing the Jesus card to benefit themselves. I just hope this is not the case. Nothing more,nothing less.

Wow! What a crass thing to say. Mark has been around a long time and his reputation and character speaks volumes. I can assure you he won't be "playing the Jesus card." I've been a believer for about 35 years and have a pretty good feel for people. Mark and Donna are stand-up people that don't deserve that kind of scrutiny. I remember Mark and Tom Miranda setting up at our MI State Convention MANY years ago and have nothing but respect for him. I'm done.

Best wishes on your new journey.

Dustytinner, my sincere thanks for the nice regards.

tbn in MI, our old stomping grounds. No harm, no foul friend. I had a couple PMs "warning me" about using religion to self-promote and I smiled as I read them. Kind of reminds me of church where I elder and shepherd a lot of good folk.

But if you really think about it, spending full time tuition & books & many other ancillary expenses over the course of a 4 year seminary study in no way would/could financially benefit a trapping supply (or any other biz). Not by a LONG shot!

Donna and I have simply decided to be obedient and trusting to a plan we believe God has placed in front of us. No more complex or complicated than that.
I will say that all of us in life are atuned to having a goal and working towards it. Some are better at it than others. Want to catch 50 coyotes, you probably know what you need to get done. Need more land. Need more traps. Have to get time off work to trap, etc. You plan the work and work the plan as they say.

In His kingdom, perhaps the most perplexing part of the equation is "what is the goal?" and what do we need to do to get there... when you don't actually know the entire plan.
God works on His time, not ours and He doesn't usually show us ALL THE PLAN, even when we wish it were so.
So we learn to trust and obey and as He cares for the sparrow, so shall He tend to us.

Mark

Good luck In your new endeavor.
Probably won't be long and Mark will have his own TV evangelist show. Someone has to replace Jim Baker and Tammy Faye. LOl

Good luck Mark

Beav,

Good one friend. It would take our Lord to get Ms. Donna in front of a camera!!
Truth be known many of us on this forum are big time introverts, myself included. I score "high" on testing of this sort every time I take it and most reading this would also. Typically, trappers are loners by nature. Tiss the nature of the beast as they say.
And quite a few public speakers are big, big introverts also. People errantly think public speakers are "people people" that love a good crowd but quite a few good ones are in fact quiet off stage. Many just like to travel life's journeys by themselves or maybe with a "crowd" of just a few others. Sound familiar to those reading this?

Best of Gods love to you and your family. It takes a lot of courage to do God's following. I wish you the best.

Yes that sounds pretty familiar- I can relate to what youve stated there. You prolly wont remember me,but I purchased the last 2 dozen sleepy creek 1.75’s you had for sale at the Wisconsin trappers convetion. Maybe 7or 8 years ago now ? And as much as I hate to admit it your old coyote and bobcat traps havent seen dry dirt Since then...lol. I ran out of muskrat traps that fall and somehow they ended up on my water line- gotta say they make a heck of mink and muskrat trap ! Lol Anyways just goes to show that not everthing gets used as originally intended...A trapper turned evangelist makes sense to me. No doubt youve got a unique audience and will be able to reach people who wouldn’t otherwise be reached thru other means... Hats off and good luck to you and Donna on the journey!

Mark I will be waiting to hear the rest of the story soon.

Mike, thank you very much.
Craig... I like the analogy and those traps were used in the field and that's what counts. I kinda miss the smell of a muskrat marsh to be honest. Been a while since I set a "rat" trap and my oldest kids remember when dad (me) would bring home a fresh muskrat and throw it in the pot on top of the wood stove as I skinned the day's catch. Boy-o-boy what good eating!
Jonesie... the story will take a while since I'm enrolled in a 4-year program at DTS brother. You and I have had some very good talks about theology and christianity and I always liked 'em. DTS's motto is "Preach the Word", something we would both agree to!

Mark

A bit of a blanket message here, but it saves me from answering quite a few PMs.

We won't be attending conventions in the future with the exception of the NTA each year, including Springfield in July, and the possibility of a few others here and there. There simply won't be time on our schedule plus I promised Ms. Donna that we'd start to visit the tribes of grandkids more that are scattered across these United States.
2 in MI, 2 in TN, 3 in north TX, and 4 in south TX. Frequent flier miles are just waiting on us!

Thank you to all who are PMing well wishes. Donna and I really appreciate the kindness.

Mark

I guess all the trapping demos given over the years will help you speak in front of a different congregation now.

God bless

Bill - Thanks brother!! Hope all is well in good 'ol PA!



In some regards Mr. Ed, in some regards. I've preached a few times at our church of 200 and I must say, it's a much different environment and atmosphere altogether. Although you are teaching in both a trapping demo and a church sermon, the church sermon is aided by the Holy Spirit.... trapping demo, not so much!

DTS as a teaching seminary has a motto of "Teach the Word", and as a seminary body they encourage you to "Live the Word".
Preaching is taught in the following manner - The accurate, practical teaching and application of God's Word and His grace.