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Trappers to host ‘how to’ session

HERMANSVILLE – District 3 of the U.P. Trappers Association will have its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Anderson Sportsman’s Club in Hermansville.

District 3 is dipping into the hundreds of years of experience in the association and asking members to do “how to” demonstrations, so this wealth of knowledge can be passed on to other trappers and future generations.

Ken Luedtke began trapping at 10 years old and now has 45 years of trapping experience to share.

Mostly self-taught, he suddenly began receiving top lot awards from North American Fur Auctions in the early 1990s for his furs — but even then, his self-improvement goals were only getting started.

His excellent fur-handling caught the eye of legendary NAFA fur agent Fred Salczenko and soon Luedtke was working for Salczenko, putting up many thousands of mink, muskrats, beaver, otter, raccoons, fox, coyotes and various other animals.

When you get 50 to 60 rough-skinned beaver dumped on the floor next to your fleshing beam — or when 1,300 hundred racoons arrive at NAFA’s facility needing to be fleshed, drummed and stretched before they spoil — a fur-handler tends to quickly gain a bit more experience.

And Luedtke learned well during his nearly 10 years of professional fur-handling experience at NAFA.

Just how good did he become? Try fleshing and stretching 40 beaver in a single eight- to 10-hour day or fleshing, drumming and stretching 100 racoons in a single day –as Ken has done — and you know you can then be called a professional.

Not only District 3 members but anyone who wishes to improve their beaver handling skills — or anyone who wants to learn to properly put up beaver pelts to maximize speed and fur quality — should attend this meeting.

At the same time, attendees can learn what it means to join an organization that is continually working for them and see what District 3 is doing to make every trapper more informed and more productive.

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