ESCANABA – The Annual Trapper’s Convention/Outdoor Expo is set for Friday and Saturday at the U.P. State Fairgrounds located in Escanaba. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days (all times EST).
During the two days, nine famous outdoor experts will be taking the stage to give presentations on trapping and hunting. For a list and times and topics of each presenter and other information go to www.uptrappers.com and go to the 2024 trappers’ convention page and then to the demonstrator’s page.
Admission is $10 for both days and kids under 12 are free. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. This family friendly event draws thousands of attendees each year. Camping on the grounds is available.
There is lots to do and see at the convention. Many famous outdoor experts will be on the grounds always willing to talk to attendees. The popular Friday Night Fish Fry featuring locally caught fish is back. (Contact event director Roy Dahlgren at (906)-399-1960 or trapperroy@outlook.com for dinner reservations or any other questions.)
New to the event this year is “The Kids Cave” which will offer activities including: “Bandage a Bear,” “Pan for Gold,, “Build a mink box,” “Trapping Demos,” supervised free fishing, archery and others. Games, prizes, and raffles are scheduled. See the Vendors page of the website to see a list of the vendors and what some of them will be selling.
This is a good chance to take advantage of some of the “convention specials” and to stock up on supplies for the upcoming seasons without dealing with added shipping charges.
“The Expo is a great event,” said Steve Kocsis (longtime member of U.P. Trappers.) “It is great that all the presenters engage their audience with dialog. They all stress legal, ethical, humane means of setting traps and encourage safety and sportsmanship while in the woods running the line,” Kocsis added.
One of the presenters is Rick Friedrich from mid Missouri. He started trapping at the age of 14 with his grandfather. His love for trapping grew quickly as did his trapping skills as he watched demos at the trapping conventions, began talking with other trappers around home and to some of the experts he met at the conventions.
He has been involved in the Missouri Trappers Association for the past 48 years, has served in almost every leadership position and has helped anywhere and everywhere he was needed. Rick became a member of the National Trappers Association in 1974 and has also been very active at the National level fighting for trappers.
Bobcats are very scarce in the part of Missouri where Friedrich traps but on Jan. 5, 1978 (a date he will never forget) he got his first Missouri bobcat He was hooked on bobcat trapping from that date forward and began “state hopping” to fulfill his passion. In the last 30 years he has trapped in many states including Oklahoma, Kansas, Utah and New Mexico.
Recently he has been trapping in midwestern New Mexico for two to three weeks at a time with a good friend from near his home in Missouri.
“I am really looking forward to coming to the UP Trappers Convention and Outdoor Expo this year and giving a demo on Western Bobcat Trapping," Friedrich said. "Look me up while I am there, and we can sit down and tell a few ‘Trappin’ Tales’. Be safe and see you in Escanaba.”
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