Local couple launch trapping supply outlet

The combination of a passion for business, a love for the fur industry, and a desire for future financial security has ensnared a local couple.
Sharon and Mike Gurski purchased part of Bertram Trap Ltd. from Manitoba resident Bruce Bertram, manufacturer and inventor of the “Ram” power snare system.
The Gurskis’ business–“Ram” Connection–opened Aug. 4 in the Crozier Warehouse with a complete inventory of “Ram” trapping products, live traps, brand name lures and baits, hunting supplies, and accessories.
“Ram” Connection is operated as a mail order business, similar to a Consumers Distributing outlet where customers order supplies by phone or in person from a supply catalogue.
“We have purchased [a portion] of one of the major trapping businesses in Canada,” Sharon Gurski, a former Ontario Hydro employee, said last week.
“We’re the connection!” she smiled.
Mike Gurski, who holds down a forestry job with Ontario Hydro, couldn’t praise Bertram enough for his expertise in the trapping field, as well as all the help he gave to get their business off to a good start.
“He’s a genius. It’s so nice to have somebody thinking up and inventing stuff for this end of the trade,” said Gurski, who also works two area trap lines.
“And [Bertram] has the contacts with some of the top dogs in the trapping world, and helps us to meet and know a lot of people in the industry,” he added.
The couple also acknowledged the help of the Rainy River Future Development Corp. in their endeavour.
But Gurski also didn’t deny he and his wife had some quality experiences of their own which would bring success to their new business.
“I’m the hunter and the trapper and she is the computer whiz,” he smiled.
“Ram” Connection is expected to supply trapping equipment to customers across the country and into the U.S., as well as on the local level, with numerous such orders already on the go.
“We will supply a lot to remote native reserves and now have a main contract with the Northwest Company Inc. for 450 dozen traps,” Sharon Gurski said.
That contract will see trapping supplies shipped from here to Northwest Co. stores in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario–a deal worth more than $40,000 wholesale.
“People who are not in trapping, or who don’t know about [the trade], think it died a long time ago but it’s always gone strong,” she said.
“The potential to retire early is there [for us],” she reasoned. “I really believe small business is the way to security.”
The grand opening of “Ram” Connection is planned Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.