Fur Prices

[472x1B/A]

Well, all the trapping seasons in all parts of the good ol USA should be over by now. How did you folks do, price wise of course? Even though I don't trap nor buy furs anymore, I am still itching to know how prices come out. Thank you in advance. ( Hope you all made millions. )

[Edward]

Coon/bobcat/beaver/red fox/coyote yielded 30 percent of last yrs prices ,don"t think I paid for lure/urine and I make my own !!!

[GoodOlBoy]

even if I had been in good enough shape to trap this last year (I wasn't) we didn't have enough cold weather to keep the hair on the hides.

GoodOlBoy

[472x1B/A]

Sorry to hear this GOB. Hopefully things get better for you and the weather cooperates this coming season. All the rain you'er getting isn't going to help too much either.

[472x1B/A]

Hmm, guess nobody sold any fur from hunting or trapping this past season. Well I hope everyone does really good come this next season. Later, be safe.

[trapper9260]

I just seen the post and I do not go on this part much .I trap some this past season. But the early cold got to me. But the fur price was not good but coyote.I got $20,$25,$35 for the 3 skins the large one went for the high price a big male. the other 2 where small females. the coon went about $10 on the average about. Rats was about $3 on the avg. skunk went about $12 and possum went about $2. Did not get hardly any possum this past season.Beaver went about $10 to $12 . got only 3 of them .Squrriel went for a $1 a skin.The few where all put up.It paid for my supplies and lic. and not much on the gas.But I did had fun and enjoy it also. They say coyote will be the going thing next season like it was this past season.Alot is looking to not do it next season .I do it no matter what.I can not do it like I use to because of my hip that i broke in the past and then a hip replacement . But I made it work to do some of it.Hope this helps you 472x1B/A

[GoodOlBoy]

I dunno, all the rain we are getting. I am hoping it continues, should give us a better winter if so (I hope anyway) We'll see.

GoodOlBoy

[trapper9260]

I see that coon is not going to be worth much this season coming for how it looks.But time will tell on it .

[Rally]

Doesn't look too good this coming season either. Spent four hours in my boat checking out a chain of lakes I'll be setting up this Saturday. I have a man that owns an island, where the beaver are eating some of his trees. He hired me to trap the beaver so the majority of my gas money will be covered. There was quite a bit of rat sign and some beaver and otter sign throughout the chain. I'm going to trap it hard for at least a week and see where I'm at. Put that fur up and hunt deer with the family for a week. Then maybe a week of pheasant hunting in SD. Should have good ice after that and be able to snare beaver under ice by then.

[trapper9260]

Rally sound like a good plan.The season here open the 7th of Nov.I will trap every thing. I put up the fur also.i will just do what I normally do every year.Some farmers want me to take the coyote and beaver and coon out and I just keep going till the weather get to me for how things are for me.I use to trap beaver under the ice but have not done that since I broke my hip in 2008 .time will tell for what time will tell.

[Rally]

Had a decent day today. Got three of the beaver for the guy that owns the island and 106 rats to boot. Was a little late when I took the picture at the landing. Got the female, male and one pup beaver. Probably gonna be at least a couple more pups. As luck would have it, the island owner was there with his family doing end of season cleanup and got to see the beaver. He was a happy camper. Now I have some skinning to do.

[trapper9260]

I have not seen that many rats for some time. I use to trap more back when I was in MA there where more there then there is here in IA. One thing about rats they are alot easy to put up then beaver.Nice to see the photos.

[Rally]

9260,
A little trapping story for you from yesterday. I was pushing my boat from one rat house to the next since they were so close in this piece of shoreline. I look ahaead at the next house and could see the upper half of a live female or small male mink directly above one of my sets (Ihad three traps on that house). Neat I think, a live mink. Was a real bummer when the mink bailed off the house and ran into the cattails. LOL Maybe tomorrow.
Not as good today but close on the rats. Got 105 rats and one of the pup beaver.

Need a bigger drying rack.

Back to skinning.

[472x1B/A]

Great pictures, and a great idea for a rat drying rack. Do you use any heat or just fans to dry them? I was never lucky enough to be in an area to get that many rats in one nite. A really good haul there Rally. Congratulations, but I bet that is an average haul for your local. Be safe.

[Rally]

472,
Some years we have a good rat population and others not. The last couple years they were worth the trouble, but the last two have been tough to make anything on them. My average went from Near $8 to a liitle over three last year. Still better than the coon market currently is. It's gonna be a tough market until the Russian buyers get back in.
Tough run today. Winds were up to 35 mph with steady sleet most of the day. Had my gas tank floating from waves and rain.
Ended up with 51 rats, 2 mink, an otter and another pup beaver. Everything got soaked. Suppose to moderate in the next couple days.

[trapper9260]

Now that is a good load of rats to see.Back in MA when I was there the most I got was 16 in one day but was working a full time job also.but the houses was not like you have .I had to look for runs and dens.That is a good one on the mink.I was trapping for otter at a dam for a river back in MA and had to cross the dam to check the otter sets and seen a mink near the dam diven in and out of a spot of the dam and I was watch him thinking it was in a trap ,so I check the feet while it was going at it in one spot and there was no trap on it and then when it was under water I grab it and done it in after. that is the only time I was able to get one that way.It was years ago also.but nice to see the load you got.Season for me open next saturday.we do not have much marsh around here to get the rats liek it would be nice to but I catch a few.Thank you for the photos.

[472x1B/A]

Hey trapper, we got ya by 2 days here in Ill.. Season opens the 5th of Nov.. The local gun shop up town here is now carrying traps and some fur handling equipment. We'll see what moves and what doesn't. Nobody around here is going to put fourth any more effort than is absolutely necessary unless they know there is a lot of EASY money in it. You guys be care full out there and I hope your fur baskets are over flowing.

[trapper9260]

I hear you about the way some are going to trap because of the money.To me that when the fur are high price they all come out of the wood work to trap and there is too many bad ones out there give the rest of us a bad name.I trap no matter what the price is.I look forward to it all the time. Yes you do have me beat by 2 days.When I was liven in MA they always open the season on the 1st of Nov. .I ask the game warden once about why the season is pen when it dose he said because they want to give every one a chance to get there trap set on open day and that is is the 1st Saturday of Nov. Also thank you about being careful ,you know all that could happened out there.

[Rally]

High prices are good for guys like me who sell supplies, but bad for guys like me who trap. LOL Seems some of the worst types are out stealing and making a bad name for those with good honest intentions. I love to trap especially under ice beaver. The beaver are gorgeous and no competition. Seems chopping through 24" of ice is a deterant for would be thieves also.
Had a decent day yesterday, but had to pull all my traps forawhile. I have customers wanting special snares made so need some time to fill orders. Was a beautiful day, with the cold front wednesday, pushing alot of ducks and geese down. Bauld eagles all over the marsh looking for a easy meal. Had one eat a mallard hen ontop of one of the rat houses I was trapping at. Looked like a feather bomb went off on top of the house and water around it. Ended up with 71 rats, one male mink, an otter and a real small coon.
Got five rats at the same house. Three in a colony trap and two in footholds

The boat headed home.

Days catch.

[trapper9260]

You done good.I use old milk crates to put my rats in and also my traps.That way what ever is wet can drain out some, till I get them home to hang them to dry out.otter is the one I skin and do up right away because of there fur.now since I do not trap by canoe now but by usen a ranger for getting into the fields because it is different to trap out here in Iowa then when I was in MA.I had trap beaver under the ice.I used snares on a pole besides conibears along the shore line where the ice is thin.