hows the fur prices where you are??

The last few years I coonhunted the meat was worth more than the fur. Eddie

I feed beaver and rat carcases to my hounds all winter keeps em fat in the cold weather.
Very protien rich so they have plenty of enegry for chasin ol stub tail in the deep snow.

Folks, don't get me wrong.

I've probably killed more animals than most people knew even existed. I'm not proud. When I kill, there is a reason. Pleasure is never one of them. I don't think I've ever killed for profit.

At one time, I had serious varmint problems. I set traps, and killed everything except the targeted animal. I now rely on my scoped Ruger 10-22 and spotlight...

And, no matter how many animals you have now, if theres a shtf or teotwawki, all the Bubbas, Rednecks, and Good ol boys out there, (who's entire survival prep is Hank Williams? "A Country Boy Will Survive") will eliminate all huntable and trappable animals, in short order.

Anyway, good luck marketing a luxury good during the current stagflationary recession....

If someone needed money, they'd probably be better off covering a shift at Mickey D's or picking up tin cans.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

For 25+ years, I hunted coon. My dogs and I lived just to run all night. It wasn't just for the money but for the fun. One year, 1970, had 108 coon and got $130. Ten years later, 1980, a lot less furs but a check for $1,230. Used to be uncommon to see a dead one along the road. Now can't drive 5 miles without seeing 2 or 3. Don't have to hunt them now as they come to me. Big ones wear the hair off the tops of their backs crawling out through the storm sewer grates!

Around here, there's been the same company buying furs since the 1960s. That's Groenewold Fur & Wool Co. out of Forreston, IL. Used to be just Wisconsin and Illinois. Now they've branched out to a lot of other states. Check to see if there's a stop scheduled in your area at: www.gfwco.com

Martin

hunting and trapping is many things in one. it is tradition, recreation and for some it is income or even survival. i've never been big on trapping as i think it is cruel, but i won't push my views onto anyone else and i respect their desire to do as they wish. the traditions of hunting and trapping serve to perpetuate skills that could be needed for survival. perhaps we don't need to eat raccoon or wear their fur these days, but who knows what tomorrow will bring? speaking of eating raccoon...it was pretty tasty if i remember correctly. dad cooked one off for his dogs on the woodstove when i was young and i ate from the backstraps. it was a lot like beef.

my dad had coon dogs all his life and he also lived to run dogs in the night. it was the last fun thing he did before he died. i think some of his very last words to me were "i wish i had taken the gun, i treed a nice one".

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this message has probably been edited to correct typos, spelling errors and to improve grammar...

"All that is gold does not glitter..."

Word around my parts is that prices have tanked. They were suppose to be pretty good this year but word around the campfire lately is that prices are way down.

Lots of guys around here sell their stuff green. More often than not just drop the whole animal on the counter and take whatever they're given. Very few take the time to flesh and stretch and prepare their furs even though they could get much more for it.

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Respect The Cactus!

Modern Pioneer, Here is a link to board sizes you can use instead of wire stretchers,http://www.furharvesters.com/boardsizes.htm. If your going to tan and sell your own the boards wouldn't have to be perfect. Don't forget to cut some tapered boards for belly wedges. Hang in there and keep at it.

I don't know how anyone can say the fur market has tanked they haven't had the first auction of the season yet. Also local buyers have never paid top prices they buy on speculation. If you want the best prices either sell your furs value added or ship to the Canadian auction houses. I prefer continue to live off what God provides not help pawn off mickey d's artery clogging wrapped in petroleum waste garbage.

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The Last Frontier - My blog about Life in the Alaska Bush, Homesteading and Homeschooling.

Exactly the local buyers always pay less because there selling them at auction for more,so if you don't need the cash asap your chances of selling a little higher if you wait for a fur sale.Sometimes that's not an option though i've sold fur to pay bills many times,trapping and hunting hounds has payed my bills all my life,and my grandpa did likewise for most of his.

How very interesting. I guess it never occurred to me that people still do this. How do you go about actually finding buyers for your furs?

I think the idea of feeding the meat to your dogs is pretty good. Do you boil because of the possibility of rabies? I know raccoons carry it so I always freak out if my dogs find a dead one and try to get it. However, I also know that raw meat (as well as the innards) are good for dogs.

Very intriguing thread.

I've never known a dog to eat a raw coon other than the tails and hind feet. I would probably not have believed it except that an old hunter told me that 50 years ago. My first coon dog was a Walker-Beagle mix and he would sit and wait for me to skin the coon. Then he'd eat his fill of feet and tails. It sort of made sense since those were the parts that he was chasing. Second dog, a Black & Tan, wouldn't eat a drop of raw coon but would eat it cooked.

Best reason for cooking the coon are the parasites that they may carry. In one part of my hunting area, seldom found a coon without hog worms in their intestines. Right around home, and now city coon, the intestines almost always had tapeworms.

Martin

I know this is a little off topic but the title of the thread caught my attention. Yesterday I was driving downtown through Lexington Ky ( down by Rupp Arena) and noticed a very attractive and elegant blonde lady in the crosswalk wearing a full length black fur coat. It was one of the most beautiful fur coats that I had ever seen and I am really not a big fur coat person. Is there a market still for fur: I thought that PETA pretty much did away with the market and made it terrible to wear fur. I know it s a little off topic but I thought someone here might know.

Apparently you haven't been following this thread very closely. It's about selling wild furs! Again, go to www.gfwco.com to find what and where they are buying.

Martin

Peta preaches to the choir those who wear furs will continue to do so.

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The Last Frontier - My blog about Life in the Alaska Bush, Homesteading and Homeschooling.

Paquebot

I apologize, no I wasnt following the thread very closely at all. I saw the title and even though I knew it was about wild furs, i was just stating that I saw a lady wearing a fur coat which is way off topic and I guess why fools sometimes open their mouth in order to say something.
Sorry for intruding- please commence without me (as I tiptoe out)

I'm guessing the coat was dyed beaver or muskrat. They are beautiful and warm.

Stick around your question was legitimate. There is a world wide demand for wild furs. People know wearing fur as with any other renewable resource is just good use of our resources. There are thousands of families world wide who support themselves through the fur industry.

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The Last Frontier - My blog about Life in the Alaska Bush, Homesteading and Homeschooling.

You wasnt off topic. If it was black i suspect either dyed muskrat or may have even been mink or maybe dyed fisher??

[QUOTEApparently you haven't been following this thread very closely. It's about selling wild furs! Again, go to www.gfwco.com to find what and where they are buying.

Martin ][/QUOTE]
Thanks for the link.

AKHomesteader do you trap? It was always one of my dreams as a teenager to go to Alaska and be a long liner. Setting up camps out in the bush and running very long trap lines all winter long. I always wanted to trap fisher or marten. Wolverine has always been on my wish list. I also wanted to try my hand at wolves. You got any stories you like to share id be more than happy to listen Have a good one

Keep you powder dry

I can only imagine how wonderful this would be in the winter! What a wonderful skill. I am envious.