What do people do with furs?

ALOT of the furs and pelts now are shipped over seas to europe. i dont skin my animals i sell them the same way i get them minus the heart beat. im laid off all winter so it gives me something to to everyday since the law requires checking your traps at least once every 24hrs. not to mention an income. around here you only get 3-4 $ more for skinning the animal its not worth it to me let the fur buyer do it then you wont get $ deducted for ruining a pelt. but the season here is over in a week and the prices usually drop bad at the end of jan. best prices are in dec usually.

 

The whole fur trade is like a subculture due to all the PETA nuts out there. They have fur buyers all over the US and I think they even have fur auctions down in KY on a regular basis. I'd find a local trappers supply and they can help you get connected. Good Luck!

 

Most folks who trap sell their furs to a fur buyer, most furs are sold to China or Russia. Some make products such as dreamcatchers out of them. Others turn it into a busines, nuisance trapping, and can make a decent living. One thing is for sure, you have to love it cause you aint gonna get rich. From what I know, yes coyotes are a pain in the butt to skin with little return money wise. Id rather go fishing or hunting myself. There are several fur organizations out there with a lot of info but dont want to list any cuz I forget the rules on here sometimes.

 

Skinning just takes practice the more you do the better you get and your speed will pick up. Brian is right that most of the furs sold from the US go to China, Russia and other countries. There is a place in MN you can send your furs to and they will make you anything from Hats, gloves, coats, vest and even musical teddy bears. My trapping partner had his wife a beautiful coat made from some coyotes we got a few years ago and a couple of teddy bears from some raccoons. They were all real pretty. If you want some info PM me and I'll give you their website, you can get a free catalog sent to you. They do great work.

 

I cant add much to what has already been said. But I would like to add ,if we trap,We owe it to ourselves as well as the critters to skin and put the fur up for the best possible appearence and price. I could skin a cold coyote in 20 minets back in my trappin days ,not much time involved for 30.00

 

Everyone is right on their answers. The only thing I can add is if the winters are cold overseas, most times the fur prices go up..
John

 

I sell them at an auction house in Canada.

Coyotes are hard to skin without a power skinner.

 

One thing about prices, a kentucky yote is not the same as a minnesota yote and so on The better the fur the better the price. I think for around here $15-20 is tops and you still have to factor in equipment, gas and other things if your trying to see if your making money. If you have enough fur I have heard of buyers that will come to you. If I ever got into it I would likely save myself the headaches of skinning and try to just sell them frozen.

 

Skinning, fleshing and stretching your catch does add a little more time to your effort but the more you do the faster you will get at it. Once stretched the furs take up a lot less room than filling a freezer up.

 

I will never sell fur green. That's a good way to lose a lot of money.

 

Got to agree on the green fur. It is not only the money but the feeling you get when you see a fur buyer handleing your furs and telling you how good they are. Yes that is part of the buying process but it still makes you feel good. There is nothing better than a good pelt handeled the right way. Just my 2 cents.

 

Yeah....I do realize though that some folks may not have the know how, the time, equipment, or the space to handle fur. When you really figure it though....it PAYS to put up your fur.

 

i have never sold green not even in the begining. never had someone close enough to sell green to i was taught when i was young to flesh and strcth my hides in this market u should be doing it all your self and sending it up to auction

 

watch the usa dollar exchange rate ,when the dollar drops the fur goes up and when the dollar goes up the furs goe down.when the usa dollar drops the other countrys has more to spend .because of the exchange rates ..

keep a eye on the exchange rate and your fur prices in the future.

 

Use to trap alot as a kid. The prices were off the chart about 25 years back. My brother in law does deer processing now so about the only thing now I skin is deer and the occasional batch of caribou. Speed and quality surely does come with practice. It is an excellent chunk of money at the end of the season. Never skinned a yote, but, I do have an excellent spot for them. I usually just give them to the old timer who took the time to teach me the art of coyote hunting. The biggest thrill I get is when I am fortuneate enough to harvest one with the bow. Not even sure how the fur market is these days. Primarily the critters I could trap around here are muskrat, fox, yotes, & skunks.


Richard

 

coon,cats,beaver, martin,fisher and grey fox are the money maker looks like for this season ,coyotes prices has been dropping the last two years.
i was checking the market on some of the western cats and some brought as much as 1500.00 each ,most average 650.00.some areas the coon was up to 40.00 but this is put up prices at auctions.

i agree i was in wyo in the early 80's and the prices was out of this world.remember getting 120.00 for unskinned red fox today you are luck to see 20.00 and 25.00 tops put up.

the money was good then but fur thieves were every were.you had to have a partner just so he could set in the truck to watch the fur.glad the prices dropped less thieves except trap thieves.third day of season lost 60 traps.

 

i found a taxedermy market for bobcats . now all i have to do is the hard part. :roll_eyes:

 

cats are easy once you figure thier travel patterns.thats the hard part.
I start at the water source first
( because sooner or later they must drink and they hunt there for food)
then i hunt locations that the grey fox likes.as these two animals prefer the same type of hunting grounds and denning areas.make my sets aprox 10 feet from the heavy cover and i make sure that the set has a lots of eye a appeal ( thats important).grey fox and cats can be crowded,use big holes,
rubbing post,flat sets using walk threws.you only have one chance at him.most cats want work the set,they walk up and walk off ,its important that you make him cross over your trap.make sure you use a good musky type of lure.many of cats have fell to red fox gland lures as well.i find that a good beaver castor lure used on the rubbing post works wounders,they love to put another animals scent on them.basicly like a deer hunter uses a masking scent to cover the human odor.

not telling you what to do just letting you know what works for me.