My fur photo shot on our old barn

Turkey Creek

Turkey Creek

Well-Known Member
I was able to take a 2 week, working vacation for the first time in a lot of years. Started on November 27th and had most everything pulled on December 11th. About 1,200 miles on the pickup. I have to admit the first week had a few hiccups and I started to doubt why I was doing it. However, by the end of the second week I was wishing I had more time! Numbers wise this is the best 2 week coyote line I have ever run as a private trapper (I was a government trapper for a number of years). Besides the critters in the picture I trapped another 7 coyotes that were too mangy to keep, around a couple dozen coons, 6 beaver, 2 badgers, 1 possum and 1 skunk along the way. The barn is on a farm that is now owned by my mom but has been in our family since the 1870s which is when this barn was likely built. The barn will likely be torn down this summer and I have always wanted to get one of the traditional barn shots with a trapper and his catch. My daughter has a photography business and I told her for Christmas I wanted to spend a afternoon with her and get some photos (she would probably frown knowing I posted this one as she hasnt worked her magic on the pictures yet, but I was anxious to share one!).

resized allfur.jpg
 
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Cant wait to see the pics. I always email them to myself to resize. It will ask when you email what size you want.
 
Great job with the trapping.

Are you keeping the wood from the barn? I know there are people that will pay stupid money for that wood. It goes for outrageous prices around here. You may be able to get enough money to help build another barn or put it in a stash and use it to help your mom with things around the property.
 
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Yes we will be recyling the wood, my brothers and I are all wood workers. Hope to incorporate a bunch into my new house and shop in the future. We have another old farm house that is falling down on my uncles that we are also going to take apart. Luckily in the "newer" barn we have an empty hay loft that we can store all the lumber in until used.
 
Great catch and great picture. I see some well handled furs there. Are you planning on making any hats or coats with the the fur?
 
The badgers are getting tanned to just hang on the wall. The beavers are all going to be tanned and made into a pair of ear muffs for my daughter, thinking of some kind of hat for myself or possibly a small throw/blanket for the couch. Selling everything thats hanging in the picture hopefully sometime next week.
 
Wow, awesome old school picture! What state are you in? Probably could start a part time biz with that kind of success. Let us know what kind of prices you get for them. I would also be interested in buying a prime tanned coyote hide to hang in my cabin.
 
That picture is priceless. I imagine you will treasure it forever.

Next time put on some old buck skin clothes with a coon skin cap and take the pic in black and white. I guarantee you would fool everyone into thinking it was from the 1800s. :)
 
I told my daughter to send me a copy in black and white as well. I think it will look pretty cool regardless of clothing. She can do some pretty cool things through digital editing. Heck she can even probably put be in mountain man garb holding a flintlock with photoshop!
 
Real cool pic.....what do you anticipate the average for yote pelts will be? I know some of the big and real nice ones here go for $30 or more with the average being more in the $20 range. It always seemed like a lot more work that it was worth to me, but to each their own. I guess if your doing it to control numbers making a few bucks in the process can't hunt. My experiences with trapping/skinning are limited. I skinned a groundhog once.....I was told the hide makes a great drum....all I know is it was nasty! My other experience is when my son got a mink once and decided to skin it in the kitchen.... I told him to not do it and to watch out for that gland. Well of course he knew better than I.....and hit the glad.....Wow! How his mother didn't kill him is beyond me!!! Powerful smell for such a little critter!!!!
 
j-bird said:
Real cool pic.....what do you anticipate the average for yote pelts will be? I know some of the big and real nice ones here go for $30 or more with the average being more in the $20 range. It always seemed like a lot more work that it was worth to me, but to each their own. I guess if your doing it to control numbers making a few bucks in the process can't hunt. My experiences with trapping/skinning are limited. I skinned a groundhog once.....I was told the hide makes a great drum....all I know is it was nasty! My other experience is when my son got a mink once and decided to skin it in the kitchen.... I told him to not do it and to watch out for that gland. Well of course he knew better than I.....and hit the glad.....Wow! How his mother didn't kill him is beyond me!!! Powerful smell for such a little critter!!!!
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Sold everything on Monday. Averaged just over $50 on my coyotes. The bobcats averaged $45 and I got $11 each for the coons (more than the coons are really selling for this year, but I told my buyer not too bend me over to bad on them! :D).

I have been a fur trapper all my life, its just in my blood. I get almost as much joy out of finishing fur as catching it! I used to have a small fur finishing business back when I didnt have anything else to do with my time. Mink do pack a punch. I have a buddy that used to make me put up his mink for him as he would lose his lunch everytime he tried to skin one. I will admit I have gotten a bit nose blind to many of the wildlife odors, I even like the smell of skunk.
 
Turkey Creek said:
Sold everything on Monday. Averaged just over $50 on my coyotes. The bobcats averaged $45 and I got $11 each for the coons (more than the coons are really selling for this year, but I told my buyer not too bend me over to bad on them! :D).

I have been a fur trapper all my life, its just in my blood. I get almost as much joy out of finishing fur as catching it! I used to have a small fur finishing business back when I didnt have anything else to do with my time. Mink do pack a punch. I have a buddy that used to make me put up his mink for him as he would lose his lunch everytime he tried to skin one. I will admit I have gotten a bit nose blind to many of the wildlife odors, I even like the smell of skunk.
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$50 for coyotes...that's great. I don't think they're worth hardly anything in the South. Has there been a big rise in the fur market that I'm not aware of?
 
Everything I have seen from last year to this, pelts aren't bringing what they did in 2014-15. You can pretty much bank on getting more funds to buy baits, lures, supplies, and some more traps and may still have to pull money out of your pocket to pay for it. They said that prices were up for 2017. 2018 could be on the up swing, but fashion designers are starting to move away from fur because of pressure from animal rights activists. Some designers that haven't dealt in fur before, are starting to buy it and use it. I just don't think that they are buying the same amount fur as other places once were. Who knows, 2018 may be a stellar year.

Winter coyote in 2017:
Western Prime Avg price- $107
Eastern Prime Avg- $47
Low Avg- $15
 
DrDirtNap said:
$50 for coyotes...that's great. I don't think they're worth hardly anything in the South. Has there been a big rise in the fur market that I'm not aware of?
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The coyote market for western heavies and semi-heavies is definitely stronger than it has been in a number of years. Most coyotes go to the trim trade. Used on hoods on the nicer jackets from Goose Bay and even Duluth Trading had a line of winter coats with the coyote hoods this year. Most everything else price wise is in the crapper. Coon market is the worse its been in years. My best coyotes brought $90 the low end $15, most fell in the middle. The fur market is about as unstable of a market that there is. The good years on any particular species rarely last long. The otter market was really strong for a few years where the average was close to $100 a pelt. The best of western bobcats still bring several hundred dollars each. My better local cats averaged $300-$400 for a couple of years before the market got saturated. That was a fun time!
 
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