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Post by thorsmightyhammer on Jun 5, 2005 9:18:46 GMT -6
I hate to say it but I may target some rats next winter. With the good clearances at the sale and with the averages being better it looks like to me like the price will be decent next year. Not great but decent. What do you guys think?
On a side not I had one musktrat at FHA and got $4.30 for it. That is a personel high for me. I generally never ship rats so my "high" price was whatever average was offered for me that year.
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Post by dj88ryr on Jun 5, 2005 9:27:56 GMT -6
I found a motherlode of rats last year and trapped em heavy, I was very pleased with what I got selling them in January, I can only guess what I could have gotten shipping them. I got $3.35 average at the St. Marys sale, I have found even more big pockets of rats along the same creek system for this year, so yeah, as soon as water comes in, I will pull my canine line and trap the water hard till the end.  |
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Post by CoonDuke on Jun 5, 2005 10:16:50 GMT -6
With rat prices over $4.00 at Canada auctions, our PA sales may see $5.00 rats being sold next year...if the right buyers are there.
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Post by Gibb on Jun 5, 2005 16:38:39 GMT -6
As long as the price of ranch mink stays as high as it is you will see good prices and clearances.
Cheers Jim
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Post by fishadict on Jun 5, 2005 18:49:48 GMT -6
Gibb - High ranch mink causes buyers to back off and go for rats? & wild mink also, I assume?
fa
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Post by Gibb on Jun 6, 2005 5:25:46 GMT -6
Yes sir, you can expect the mink and rat market to remain strong at least for as long as the ranch mink hovers around the 60 dollar mark for males and 50 dollar mark on females.
Cheers Jim
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Post by robertw on Jun 6, 2005 6:03:49 GMT -6
Gibb,
Why did we see the rat market increase and not the wild mink market?
Mink came up a little a year ago (running $16.00 average) but saw no increase in them this year like we witnessed in the rats this sale.
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Post by Gibb on Jun 6, 2005 7:17:58 GMT -6
Mink have increased in price compared to the previous couple of years. While the price is noway near the late eighties if one was to compare it to beaver you would question out loud why trap beaver. I would expect the mink to again gain a couple of dollars in price this coming season. Everyone had expected the price of rats to climb last year and until our sale in Feb. this year nothing happened. Now for the last 3 international auctions you see the price of rats increasing. Especially the commercial grades. I mentioned last year that muskrats would probable being the sleeper this season and that is what has happened. This fall I would put some effort in the mink and rats again. If the price of ranch mink goes into the dump you can expect the wild mink and rats will do the same. But being an optimism I would think this fall should be good for both rats and mink. Being a realist I would sell them into the market quickly as the season progresses next year. What goes up always goes down and what goes down will go back up. The trick is to watch what the market is doing and sell accordingly.
Cheers Jim
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Post by lumberjack on Jun 6, 2005 9:51:54 GMT -6
Lets not get too excited fellows,Rats went from a $3.25 ave to $3.75.Not to mention they are in pitifull populations (around me anyhow).
I see people mentioning highs,yea thats 1 or 3 rats we are talking (20 inchers).
Dont order that new truck just yet.
Enough of the pessimism,they are fun aint they!
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Post by robertw on Jun 6, 2005 12:09:48 GMT -6
While I enjoy catching them (child hood memories!) it is hard to get excited about a $4.00 muskrat (better than what we have had!). Going to need to see $7.50-$10.00 rats before I start planning any out of state trips targeting them!
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Post by z on Jun 6, 2005 13:34:46 GMT -6
Was wondering when someone was gonna face facts.........
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Post by bobwendt on Jun 6, 2005 16:06:38 GMT -6
4 by 4 truck, $30-40 grand, that`s only 10-12,000 rats boys- of course assuming a $3.50 rats is 100 PERCENT net profit and no cost at all! sheesh, we got $8 each for a lot of 750 about 25 years ago when that same 4 by 4 truck was about 8 grand. My wife bought a brand new right off the dealer lot full size loaded chevy 4 by 4 blazer for $4,200 that year we got the $8. dragging the ring, you all are just dragging the ring ( what they do to the track after the race is over)
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Post by Gibb on Jun 6, 2005 16:10:42 GMT -6
We could all just give up.
Cheers Jim
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Post by CoonDuke on Jun 6, 2005 16:34:57 GMT -6
$4.00 rats is nothing to get excited about...but with greasy, need-to-be-fleshed coon looking to be around $6.00 averages next season...rats are looking mighty fine! ;D
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Post by dj88ryr on Jun 6, 2005 17:14:12 GMT -6
Rats, Foxes and Mink would suit me just fine, and Beaver and Fisher when I get back to NH. I could be happy as hell just trapping those.
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Post by bblwi on Jun 6, 2005 17:44:38 GMT -6
Well, $3.25 rats are less of a loss then $10 coon, $16 reds, $2.50 grinners and $12 ave for mink. Here in WI coon, rats, grinners, reds make up the bulk of my catch with coon and rats typically 80-90 % of the value each year. All those markets look soft. I do not choose to quit trapping and I do not plan to do the ADC route after I retire either. With the glamour market in cats and otters we can only get 1 otter per year and about a try at 1 cat every 7-8 years. I will choose to trap and work hard to minimize my losses and let you hard core guys run the hills for spotted cats and the swamps of the south for your pale otters. Trapping is great theorpy for me and with a shrink going from $100-$250 per hour (those rates quoted from our dtr who is a PHD in Clinical pysch and has a clinical license) then trapping is cheaper than a several visits those offices. I am glad my day job has offered me the flexability to work extra to make more income for our family. I have squeezed in trapping and other things for years but the more I read about fur and the fickle market and all the energies some spend to find better markets I am glad I enjoyed a great career that has allowed me the opportunity to trap fur to make my small business income an asset to my total income. That may be to the detriment of those of you who have chosen to make your total income from fur but with the current conditions, I bet you wouldn't have seen enough rise in coon prices if we had 250,000 less to make it worth the while for many of you to trap them either.
Bryce
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Post by robertw on Jun 6, 2005 21:55:59 GMT -6
Gibb, or Bob Wendt,
Back in the late 70s & early 80s when rats were $7.50-$8.00 in the country how high was the ranched mink market? Wild mink were $35-$40 in the country(Ludy Sheda's) then.
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Post by RiverRat on Jun 6, 2005 23:53:56 GMT -6
Bob I hate to bust your bubble but very few trappers run brand new 40 G trucks most trappers I know (i do know ALOT of trappers) run rigs costing less than 5 G the rat market goin up is a good thing, and Very few trappers rely soley on fur to pay their bills . The fur boom is over and has been for a very long time. I hope it never comes back. I like it the way it is. And could do with out all the johhny come lattly $$ trappers that go along with big $$ signs.
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Post by Gibb on Jun 7, 2005 5:28:54 GMT -6
RobertW, I am not sure of the prices but I do know that the crash was triggered by the stock market in Oct 87. They called it black Friday. Once the capital money dried up the fur market collapsed with 42 million ranch mink produced that season. Almost half the furriers went bankrupted in the next couple of years along with the fashion industry going away from fur. We lost allot of selling capacity which still haunts the trade today.
Cheers Jim
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Post by robertw on Jun 7, 2005 5:50:23 GMT -6
Any idea what ranched mink production is now?
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