Top $$$ for your Fur....

[Steve Gappa]

After the Catch….Getting top Dollar for your Fur
By Steve Gappa


One of the things that is very confusing and frustrating to newer trappers, and to more than a few experienced trappers as well- is the price range and value that different pelts can bring. In coon for example, a pelt taken during season might range, as they did this past year- from $2 to $25. So what, you might be wondering, makes one coon pelt worth more than 10 times what another pelt might be worth? While there are multiple factors that effect fur value that we as trappers have no control over- such as color, fur thickness, primeness, condition, etc. - there are several other factors that are in your control. Attention to detail and by doing a few simple things, you can add $$ to every collection of fur that you sell.
Lets look at land animals first. Since most trappers trap coon and canines on land, and its what my experience is with, I’ll keep the focus on them. But any of the following tips are good for other land animals. I believe with animals staked in a trap and needing dispatch, that the quicker you do it, the better. A big coyote that is all “pumped” up is a lot messier to skin later on. Take a picture and dispatch the animal. Immediately after doing so, remove it from the trap and lay it aside. Since I dispatch by shooting in the head with a .22, I try to find a spot where the head is lower then the body- letting some of the blood drain off while I am remaking the set. When I pick up the coyote to load him into the truck, I briefly hold it up by the rear legs and allow a little more blood to drain out. When putting a coyote in the truck- I do 2 things. First of all, I keep all the heads the same direction- with something absorbent underneath….more often than not, I just use soft weeds gathered on the site. Might as well keep the mess localized. If weeds aren’t an option, rags or plain newspaper words well. If using newspaper, lay down several layers of flat paper, then a layer or two of crumbled up paper…the absorption factor is much greater this way and the blood mess is kept to a minimum. Step 2- keep the coyotes separated from the others. Not only don’t toss one on top of another (the heat build up taints things much quicker) but take care to turn them so they are belly up. On canines, the belly taints very easily and any pre fur shed help you can do, the better. Air circulation in the truck is important. Crack the windows if using a topper, or if using a flat topper like I do- open up the back at every opportunity. The faster you can cool off yotes, the better. If fleas are a problem- spray them with flea spray right after shooting. Some recommend placing the coyote into a plastic bag, spraying and then transporting him in the bag. Unless the weather is cold- don’t do it.
As soon as you get home, unload the coyotes to the coolest spot around- in warm weather you cannot be too cautious. And this isn’t the time to dawdle- the faster you can pull the hides, the better. I like to de-burr the coyotes before skinning. Even here, care taken at the set pays off. Most canines will remove burrs themselves given a chance, and I found many time my burr problems were caused after the catch by my setting too close to an unseen burdock. A little foresight saves many a problem. For burrs, a comb with a few teeth missing or an old fork works well. Either wet down the area or rub/spray a little hair conditioner on the spot. Carefully attack the edges of the burr (never get right behind it and pull direct) and you can ease the burr off with very little or no fur coming along. Skinning itself- take care- every hole you put in now, hurts you later. Maybe not per individual skin- but overall. Better to take a few extra minutes to do it right. Take care around the eyes, nose, mouth area. While these areas don’t affect the value of the fur directly- a well handled head area shows skill and pride in your work. An indication to the dealer that you have good fur here and know your stuff. All things that add a little extra to the fur check.
After skinning- I wash out the pelt. Some like to wash the coyotes before skinning, but I don’t see much value with doing that- with one exception. On extremely muddy coyotes, I hang them up and hose them down. Mud makes skinning a nightmare- and it just is easier in the long run to pre wash. I will hose down the muddy yotes as soon as I get home and by the time I get other stuff done, the coyotes are somewhat dry and skinnable. Make sure you debone and split the tails. If you don’t they are going to rot and you are not going to get full value from rotting, stinking hides. After skinning, I rewash these pelts along with the other ones. While many methods can be used- I simply lay the coyotes down on a board, hose them off, squeegee away the excess water, wring out by hand ( a wringer washer would be the ticket here) and hang up in front of a fan. Some trappers wash the pelts in a washing machine, adding fabric softener to the pelts to soften and separate the fur. This works well, but I found an easier method. More on that later. The next morning I shake them out, brush them out and stretch. When stretched (I use wire), make sure they hang where air circulates between them. Coyotes I put skin side out and depending on temps, when the leather feels dry and the ears are dry, I turn the and put the fur side out. If you leave the front legs on, take a 4 inch section of paper towel roll and insert it into each leg. This aids in air circulating inside. If you question the dryness of the leather when turning, put a couple of sheets of crumbled up newspaper inside- not so it distorts the pelt, but just to keep the leather from touching. I leave pelts on the stretchers fur out for several days to a week- your time will vary, but a good rule of thumb is a dry pelt is stiff and will stand up by itself. After turning fur side out, I like to take a brush and brush a time or two thoroughly, with the last light brushing going against the grain to stand the fur up a little. When dry, I bundle in bundles of six- 3 facing 1 direction, 3 facing the other and hang them up until prepping for sale.

[Steve Gappa]

Part 2---

If you ship your furs, don’t bother with this step. But if selling local at either a buyer or auction, try this simple prep tip. You want bright, shiny fur- present it in it’s best light. Remember when I said I found an easier way to soften and make the fur stand up? Well, all I do is to take a little baby oil- a very small amount rubbed on my hands (I wear a pair of vinyl gloves) and lightly rub both sides of my dried canines. I then put 4 of them at a time into a clothes dryer- on lowest heat- for 4 minutes. This softens and fluffs up the fur like you would not believe.
I then take them out, hold by the tail and shake once…my oh my! Caution: If using a clothes dryer- check lint trap after every cycle- this process removes all the looses, dead, dull hair.
Coon are handled a little different. I, like many in the country, sell my coon green. Many people believe that when selling coon green, little if any prep work goes into doing so. This is wrong. Like anything else, selling green coon can be done in a variety of ways- and by handling your green coon correctly, you can get an average several dollars higher than a trapper that doesn’t. Number one- the first rule in selling green skin coon is to remember that you ARE selling them green. You get no advantage in trying to semi clean skin, and often doing so causes nicks and cuts in the pelt. The first few times you sell green, your buyer is going to be a little apprehensive- not knowing what type of “surprise” he is going to find when putting up the fur. But if you take your time and make the effort, and give him skins without nicks and cuts…he will realize that and your average will get higher.
Since shot coon are bloody, I make it a habit to wash all my shot coon after skinning. Usually its just the head and shoulders area, so depending on condition, I either wash in a pail or do the same as coyotes by laying on a board. I find coon very hard to hand wring, so I keep the water to a minimum, only the areas that need it. After washing, hand up to dry. After hanging, I brush everything down. Any remaining burrs are removed. I feel it is very important to dry the coon completely before freezing. Coon, unless very warm, are usually left hanging until I get home the following day. By only freezing dry coon, you accomplish 2 things- 1) you keep the fur from matting down and freezing to other coon and 2) you reduce slipping of the fur. For whatever reason, I find a dry coon will freeze quicker and slip less. I don’t know the exact cause/effect…I just know that if you have any slippage on froze coon when thawed, its usually a wet coon that is the problem. I fold a coon over 1 time- belly in, and freeze flat. That way when going to sell, it takes much less time to open up the skins to sell. Rolled up skins take much longer- and again , this is when slipping can occur. When opened up, you nice and dry skins can be shaken once and piled in the truck. And since they are clean, dry, don’t smell and have no holes…you are going to get maximum dollar.
Water animals are a little different. Since most are drowned, blood isn’t a concern. But they still need to be washed off. Silt and vegetation get into the fur when at the bottom of a slide wire and need to be cleaned off. Usually, a back and forth motion under the water does the trick. After washing, if I have snow, I immediately roll the animal in the snow. If you have never used snow, give it a try. On short furred animals like rats and mink (and even beaver) the snow wicks away the water very quickly. In “dry” snow, rolling a mink around for a minute or two gets him almost 100% dry. (Btw, this does not work on long haired animals like coon or canines. The snow simply gets into the longer and thicker fur, starts to freeze and you are worse off than when you started.) When I get back to the truck, I then wrap each mink and rat into a section of newspaper. This newspaper finishes the drying job, and in most cases the animal is dry when I get home. I do keep my rats and mink in the front of the truck with me. I lay them on the floor belly up, and by keeping the heater off the floor seem to arrive home just fine. When I get home, any mink or rat not fully dried is briskly toweled off. One might think I am putting too much emphasis on getting rats and mink dry- but 99% of any further problems are caused by putting up wet skins.
It should go without saying, but on mink and rats, you seldom need to use your knife. Use it to start the rear legs and for the ears, eyes, mouth. Using a knife on the rest of the skinning job is unnecessary and again, why put any nicks and cuts in the pelt? On animals like muskrats with the tough, tough grade for little money- 1 or 2 cuts will reduce the market value by as much as half. So be careful. Be careful in fleshing. A properly skinned out mink/rat pelt should have little meat on it- and the fat will be easy to remove. I use an old spoon. Many like an old dull butter knife. Scrape lightly behind the ears, and remove the top layer of fat over the shoulder membrane- leave that membrane on the hide. Hold it with a couple of fingers while fleshing with the other hand- keeps it in place. Any remaining fat should roll off. If in doubt, error on the side of caution- a properly dried pelt with a little extra on it will be fine. Over scraping cannot be corrected.
Mink and more so muskrats, can get mildew from being stretched wet. That white powder that collects on the back of some rats? That’s caused by wet fur- and since it can cause slipping, you will get docked for it. Above all- have plenty of wire or wood so that you do not have to take a pelt off early. Canines can “hide” it a little, but a mink or rat taken off early shows it- the hide gets wrinkled and dries that way- very unappealing! As I take each rat and mink off their stretchers, I take my hand and put it inside the hide and ruffle it up a little. This fluffs up the fur a little and takes away from that matted look.
So there you have it- a few tips to getting top dollar from your fur. There really are no big secrets- just a lot of little ones. Most come down to be careful, start taking care of your fur right away and present it the best light possible. The difference I n$$$ form a collection of fur handled right compared to the same fur tossed into the back of a truck and hauled to the buyers a week later- will astound you. It costs no more to sell well prepared fur than it does run of the mill stuff. If you take the time and put in the work…your buyer will show you the dividends.