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Post by BadDog on Jun 10, 2011 8:20:40 GMT -6
It is hard to determine anything from looking at one sale. As I said, the top lot came from 10 states or something, MT included.
It seems to work the same way with top lot coyotes, the same people getting them all the time. 5 years ago, I would always get top lot coyotes, but then my best genetic strain areas started to get buried in snow annually, and it has been very difficult to get a coyote in the top lot since, still getting awesome coyotes, but they are just a cut from the top.
The most beautiful cat I ever seen came from the Butte, MT area. It had very large, dark "Ocelot" spots in his back, was a very good color, with a spectacular belly. It was a shame that it ended up in the fur trade , it was a trophy of a lifetime. I hear stories that only a half dozen or less of these cats are produced annually. So, what good gene pool do these things come from on a regular basis? Or is it a freak of nature like a black beaver that can pop up anywhere on the continent?
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Jun 13, 2011 7:09:06 GMT -6
In Nevada, there are some places that "generally" produce a good cat and vice versa but you can get an outstanding one anywhere.
Some areas have a fairly predictable back and others are all over the board, some areas have a fairly preictable size range others all over the board.
You can catch a thousand dollar cat in a set and walk up the trail and have one that is crap.
There are several colors, blue, black, yellow, red, brown, light and dark and everything in between.
Females rarely are as good as toms although you can get some good ones.
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Post by skunkedtrapper on Jun 14, 2011 21:37:14 GMT -6
Beavers are similar in a way. I can just about guess where (in the state of Montana) they have come from just by the color. The further north and east you get the lighter they are. That is not a hard and fast rule, but a preatty good guide line. All I know is I hand out Top Lot hats to the same 'cat trappers. They don't get them every year, but it's the same people over the years. It is kind of exciting to see what they ship every year and see if I can "grade" them as top lot.
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Post by slimshady on Jun 15, 2011 10:39:26 GMT -6
and that is exactly why the grading is often total "subjective", at best. you read the graders own words right here. not only is the tag no doubt looked at first, now even the trappers name is looked at. can we ship anonymous and with tags that don`t tell state origin so this guy can`t help some and hurt others? no. so you get what you get.
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Post by JHughes on Jun 15, 2011 18:21:12 GMT -6
All I know is I hand out Top Lot hats to the same 'cat trappers. They don't get them every year, but it's the same people over the years. It is kind of exciting to see what they ship every year and see if I can "grade" them as top lot. Yes, that is somewhat disappointing. Bummer to hear that, even for us that will never have a top lot western. |
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Post by chamacat on Jun 15, 2011 20:10:52 GMT -6
Yep..The cats outa the bag...
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Post by monttrap04 on Jun 16, 2011 8:33:59 GMT -6
and that is exactly why the grading is often total "subjective", at best. you read the graders own words right here. not only is the tag no doubt looked at first, now even the trappers name is looked at. can we ship anonymous and with tags that don`t tell state origin so this guy can`t help some and hurt others? no. so you get what you get. If you are referring to skunkedtrapper he is not a grader. He is just the receiving agent. He has no more control over the grade of the fur as you and I. I wish he did since sometimes we trap together and send the fur through his account  |
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Post by BadDog on Jun 17, 2011 7:42:50 GMT -6
The grading is completely impartial . The fur has a ticket with a bar code on it and a consecutive number. And the graders could care less who's stuff it is.
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Post by skunkedtrapper on Jun 21, 2011 21:39:27 GMT -6
With those graders going through 10-15000 'cats for one auction I doubt they take the time to read the cities tag to see where it came from. A top lot 'cat usually jumps out at you. It stands head and shoulders about the rest. It kind of blows my mind to think about the volumn of fur that gets graded and lotted in less than a months time. NAFA must pay a ton of overtime right before the catalog gets put together.
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