will you trap next year?

[trappnman]

I have to say, that in over 50 years of selling fur, I've never seen a market like this.

for all practical purposes, except for a very furs like coyotes and cats, the production costs are greater than the end value.

what is the future?

Will you trap next year, if prices are the same or worse than today?

While I agree that I trap for the enjoyment (no other job has given me as much), it is also my job.

I have no regrets trapping water this past year, and I DID make money on a per diem basis, but that's only possible at these prices if expenses and lines, are kept to a minimum. and it was possible only under ideal conditions (no ice, no snow) and then only until the cream was taken.

While coyotes are the bright spot, I can't help but believe its a race to the bottom, and coyote prices are going to tumble.

so what to do?

I'm thinking one option for me, would be to continue trapping gophers until weather forces me out, and in do so trap coyotes only on the farms. and trap water like last year as a pure hobby line.

I'd be interested in your thoughts- and what you will do.

[bulldozerjoe]

I will, because 6 months out of the year I'm doing road construction all over ny state. Soon as October hits I get laid off for the winter. It's such a piece full time in my life, not hearing the equipment running And not listing to 5 guys I spend 14 hours a day with.. Plus when the snow hits I can work on fur in my basement. Even if I can't sell my catch, I can have it tanned and give it for gifts. If I trapped for money I'd be out of the game along time ago.

[trappnman]

I agree- and I've been around long enough to see things go up and things go down- but (with the exception of coon) I've never seen it when you can't sell your fur. And I understand low or non existent prices wouldn't affect a hobby trapper, but makes it hard ot longline, or even trap hard.

and maybe that's a good thing- I don't know. I do know, that longliners and big catches inspire the imagination, and for sure must bring people into the sport.

another question I wonder about- I truly believe the local buyer is the backbone of trapping insofar as outlets to sell fur- how many local buyers will be left next fall, and the year after?

[Deleted]

HEY-HEY-HEY!  A trapping-related topic!

Yup, I figure the coyote $$ will fall for next season BUT I'm all in whether I can sell'em or not.  I know for a fact, they freeze.

[Deleted]

Mar 16, 2016 9:52:38 GMT -6 trappnman said:

another question I wonder about- I truly believe the local buyer is the backbone of trapping insofar as outlets to sell fur- how many local buyers will be left next fall, and the year after?

At the time of the 80's crash I had 6 buyers within a 10-15 mile radius of my house.  Today I have ZERO!  The MI Trapper Assoc. sponser fur auctions and the nearest to me is 30 miles NW and from what I hear(certainly haven't witnessed) there is only usually 4 buyers present and they aren't local so to speak because they travel the State.

[bulldozerjoe]

As for the local buyers, I think some will hang up there hats. The ones that stay in will have other outlets for fur that they bought. The trapper might not get what they want for their fur but at least they can sell it. My local buyer buys fur, sells trapping supplies, boots, cloths, maple syrup and other things. He'll sell his underware if some one will buy it. I guess if I was buying fur and the market went in the gutter I'd be looking at other ways to supplement the down market.

[blackhammer]

I'm trapping some spring beaver right now and will continue and I suppose catch at least a hundred or so and that is nuts.. Next fall though is a different story. Coon trapping will be limited and later for me for sure. I will try to catch a few red fox and trap rats and mink. Noticed at FHA auction mink were around a ten dollar average so that's a possiblity. Coon longlining is out. Maybe cherry pick spots that I don't have much driving expense or am driving by anyway. The whole thing is a mess and without doubt that worst I've ever seen. I may look into other employment so that may be the factor in how I trap. I will trap no doubt but it could be in much more of a hobby way. I mean in this day in age if a guy can't even sell every coon for a measly ten dollar bill it is a joke.

[RdFx]

Well im 70 yrs old, im going to trap as much as my body allows me. I will go to rondys and shoot the trap and see old and new friends. Remember back when you were a young kid just trapping///////// you werent thinking of $$$$$$$, you were thinking of catching fur......now lets us dyed in wool trappers do that again.... and ENJOY !

[bblwi]

I plan to trap and hopefully more than this year with all of our bad weather and strange conditions.
I would plan to make some major changes in my operation. (major for me as a high end hobby trapper)
1. Hit rats with the canoe heavy for about a week instead of 2-3 days and maybe take a friend along as we don't plan any early coon.
2. run a 2 week multi species line around home with canines, rats and coons.
3. Develop a DP coon system for frozen ground and cold conditions and hopefully get my normal numbers of coons (75-125) but in Mid Nov to mid December
4. Do some December canines early in the day before doing the through the ice rats for 2-3 weeks.

I will put up coons and rats for one person but not others.
Hopefully have fun, do more with a partner and cover costs, build leg muscles and keep the weight down

Bryce

[mustelameister]

I'll trap 'rats and mink, but will not trap a 'coon on purpose. Picking up a crossbow this summer, after doing the homework for a couple of years I've settled on the Excalibur Micro 335. I blew my right upper biceps tendon sometime in the last year and the doc suggested going with the crossbow. Got a boat blind for the 18' jon and Susan and I will once again get back into duck hunting. So next fall/early winter will be muskrats, mink, ducks, geese and deer. And I won't lose sleep over it.

Sidenote: good friend of mine who finds stress relief in trapping 'coon sold Groenewold 200 put up 'coon at Groeney's last stop this year, which stop I'm not sure of, but Guy was really insistent on making sure my buddy really wanted to sell him the 200 put up 'coon. My buddy did, just wanted to unload 'em and get on with it. He got a $4 average straight through. Told me last night on the phone that putting up 'coon was good for him spiritually and he'd do it again next year.

Side side note: He was advised not to trap 'coon for the next couple of years. That doesn't sound good, does it?

[musher]

I'll be trapping. I just don't know for what or how hard. The April auction will help decide that.

[braveheart]

I will again.Just coyotes again and a few problem coon.Might go back to N, Iowa and trap some mink.

[trappincoyotes39]

The only coyotes with any value with be the top 10 percent the rest will fall off a lot, if I wanted some money I would be trapping western coyotes as those are where any chance of making even some money will be. The Midwest coyotes will be a tough sell and my MO coyotes well just for fun as this year as last year. Not many at all in the Midwest will make money selling fur next year to a country buyer or auction. The cost to produce will be higher than income generated on fur.

My time spent with the boy is priceless so we will still go after them and keep our lines close to home just as last year. Plenty of coyotes to be had within 10 miles of my house. We never targeted a single coon and won't this year either. All coyotes and more learning for the boy. We used a lot more trail sets last year so I could teach him how to get some of those that mess around with bait and lure staying in the same areas all season, he thought trail setting with no bait or lure was cool. Taught him the best places for trail sets and the doubles we caught he was a happy camper.

We called in a few and will do more calling as well, do some summer work just to thin them down some more and have fun working those dens. I have 3 guys that have goats and sheep within 3 miles of my house they all have a den close by each summer. Time to break those parties up. Get on them right after turkey season.

[Deleted]

During the past two years I've been instituting changes in the length of time on any one property and reevaluating locations on all of the properties I trap on.

Some properties I've been dead-on location with multiple catches whereas others are a onesy-twosy type deal where I'll catch 1 or maybe 2 coyotes during a 10 night stay.  Usually within the 1st 5 nights.  The properties and their locations that produced extended catches, continued to produce them I stayed longer.  Yes, there always seemed to be a dead spot in the time frame but all of a sudden a wave of coyote interest and subsequent catches occur.  Instead of my normal 10 nights, I found if I stayed 20+ nights my catch rose significantly on those particular properties.  Whereas the properties where I caught 1-2 coyotes or less never gave up anymore then the quickies even with traps in the ground for 20+ nights.

My coyote rubbed-up toward late January this year so I pulled BUT I continued to visit most of my properties and locations usually on a weekly basis.  I wanted to see if what I found earlier with "waves" of coyotes on some properties and hardly a "dribble' on others had any basis for fact.  Yes, it did!  The properties and their locations where I caught 6-12 coyotes continued to have coyotes move through and us the properties.  Whereas the onesy-twoesy properties and locations failed miserably to sustain, let along increase occupation or movement of coyotes.  Still had the odd coyote travel through and that was it.  If anyone remembers me posting that I have to "glean" coyotes off my properties and that's what I'm talking about "see track-set trap-catch THAT coyote-no more coyote"!  This year I'm abandoning those types of properties and searching-out properties that will offer a higher rate of return.  I may have to travel further but trapping fewer properties that yeild higher numbers is better then short travel distances and doing the onesy-twosy thing that offer no increase in or continued coyote occupancy.

I did find on one property that I had been off location BUT that was the only one.  I'd actually made a scouting video two springs ago lamenting my failure to figure the property out.  The coyotes appeared by sign just to scatter across the field(one of my few crop grounds but surrounded by thick woods on 3 sides)  What I found this winter with the repeated scouting is that though they continued to "scatter" they used a 2 acre patch of brush/clearing/swamp grass(tussocks) inverted corner differently.  They'd come into the corner, dick-around, some would head out across the plowed field and others would turn around and go back into the big woods.  

After watching this location for a few weeks I lured-up 2 of the tussocks and watched how the coyote immediately worked the grasses.  They continued to work the two scent locations through 2 8" plus snow storms and 2 complete thaws.  It was interesting to observe how none of the coyotes went out across the plowed field after working the scent!  I cannot say that there were more then 4 coyotes working the location and I could see where a breeding took place within 10 yds of one of the scented locations.  I do not believe however that this location is one of those that will have additional coyotes using it throughout a season where I would have the opportunity to catch more then 4 coyote.

It's also the time of year to think about testing lures and baits.  I really see no need to test anymore because I'm perfectly happy with what I'm using for my system.  The trouble is, scent testing seems to be addictive!   I've developed a pretty "pat hand" lure and bait arsenal now BUT there are a couple of Weiser and Halseth's scents and baits I'd really like to test.

As I mentioned in an old post that I was down to my last rat property and was going to quit that.  I did, I got a hold of the property owner and told him to give it to whomever he wanted to because I was done with everything but canines.  I've sold all of my mink, rat, & coon traps and board stretchers(Larry Hall's) so I'm officially DONE.  Hopefully I can get another 10 years in of coyote and fox trapping before the body tells me I need to hang that up as well.  

[trappincoyotes39]

Andy weiser LOL.

[Deleted]

Mar 17, 2016 19:00:40 GMT -6 trappincoyotes39 said:

Andy weiser LOL.

No, I spelled his name correctly- Weiser.  His stuff has been getting some decent press the last 2 years so I'll give him his shot just as I did all the others.  It's pretty hard for me to comment OR pass judgement on someone's product unless I've tried it myself.

[tweedledumb]

As a guy that can get all of his fur to the buyer on a bicycle. I will trap some focus more on coyotes and the 'cats will be incidentals. Probably set more snares and do more calling. I have to kill some 'coon close to home every year. Throw everything in a hole, except 'cats and the ears and jaws from the coyotes. I don't suspect to need too big of a hole though.

I hope the country buyers can survive. I asked while buying supplies last fall if they were buying 'cats this year. Without hesitation he said no. I guess he had some guys that jumped in when western cats were out of sight do a fair share of complaining the season before. I don't blame him. I kind of left with a gut feeling that maybe he might buy from some of the bigger producers that he has bought from for years. I don't know if that is true or not, but I think that is what I would do if I were in his shoes. The goal being to keep my reliable suppliers, and remain a viable vendor to my customers.

[trappincoyotes39]

Never let us know what you think of western lures, outside of that back to who is trapping next year.

[Deleted]

Mar 18, 2016 6:54:00 GMT -6 trappincoyotes39 said:

Never let us know what you think of western lures, 

  Nope, can't do that.  If I made public my findings I'd have to do it with ALL scent manufacturers and I know there would be some very pissed-off scent manufactures!!  

[RdFx]

Ahh Smart never, there are lures that work in one part of the country and sometimes just for the trapper who uses them in certain ways.... best to let a trapper test his or her own lures in his trapping area and his style.
Just tidbit canine lore: Did you know the breeding female wolf lifts her leg when she urinates to get her scent higher in the air on objects ? Ive seen it in wolves but cant say in yotes.