standman

I was wondering if anyone knew of some places I could buy some basswood in the valley. I am needing to makes a few more fox and coyote stretchers. I am heading down there on Monday and if there was a place to get some I could kill two birds with one stone. Thanks. Brian

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll look into all avenues posted. Brian

Good luck TJ I'll be to Roosey tomorrow afternoon and then to Apache Saturday. Then one of the two Sunday. Brian

I can't believe were at 11 pages and 14,000+ views and there hasn't even been one credit card hit yet!!! Brian

Thanks for the info. Brian

Terry is a very good family friend. He and my dad hunted and trapped all the time together back in those days. The day Terry killed the jaguar, my dad was supposed to be along with him. He had to babysit my sister instead.lol. Anyway, I still get to see that cat a lot on his wall as he still lives just down the street from me. Have heard the story told many, many times. Brian

About the right size for flathead bait. Brian

And it is a redear. Brian

That's the truth. Brian

Well I sold what fur I put up after the ata sale plus the two cats I pulled from the sale this morning to a buyer that came through town. For what I had I wasn't going to go to Kingman. I doubled what was offered for my two cats at the ata sale, so I was happy that I pulled them and sold later. It was a chance to take but paid off for me at least. Brian

Last week I bought a new toy for my predator hunting, a Ruger M77 .17 HMR. This morning was the first chance I had to go out and test it out. It worked just liked I had hoped. I called and killed two foxes and a coyote. The coyote came in at the seven minute mark (25 yards), one fox at the three minute mark (40 yards), and the other fox at the 6 minute mark (30 yards). Separate stands. I was using a Rem. 17 gr. Accutip-V Boat Tail. Here is a pic of one of the fox and coyote. Brian

Hyperwrx thanks for the offer on the ammo. I'll pass for now. The ammo I shoot now shoots really well out of my gun I think I'll try to stick to the same brand for now. Thanks again. Brian

Beretta M9 9mm with 124 gr Speer Gold Dot reloads. Brian

Thanks. E-caller Called and killed two more fox and one more coyote this morning. No camera, forgot to put it in the truck. One fox was killed at 10 yards. He came in and when he go close to the speaker he climbed right up a pine tree and perched on a limb about 15ft up the tree. The other fox right after him was shot at 25 yards. .17hmr performed great. The coyote was called in on my third stand and shot at 20 yards. He ran about 30 yards after and piled up. So far so good with the .17 hmr. Brian

Willie, I chose the .17hmr basically because 90% of all my calling is for fox and cats. A coyote is a bonus animal for me. I really wanted something that I could shoot 25-150 yards if I had to and not blow up a fox or cat. Plus I just always really wanted one and this gun is nearly brand new and I pretty much stole it for the price I got for it. Yes, the rim fire roller coaster on ammo could become a concern, but as for now I can find the bullet I shoot really easy and I bought quite a few and probably will buy a few more in the near future. Brian

I think besides a shotgun, it's going to be the perfect caliber for fox. Both fox dropped instantly. The coyote was a heart shot and ran thirty yards after the shot and piled up. I believe shot placement on a coyote will be critical. Bad shot will mean a coyote that runs off. Extremely fur friendly with pencil holes entrance and exit. Looked like a lot of internal damage on the animals. Brian

Thanks. There are guys that are a lot better than me. I just happened to have a good year and got lucky. What helps me is I study topo maps of the areas I want to call and then try to call where the animals are going to be laid up during the day not where they are feeding at night. Mark those spots with GPS so I can go right to them. Brian

I walked into that one with the title lol.

Congrats on all your cats and your sale success. Question for you. Where do you get your cat stretchers? Do you buy them or make them? I've been putting up fur since I was knee high, learned from my dad who was a trapper most of his life. I always stretched my cats the old fashioned way until just recently learning of the Nevada style stretchers. Time to learn some new tricks for the cats to keep up. I haven't trapped since legholds were outlawed, only call now. I don't get a lot of cats so gotta learn to maximize what I get. Thanks. Brian Thanks for the kind words but I was also disappointed with the prices like everyone else but just understand who is the blame and who isn't. The buyers there were not. If someone wants to get mad, get mad at the abnormally warm weather in Russia this winter and the Chinese fur buyers who tried to smuggle in 200 million in mink fur without paying the import taxes. If it weren't for those 2 aspects I would have walked out with 20k. I made 40% less. Ok, off that tangent. It's gonna make me depressed. Wood Stretchers are the only way to go for 3 reasons. 1. They allow you to Nevada stretch easily and some of the wooden stretchers are made especially for it. Briarpatch Cages sells stretchers for Nevada stretches. Otis Latham (ColoradoCat on Trapperman.com forums) also makes stretchers for Nevada stretches. Otis will sell 1 stretcher at a time. Briarpatch is 3 at a time. Otis' are cheaper but do not allow as many adjustments as Bob's. Bob's have a separator at the nose to widen it. 2. Wooden stretchers make your fur look heavier (thicker). Now an experienced fur buyer is no dummy and examines the fur and realizes its 1/2 wide for a reason but you are trying to do ANYTHING you can to get an edge. 3. Wooden stretchers dry the fur faster as they allow better air flow. You call for your bobcats so you don't need more than a few. You're lucky. Buy the best you can afford. They will pay for themselves the first season you use them and will last decades. On the side of the stretcher there the back lays mark 36" and put a line, 38" line, 40" line, and 42" line. Now you have a goal to work for when stretching. You HAVE to hit 36" from nose to base of the tail and plan on 1/4 to 1/2 shrinkage once you take them off the stretcher. Bobcat pelts can take some serious pulling. I have never ripped one by pulling hard. Other things you need to do to maximize every cat for sale 1. Get finger nail clippers and cut off the nipples. You want the buyer to think all your cats are males. 2. Hang your stretcher with wet fur on it upside down and brush the back hair against the grain (toward the head). Do this once a day. Brush the belly fur outward. 3. Pin the ears flat to the wooden stretcher. They stack nicer for the buyer in his cargo container to Europe. Pointy ears get crushed, bent, broken in transit and that hurts his bottom line. 4. Buy or make a giant rectangular box. I found a tupperware. Your stretched cat should fit inside it for the most part. Borax your cat in that box. Buy some dish washing gloves and rub that boarax in the fur. Everywhere. Spend about 5 minutes a pelt and work it in good. Its taking out the grease and brightening the hide. Use a shop vac or leaf blower and blow the borax out good. A cat with borax in it at the sale looks bad and amateurish. 5. Arms up and skin to the wrists. Insert plastic coat hanger and rubberband it up to the head to the arms stand up. Cut 1/2 PVC pipe in 4" length and slip them in the arms so you get good air flow in there and they'll dry out faster. I place a dowel across the top just inside the arm holes to hold them a specific distance apart. Mine are just just straight up, they are slightly wider then the head. Basically they are the width of the widest area of the belly. 6. Lean how to lot your fur up so the buyer is taking the hit on your poor length fur, not you. This is a separate topic. More when I get back. Thanks for taking the time for this. I've done this a long time but its never to late to learn some new things. No need in being stubborn lol. I use wood stretchers that I make for my fur already but they don't seem to make the cats look as wide as the Nevada style. As for your bulletin of points, I do most of what you do except hang them upside down, pinning the ears and doing the arms up towards the head. i always do good on my fox and coyotes. I take as good of care of those as I try to do my cats. Treat them the same way. A lot of people treat them as afterthoughts but not me. Being a caller, fox are my bread and butter so to speak. I just want to maximize all i can on my cats now and asking questions is the best way. Thanks again for all the info. Brian

Congrats on all your cats and your sale success. Question for you. Where do you get your cat stretchers? Do you buy them or make them? I've been putting up fur since I was knee high, learned from my dad who was a trapper most of his life. I always stretched my cats the old fashioned way until just recently learning of the Nevada style stretchers. Time to learn some new tricks for the cats to keep up. I haven't trapped since legholds were outlawed, only call now. I don't get a lot of cats so gotta learn to maximize what I get. Thanks. Brian

Thanks. I was worried with what the rest of the fox were going for but I knew I had good ones. That turned out ok. I also got 42 for my six coyotes. Brian

That's actually a good average for those cats and the circumstances. I had a nice female that stretched 37 and they offered 110 dollars. And it came from high elevation with very heavy fur. I'll hang them on my wall or let my dogs chew on them before I sell them for a hundred bucksBC777 That's exactly what they offered my two females. But I will say my two were average to slightly below average at best. Just couldn't let them go at that price.

Most all other fox were going in the $23-25 range. Very few were going higher than that. Brian

I got $31. Brian

+1 There is going to be a lot of people That put their cats in and were not there, that when they get their check are going to be sick. I pulled my cats too. I let my fox and coyotes go. Brian