Globe Fur sale

[bonecollector777]

/>$42 per coyote is a great average.

 

There are a few small pockets of red foxes still in AZ. They are not cherry red like we expect a red fox to be, but are a dull red. I caught one and have it hung up in my garage. It's worth about $15 tops due to the color but is more of a cool keepsake. We have 3 species of fox in AZ (red, grey, kit) and I have them all hung up in my garage plus a big coyote and a big badger. Conversation pieces.

 

Bonecollector777- If you want to know why you only were offered 110 dollars for your 37" stretched cat look into how you put up fur. No offence, but when my lot of 18 35" to 38" lower desert (2500' elevation) bobcats go for $320 per bobcat pelt, compared to your fur prices- you need to reexamine how your fur looks to a buyer. My pelts are barely considered semi-heavy. I had another lot of 4 pelts, 39"-42" sell for $450 each. I had 3 other bobcat lots. I walked away with a good chunk of change for my fur and that was seeing the market drop almost 40% on bobcat hides. My greys were nothing special at $25 each. Greys actually held their price better than bobcats.

 

As for you getting a better price elsewhere- good luck. I still have bobcat pelts on stretchers that will be at the Briarpatch Fur Sale. The Fallon sale is where you'll see a visible price difference MAYBE but the AZ sale sets the tone for ALL THE SALES IN THE WESTERN US. The UTA sale last week in Nephi was worse than the ATA. Less buyers, lower prices. I do not expect the prices at the Kingman Sale to be better than the ATA sale. Less buyers. The bobcat pelt market is getting saturated if you didn't notice. Any bobcats smaller than 36" are not a desired commodity this year. Poorly put up cats are not desired this year. The cream of the crop is wanted and THAT is priced about 40% lower than last year.

 

The fur market is like a wave, it has crests and toughs. Last year was the apex and its going down now. If you have been in fur very long you see these rises and falls and expect them. I was hoping it wouldn't go down as far as it did but that's the market and we don't dictate it. The 350 bobcats that were pulled as no sales at the ATA sale will regret that move in the end I think. Our only hope is the 1% commission at the Kingman sale offsets some of the lower prices we'll see.

 

Another aspect people probably don't know is that Black Pine Fur was not at the ATA sale this year. They bought a lot of high dollar bobcat fur the last 2 years at the ATA sale. The current fur market has them being more reserved with their funds. Eric and George stood up in front of the crowd after a string of no sales and lectured everyone about the fur market and how its low right now due to mild winter in Russia and the fiasco with the fur market in China right now. Ron Day, ATA president and past AZG&F biologist also got up and told people they were not being cheated. There were still people thinking they'd pull their fur and get better prices elsewhere. Good luck on that. I hope they get at least 75% of what was at the ATA.

 

Grey foxes did not suffer the same price drop that bobcats saw. It has to do with how the fur is used in the garment industry. Trim vs. main body on clothes. I don't know the specifics but thankfully fox prices were only slightly lower than last year. Actually looked it up.

 

Last year grey foxes averaged $30, this year $23. drop of 23%

Last year bobcat average $420 this year $238. drop of 43%

 

No offense hyper but you don't know anything about my cats. My cats were put up with wooden stretchers Nevada style boraxed and tumbled. Hours of time putting them up so don't come assuming because you got some decent prices it's because your fur put up is some great wonder. There were a lot of guys up there with great put up and they still got screwed. I am good friends with Craig koelling from black pine and helped him grade all the cats at both sales and I know what he has told me about the market. What hurt me the most was I was lot 926 and the last lot was 936. It was one in the morning before they bid on my cats and you could see they just wanted to get out of there. They already had spent tens of thousands of dollars and they frankly didn't care if they got my furs or not. Getting them into the sale late was my bad. I'll make sure I'm in the sale earlier in Kingman. Prices seemed to top out around the middle of the sale so if I were to guess you were lot 350 to 500 or somewhere in the middle?

I'm taking them to kingman and whatever they sell for there I'll take it. If it's low there I'll accept the fact the market has gone to crap and take what I get. But I'll guarantee it isn't as low as Globe.

[Hyperwrx]

/>$42 per coyote is a great average.

 

There are a few small pockets of red foxes still in AZ. They are not cherry red like we expect a red fox to be, but are a dull red. I caught one and have it hung up in my garage. It's worth about $15 tops due to the color but is more of a cool keepsake. We have 3 species of fox in AZ (red, grey, kit) and I have them all hung up in my garage plus a big coyote and a big badger. Conversation pieces.

 

Bonecollector777- If you want to know why you only were offered 110 dollars for your 37" stretched cat look into how you put up fur. No offence, but when my lot of 18 35" to 38" lower desert (2500' elevation) bobcats go for $320 per bobcat pelt, compared to your fur prices- you need to reexamine how your fur looks to a buyer. My pelts are barely considered semi-heavy. I had another lot of 4 pelts, 39"-42" sell for $450 each. I had 3 other bobcat lots. I walked away with a good chunk of change for my fur and that was seeing the market drop almost 40% on bobcat hides. My greys were nothing special at $25 each. Greys actually held their price better than bobcats.

 

As for you getting a better price elsewhere- good luck. I still have bobcat pelts on stretchers that will be at the Briarpatch Fur Sale. The Fallon sale is where you'll see a visible price difference MAYBE but the AZ sale sets the tone for ALL THE SALES IN THE WESTERN US. The UTA sale last week in Nephi was worse than the ATA. Less buyers, lower prices. I do not expect the prices at the Kingman Sale to be better than the ATA sale. Less buyers. The bobcat pelt market is getting saturated if you didn't notice. Any bobcats smaller than 36" are not a desired commodity this year. Poorly put up cats are not desired this year. The cream of the crop is wanted and THAT is priced about 40% lower than last year.

 

The fur market is like a wave, it has crests and toughs. Last year was the apex and its going down now. If you have been in fur very long you see these rises and falls and expect them. I was hoping it wouldn't go down as far as it did but that's the market and we don't dictate it. The 350 bobcats that were pulled as no sales at the ATA sale will regret that move in the end I think. Our only hope is the 1% commission at the Kingman sale offsets some of the lower prices we'll see.

 

Another aspect people probably don't know is that Black Pine Fur was not at the ATA sale this year. They bought a lot of high dollar bobcat fur the last 2 years at the ATA sale. The current fur market has them being more reserved with their funds. Eric and George stood up in front of the crowd after a string of no sales and lectured everyone about the fur market and how its low right now due to mild winter in Russia and the fiasco with the fur market in China right now. Ron Day, ATA president and past AZG&F biologist also got up and told people they were not being cheated. There were still people thinking they'd pull their fur and get better prices elsewhere. Good luck on that. I hope they get at least 75% of what was at the ATA.

 

Grey foxes did not suffer the same price drop that bobcats saw. It has to do with how the fur is used in the garment industry. Trim vs. main body on clothes. I don't know the specifics but thankfully fox prices were only slightly lower than last year. Actually looked it up.

 

Last year grey foxes averaged $30, this year $23. drop of 23%

Last year bobcat average $420 this year $238. drop of 43%

 

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.

[bonecollector777]

Like I said if my cats get similar prices in Kingman I'll accept the fact that that's what they are worth. 3 years ago I sent some cats to a sale in Oregon where they offered 300 for my biggest 43 inch tom. They got mad when I wanted it back. I sent it to NAFA and got 575 for it two weeks later. So I don't believe that what these TWO buyers in Globe offered is somehow the best in the market. I'll also take the chance that maybe the market will get a little better in the next month or so or obviously maybe worse. But waiting a month to see if I can get better prices somewhere else isn't gonna kill me. If I get more that's awesome, if I get less or the same it's not a big deal either because it's only 7 cats and maybe 2000 dollars I'm messing with. Not 40 cats like some of these guys.

Also just curious why you would somehow believe the dudes trying to buy your fur that this sale right here right now is the best of the best and that you better sell cuz you're not gonna get any better anywhere else. Seriously? And what the heck does a game and fish biologist know about the fur market and fur prices? Absolutely nothing. He wanted the ATA to get as much money as they could.

Also curious what the ATA does with the 12500 dollars they made in commission? And the other hundreds they made in concessions?

[standman]

/>$42 per coyote is a great average.

 

There are a few small pockets of red foxes still in AZ. They are not cherry red like we expect a red fox to be, but are a dull red. I caught one and have it hung up in my garage. It's worth about $15 tops due to the color but is more of a cool keepsake. We have 3 species of fox in AZ (red, grey, kit) and I have them all hung up in my garage plus a big coyote and a big badger. Conversation pieces.

 

Bonecollector777- If you want to know why you only were offered 110 dollars for your 37" stretched cat look into how you put up fur. No offence, but when my lot of 18 35" to 38" lower desert (2500' elevation) bobcats go for $320 per bobcat pelt, compared to your fur prices- you need to reexamine how your fur looks to a buyer. My pelts are barely considered semi-heavy. I had another lot of 4 pelts, 39"-42" sell for $450 each. I had 3 other bobcat lots. I walked away with a good chunk of change for my fur and that was seeing the market drop almost 40% on bobcat hides. My greys were nothing special at $25 each. Greys actually held their price better than bobcats.

 

As for you getting a better price elsewhere- good luck. I still have bobcat pelts on stretchers that will be at the Briarpatch Fur Sale. The Fallon sale is where you'll see a visible price difference MAYBE but the AZ sale sets the tone for ALL THE SALES IN THE WESTERN US. The UTA sale last week in Nephi was worse than the ATA. Less buyers, lower prices. I do not expect the prices at the Kingman Sale to be better than the ATA sale. Less buyers. The bobcat pelt market is getting saturated if you didn't notice. Any bobcats smaller than 36" are not a desired commodity this year. Poorly put up cats are not desired this year. The cream of the crop is wanted and THAT is priced about 40% lower than last year.

 

The fur market is like a wave, it has crests and toughs. Last year was the apex and its going down now. If you have been in fur very long you see these rises and falls and expect them. I was hoping it wouldn't go down as far as it did but that's the market and we don't dictate it. The 350 bobcats that were pulled as no sales at the ATA sale will regret that move in the end I think. Our only hope is the 1% commission at the Kingman sale offsets some of the lower prices we'll see.

 

Another aspect people probably don't know is that Black Pine Fur was not at the ATA sale this year. They bought a lot of high dollar bobcat fur the last 2 years at the ATA sale. The current fur market has them being more reserved with their funds. Eric and George stood up in front of the crowd after a string of no sales and lectured everyone about the fur market and how its low right now due to mild winter in Russia and the fiasco with the fur market in China right now. Ron Day, ATA president and past AZG&F biologist also got up and told people they were not being cheated. There were still people thinking they'd pull their fur and get better prices elsewhere. Good luck on that. I hope they get at least 75% of what was at the ATA.

 

Grey foxes did not suffer the same price drop that bobcats saw. It has to do with how the fur is used in the garment industry. Trim vs. main body on clothes. I don't know the specifics but thankfully fox prices were only slightly lower than last year. Actually looked it up.

 

Last year grey foxes averaged $30, this year $23. drop of 23%

Last year bobcat average $420 this year $238. drop of 43%

 

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

[Hyperwrx]

Good Luck in Kingman.

[twowindy]

The way you put up your fur is always a factor in what you get for it but there is more to it than just that.I saw a lot of fur that was put up great that went for less than mine.The size is always a factor but the length of the hair and wide white bellies seamed to be what they were looking for to me.I Know the guy who got 1050 dollars for his cat and it had long hair and a very wide white bellie.It stretched 42 inches which is a good tom but it wasn't a giant cat.Its not fair for Hyperwrx to blame bonecollector777s fur handling for his low offer when he hasn't seen his fur.I would have took offense to that comment myself.there are a lot other hunters and trappers that do an excellent job on their fur

[Hyperwrx]

You are correct. The belly could have looked poor. I did not speak to that as I did not see them.

 

I did take into account when he harvested the bobcat. I believe he mentioned heavy fur if you read in his post.

 

No offense hyper but you don't know anything about my cats

 

Last years bobcats I did see. Very small and average put up. Sorry but that's my opinion.

 

I can and will admit your placement at the very end of the sale could have impacted sale price. I did not consider that you was at the tail end. My apologies on not taking that into account.

 

if I were to guess you were lot 350 to 500 or somewhere in the middle?

 

348-352 were my lots.

 

I purposely came in at that time and even let some guys go in front of me in line.

 

I will still make the stand that a trappers put up is a good portion of the price.

 

Sorry if my comments came across as offensive. I post like that a lot and need to work on it.

[bonecollector777]

/>You are correct. The belly could have looked poor. I did not speak to that as I did not see them.

 

I did take into account when he harvested the bobcat. I believe he mentioned heavy fur if you read in his post.

 

 

No offense hyper but you don't know anything about my cats

Last years bobcats I did see. Very small and average put up. Sorry but that's my opinion.

 

I can and will admit your placement at the very end of the sale could have impacted sale price. I did not consider that you was at the tail end. My apologies on not taking that into account.

 

/>if I were to guess you were lot 350 to 500 or somewhere in the middle?

348-352 were my lots.

 

I purposely came in at that time and even let some guys go in front of me in line.

 

I will still make the stand that a trappers put up is a good portion of the price.

 

Sorry if my comments came across as offensive. I post like that a lot and need to work on it.

I averaged 790 dollars on 8 cats in Globe hyper. Not sure what cats you were looking at. I had 3 over 40 inches and none under 35 so if those are small I'd love to see your 50 inch cats you catch.

Kingman I had some worse cats but still averaged 450. I had one cat under 34 that I called in and the rest were 36+ with 2 cats over 40.

Post up some pics of your 50 inch perfectly stretched cats please. I'd love to see them.

[Hyperwrx]

Think we're getting too wound up in this thread.

 

Here is one of my 50" perfectly stretched bobcats. I'l leave it at that.

 

[PatrickJr]

that's a bobcat!?!??

[Critter]

Of course it's a bobcat and If he were to comb out that nice belly fur it could bring top dollar

[Guest wdenike]

Boy, this has been an entertaining read. I have all my life took pride in putting up fur. But putting up fur correctly always consisted of a good fleshing job, ( perfect leather NO GETTING INTO THE ROOTS ) good cleaning, and careful brushing. ( FLUFF ). Occasionally I guess ya run into a green fur buyer ya can BS. But they are bankrupt and gone faster than green trappers that no one will help. Does any one think that a lot of buyers in certain areas have just gotten accustom to giving what ever the traffic will bare. In other words all the mayonnaise gimmicks in the world probably just make you feel better when ya get a little less screwed than someone else. I mean do ya really think pinning the legs really BS"S anyone with a brain into believing there is more useable garment fur there?????? I think if there is some that are that stupid we only get to use them once cause they are bankrupt real quick. Carry on, as this is enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

Take care, Willie

[twowindy]

You're right wdenike, fleshing is more important than anything else.I'm a taxidermist in show low and a good fleshing job= a good cape.

[trphyhntr]

Think we're getting too wound up in this thread.

 

Here is one of my 50" perfectly stretched bobcats. I'l leave it at that.

 

[bonecollector777]

Hyper why you trapping out people's back doors? That's what got everyone in trouble over in california. Try and blur out the houses a little better next time. You can still see the trees and grass in the backgriund. Gonna ruin it for all of us if you catch someone's pet.