The end...

Of my second season is in the books. Sold all my coyotes for avg of $40... Ok but not what I was hoping for. Sold my cat for $908.
Hope everyone did well with there fur this year and now it's time to start getting ready for next season

nice job nvsage. great job on the yotes.

nice job nvsage. great job on the yotes.

While at the sale in Mt. Home yesterday, I watched a fur buyer grading out some of Jack Kelly's coyotes. There were around 3 hundred or more coyotes at the sale. I mentioned to the buyer that Jack's coyotes looked real good and the buyer said they were the best at the sale. Jack tumbles the hides in a tumbler that he built for very little. Jack said he tumbles the hides leather out for 10 or so minutes and then tumbles them fur out for another 10 or so minutes. Jack's fur was very fluffy and looked fuller than the others. The buyer said they were pretty silky and soft compared to the others which the buyer said felt course and like the hair had fish hooks to it??? I've never heard that said about coyote fur before (the fish hook part). He got an average above $60 for his yotes though, so he did it right compared to the others. Last year I saw where some people had 20+ cats and this year had fewer than 10. We all seemed to agree that the cold weather was the biggest contributing factor to the reduced numbers. We all had cat sign (tracks and such) out on our lines from cats we didn't catch. If there is a good point about this, it would be that the on coming spring breeding population will be higher and possibly produce more cats for next season. On a side note, I noticed quite a few younger cats that were caught.

That's great for jack! Who bought his fur? I should have left my coyotes in lots and sold that way I had 2 damaged coyotes and 3 real small dogs that really brought my avg down. Oh well live and learn! Next year they are getting put in lots at the Fallon sale.

Good job on the fur. I think you did good for just your second season. One thing about this business is that if you keep an open mind you never stop learning.
I don't know who bought my coyotes but hopefully it will be on the printout when they send the check. I had two that measured over 50" and the others were in the 45-50 range. The two went for a few dollars more but the overall average was 62.50.
Again - great job on your furs!

Thanks Jack! I Have been lucky enough to have been taught how to put fur up by some top lot trappers and still pick up tips from them often. I never stop asking questions and am always trying to learn more. I don't ever have a lot of fur to take to the sells but everything I take in there is better handled then most. Next years goal is 50 coyotes in the month of November... It'll be a challenge but is very doable. Thanks again for the kind words and will be hitting you up on what kind of media you are using in your tumbler.