the charts show that rats prime up mid feb. but we trap them in the fall.. are they worth that much more to trap them in winter?

ttt

what few I trap there isnt but maybe 25 cents difference between fall and winter rats

I have had a lifelong interest in trapping muskrats since the early 1950's, and have responded to threads about them from experience and research. However, I am not an expert nor a fur buyer/dealer, but I am intimately familiar with them.

Though I have never trapped in Manitoba, I am briefly familiar with your trapping regulations and zones up there, and I assume this is the primeness chart that came from your Province that you are referring to:



This is a comparable one from Minnesota:



As you can tell, each of these are best estimates, showing both the "peak" and the range over the duration of primeness, developed from long term averages obtained through research studies in the field, through seasonal harvest statistics and examining pelt samples directly at fur buyers. However, they are about the only references of this nature that I am aware of.

The trapping seasons are established and set to coincide with the harvest of prime pelts of any given animal. Over all of the years that I have sold muskrats pelts, I do not recall getting any more for a January pelt than one from October when the season started.

This is my personal view on this. In any given year's trapping season, "primeness" is affected by different environmental and biological factors - food resources, weather, animal condition and health, and the age and sex composition of the harvestable population.

With that in mind, consider these aspects related to your question. The largest numbers of muskrats in the north are trapped for the mass fur trade in the form of marketable prime pelts during the earlier open water season before easy access to them gets sealed over with ice.

When a trapper bundles up their catch to sell to a country buyer or at auction, the pelts are graded/sorted on their size and condition based on the buyer's eye for assessing varying degrees of "primeness" whether its from an October or a February animal. The month of capture is not tattooed on the pelts during that process to dole out prices, but what is etched in pelt value over that several month span is the volatility of the world fur market.

All of those variables are integrated into the process between the beginning and end of a given season, assuming optimum pelt preparation by the seller at the time of delivery. And, in that accord, you know that pelts sold in the round or green are never going to fetch top dollar no matter how prime the pelts are.

I just skinned, fleshed and stretched my thoughts regarding your inquiry - a bit long winded, but an attempt to explain my view. That is all that I know at this juncture.

I am sure the experienced fur buyers here can amplify a timetable from their years of observations from when and where they buy seasonally.

Jonathan

hey thanks .... that helps a bunch
i want to traps lots of rats this year but only wanted to trap them when they are prime. and i would feel bad trapping them early just so i could get higher numbers. so i wanted to make sure that fall was a good $$$$$ time to trap them

Interesting

The charts show muskrat primeness to be in the spring. But don't muskrats do a lot of biting during that period? And if so, from a fur quality perspective, would it make sense to trap when the fur is a little less prime, but before the biting starts?

I experienced about the same thing Jonathon has. Back in the 80's when rats were worth good $$, the buyers would look them over pretty good, but any more, most of the country buyers just make a couple piles of large rats and kits and give a straight-through price. Most of what I have sent to the auction (very limited numbers) have varied quite a bit due to the factors Jonathon discussed. All of the rats I have sent would be considered fall rats because they were non-targets during some Nov. coon trapping in creeks/ponds, but some made "top lot". Basically, if season is open, go get'em. I will say, I like to wait a couple of weeks into the season before I target rats, it seems to help a bit on averages, but if you have the area and numbers, start right away and you should not be disappointed.

Yes, damaged rats have little value. Better to get them in the fall than in the later spring when they are full of holes.

Buck, That is a valid observation and question. Technically, I am not sure how prime in this peak context is derived and defined as depicted - physiological/biological? In the real world, even in those northern zones, the fur's color and hair quality are best before the chronology of full primeness. It is very confusing and misleading when keyed into the fur market's criteria for the most desirable higher valued product.

One consolation, as far as I know from reading about muskrat trapping here in different states, few have a "spring" season. In the two states that I have trapped over the years, on average, the seasons started November 1st and ended before March 1st. That end date was before the mating season got into high gear, so pelt damage from bite marks was virtually nonexistent - though there were occasionally a few rare exceptions.

Jonathan

Rats are biting pretty bad here by March 15, end of our season. They usually start biting in Feb. and we see signs of shedding around the same time.

BK, That's an interesting observation from the far east coast. In the areas I mentioned, which are significantly further north than your milder climate in MD, I never saw very much pelt damage in February.

Jonathan

the little bit of fleshing a rat requires it is a lot easier to rub a hole in a spring rat then in a fall rat , but then I live near a power plant that discharges hot/warm water .

I think the whole idea of primeness is overblown a bit. Its what the buyer wants, at the coat end, that dictates what sells well, regardless of how prime it is. Consequently, if September/early October car kills ever catch on with coat buyers, you know when and what we'll be catching.

I've caught plenty of November 'rats on purpose and a few late winter 'rats in connibears set for beavers. The late winter fur was much better but my buyer had his fill of 'rats so his price wasn't nearly as good in March as it was in December.

Our big coon get prime in late October/early November. It has been written often enough that anything less than XL shouldn't be taken before its prime. However, most of our coon prime in a time when its snowy, crappy weather so most are taken when the weather is conducive to stringing lots of steel that is easy to check. IF I were to sell my early stuff by Thanksgiving,50% would be ML to XL and be various stages of semi-prime. The next batch will be 20% ML and the rest L to XXXL. Most are prime and are sold around Christmas. If I winter trap (in barns with cages) those pelts are definitely prime and depending on the market demand, I might get paid more...or not. A lot depends on how full (of fur) my buyer is.

thanks for the help guys

You do a great job with your posting Jonathan and I found this comment interesting so I went back through 5-6 years of sale records to check. I trap rats from 11/1 thru 1/31 which is the extent of our season in MI Zone 2. Regardless of the sale(s) I ship to, the difference in $$ between fall and winter rats of the same size and grade is always between 20-30%.

This is only derived from my personal sales recipts so the percentages I stated may certainly be different for others.