Can anybody tell me what I could have done differently to keep these four red fox from grading II? Or is that just part of the looting?

When did you catch them?

End of November through January.

Nope, nothing you can do once it's caught. Open flanks are common here too even at full prime.. Just don't have great fox.

Dates were Dec 6,8,10, and January 30th.

Very good job of putting them up. However they are very poor color, to pale and to much silver flecking to be in the higher grades. the best of whats there is #2

You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Like Brocky said It Is what It Is.

Just Curious Robert,

How Wide Are Your Fox Boards At The Base ?

6" Inches Or 5 1/4" Inches ?

I Always Stretch Mine Narrower Than Yours, To The FHA Standard, or Even Less.

It's True You Can't Do Anything About Color As Salt N' Pepper/Grey Butts Are Common In Finger Lakes Fox

But Color Has Nothing To Do With Why They Graded As II's

To Me, They'd Appear Fuller In The Flanks If Boarded On A Narrower Board.

Otherwise Though, They Look Like A Great Putup To Me.

w

I use skinnier fox boards too. I KNOW it helps my pay, no matter what the guys on here say.
That said, those coon look a little too skinny. That could just be me though.

Do You Remember Back During The Fur Boom Years Circa 1977 to 1980 When The Market Wanted Coon

Stretched Like 5"Inches Wide At The Base And As Long As Possible ?

It Was A Pain In the Butt Squeezing Down The Wire Forms Narrow Enough With Wire To Get That Width.

Too Funny !!

w

No matter what you do your not going to fool a competent grader.
The industry standard on coon Is 7 1/2" at 30". Some times It's hard to tell from pictures.
I'm pretty sure color Is part of the reason those fox graded #2s. If those fox would have been cherry reds and had no frost on their butts They would have graded better. They also seem to be lacking some guard hair and look a little wooly. But like I said pictures can be deceiving.
Those fox may have been better If they would have been caught In late Oct or early Nov. Some critters start to break down In Dec and Jan.

Those were my best harvest years, we had fox back then. Now we have DMG3 yotes. I'm not in "the red zone".
I remember everything selling nose count, fur luyer excuses did not exist.
Did not know of Int. auctions at that time. We had PLENTY of country buyers to shop.

I remember selling a red, whole, 270ed about in half, for more than those four in the pic.
Can't imagine the headaches those prices would cause today.

I think I can avoid that frost by my opening cut, works in my mind anyways.
These are wild animals, we are not farming them.

The second one from the left, is the only 2 that I see. The other 3 just don't have the color to grade higher.
As far as put up. First impression, skirts are uneven,and the best fox is put up off center on the board.
And your coon are to narrow and crooked.
Jmo

From the picture they look to be Late II's-loose and open with poor guard hair coverage.
Trap them in mid November,you may get a better grade.Earlier fox generally have better colour and guard hair coverage,too early and they wont have enough underfur and will grade Early II's
Stretch seems a bit wide but other than that the put up looks good.

Skirts all seem to be high on the right side, frosty, second from left is definitely twisted. Coons pretty narrow and kind of oddly turned, coon on the right is pretty tick scarred also. Coon and mink look well fleshed though.

Very pale fox, any chance these were put up dirty/muddy then brushed out after drying?

Walleyed-made thousands of 6 in coon boards then and they were called GA's after the big name cooner we started making them for.

i use reg.red boards,grey boards,and the fat butt wider Toby Edwards pattern for reds.get them fingerlake,purple anus,grape eatin greys and some will be bigger than my reds.

Beav,heard the silk purse saying a million times from the fur boss.swear he says it in his sleep.

The grade is only part of the puzzle, what section did they land in? A number II heavy will bring more than a II Central.