There you have it-an early coyote,I-II=$25 prime coyote $125.

Hard to say since, again, I don't know which coyote was which....

In talking to the FHA guys, they told me the lower prices had as much to do with color as anything.

That sample is just that: a very SMALL sample. All I know is ALL of those 125-dollar coyotes did NOT come after Xmas, as I didn't catch that many over that holiday. Some of them, therefore, were caught in late Oct or early Nov.

Again, I CAN"T trap during deer season effectively, so I will continue to start on Oct 25th here in New York.

MZ

All of my coyotes I sold were taken before mid November and Zagman knows my prices.

I had top semis (which were top Easterns) at the March sale and May sales.

I sent some real junk too that would have been junk in December just as it was junk in October and would have been no more junkier in July.

I cannot fathom HOW and WHY there is ANY talk of shortening seasons when we can sell early coyotes at these high prices!! It's crazy talk!!!!

When the market is good early fur shines!!! I saw it with red fox back in 2013 and it is now happening with coyotes. And anyone that says differently I'm convinced they have some kind of agenda (or are either jealous or simply delusional)

You need to pay attention to what the fashon trends are and what the market wants.
The otter market at one time didn't care about grade,colour was more important.And prices for low grade fur reflected the fashon trend.
The same year fox was used for garments instead of trim and the flatter early fox brought just as much as hvy.Todays market is dictated by a much different fashon trend and will not absorb the early skins at decent levels.

Our season for fox was pushed back to sept 15 open to take advantage of that market and because some trappers wanted to see what it was like to make a "dirthole set".

No, today's market will not absorb those fox, but today's market will take those Oct. and early Nov. coyotes. In fact there is basically no market for PA fox no matter when they are caught.

My point is one should trap when they feel it is in their best interest. Lobbying Wildlife Departments to shorten seasons on animals like coyotes to "maximize the harvest of prime fur" is a major step backward.

By keeping our seasons starting early we can benefit from those windows of opportunity when certain articles of early fur is in demand.

When you don't have registered lines,seasons are used by wildlife managers to control the harvest.Unfortunate when markets want early fur,which is clearly not the case in todays market as you can see the difference between the I-II 25 dollar coyotes and the primer 125 dollar ones.
Todays market wants prime fur as it is mostly a trimming market.
But like was said,there are other factors dictating when a guy can trap,that is a totally personal decision.

Joe. Good comment.

That was not directed to anyone on thread. It’s just when the topic of prime fur comes up some folks are quick to chime in with their desire for later season starts. I just hate to give anything up because it is hard to get it back.

I fully agree on fisher, bobcats, marten etc. They are sensitive like you said and the regs should reflect that.

I’m just saying that for the abundant species why not have a season that maximizes opportunity and let it up to the individual to decide when they choose to harvest fur based on market demand and their personal situation.

Well said Duke

Profit, a word eluded to in this thread. Unless you live in an area like Boco's country and have those higher grade furs, plus registered lines, or are one of those imaginary coon profit kings, I don't think that word comes into play these days.
Unless of course you use trappers math.
With the true cost of operating, not the imagined cost, I am willing to bet that "making a profit" is a rather rare thing these days.

In many sections of the country, if you wait say on canines to reach optimum prime, which is pretty tough to figure on period, you are going to be trapping ghost critters. Plain and simple.

The last thing we need to see is to have so called wild life management experts start shortening seasons to achieve maximum fur primeness for critters caught. As Todd stated, once you lose some ground, you can pretty much plan on not getting it back.

Some trappers here in southern Ontario that trap public and private land where there are no registered lines wanted to shorten seasons to prevent their competition from taking fur too early in this particular market cycle,thus forcing them to trap early also so they would not be chasing "ghost" coons.
The federations position was that seasons if changed at all should be more liberal,and thus allow the trapper to make the decision on when he wants to harvest his fur.
Some years primeness does not come into play in the requirements of the wild fur market,and some years it does.It is dictated by fashon,and trappers need to be able to take advantage of the market whatever it requires.