Hi,
When would you guys suggest I start back trapping? I'm in Texas and there ain't a trapping season here. I was planning on the last week of October. I'm wanting to sell my hides so would I need to wait until later so the animals would have thicker fur?
Thanks everybody!
AuthorTrapper.

If you want to sell fur in this current raw fur market,you are right to wait until the fur is prime.When that may be in your area I could not say for sure but would guess late November\beginning Dec. at least.

I wouldn't start trapping in texas til after thanksgiving.

Dec. 1st is when we will start for coon and coyote. Season opens Nov. 1st but that's too early for our area for almost all our furbearers.
Jim

Not before Thanksgiving here

Fur-bearing Animal Seasons & Bag Limits

Recreational HarvestSeptember 1- August 31Fur-bearing animals taken as a result of recreational harvest may not be soldNo bag or possession limitCommercial HarvestNutria: September 1 - August 31Beaver: October 1 - May 31All other furbearers: November 1 - March 31No bag or possession limit
Texas 2018 regulations

I'll start the first weekend of the season, November 3rd. Can't get those coons if I let other people get them first.

The chart above is pretty close probably for the lower 48 since the length of daylight doesn't vary that widely, I think this is for NJ on the left and Manitoba on the right (maybe, I forget things). What it doesn't show is that after the first three weeks or so of prime there will be some wear or rubbing that degrades the pelts.
My coyotes and fox may still be prime in late January but I seldom get a good pelt after about the 10th of Jan. So rare that I normally pull the traps in the first week of Jan. A little pre-prime will bring more than rubbed, so I don't mind starting the second week of November, with most effort between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
A souple threads from the Archives that talk about this;
https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/840071/1
https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/385112/1

I live in New Mexico bout eight miles from the Texas border. I start setting traps the third week of November,just before thanksgiving, and go till the middle of January or so watching for them to start rubbing.

Those charts are off for my part of the country. Dec 1 is the absolute earliest I would consider trapping coon for fur in this market and all other species for fur in any market and there will still be plenty of blue pelts waiting that late. I have a guy wanting a number of meat coons for Thanksgiving so I am going to fill that order early and will be laying off until about Dec 18th.

I can assure you that any coon pelts you take in most areas of Texas before Dec.1 will be worthless, in this market or any other. The hides(skin) will be blue or turning lighter, and the fur will not be at full primeness. Sucking sows and small pelts will be without value throughout the season. If you have a market for the meat, go for it, but the pelt/fur quality will improve drastically between Nov 20 and Dec 10. By about Jan 15, the fur on the back of most adult coons necks will begin breaking and their value will decrease rapidly. Bobcats in your area will be ready to harvest near Jan. 1, but their fur quality will hold til about end of Feb. I don't know if there will be a buyer coming thru your area this season that will take fur that is not stretched and dried, but you will need to find that out so you can be prepared. In this depressed market, it may be in Nov. or even after Dec. 1 before anyone commits. If you make it to the TTFHA convention in Brownwood Oct. 11-12, most any experienced fur taker will be happy to explain what to look for on most species that have any value. If you don't know an experienced fur trapper, ask to be directed to someone who can help you when you register.

We go clear to March! I caught my last bobcat om March. 16th and it had a good hide and brought a good price.

Here I usually wait until Nov to get started, especially after the firearms deer season when there is less people out and about. I always figured Christmas time is the best time for prime fur though.

ADC work year round. Fur trapping Dec.1-March1 for all species. Sarge

I sold a pretty good pile of late November and early February coon in 12 and 13 that were going for 10 to 20 bucks a pop at NAFA. Of course the titty sows and the smaller coon were still blue in November and some were rubbed in February.

Whole different market then.

Fur trapping around the middle of November to the end of January

Coyote and fox opens in October, everything else on November 15th. I try to hold off on coyote until November but I'll usually get the itch and have a few sets in by the end of October.

Thanksgiving-ish

There you have it, just do what you have always done.

Anthony, I don't start until after the first of the year. Here in central Tx most won't be prime until then. Most of the time cats will be good until mid march or later.

After Jan 1 and stop mid March usually.

I start trapping when the season open here that is the first saturday of Nov. and trap till the weather gets me or there is not much game where I trap.

October 15 is land opening. I start then and go as long as I can. Some will say that is to early.

For fur, December 1st- February 28th

October 25

X2

Around 1979 I was trapping predators in SE Arizona. A man named Bishop from New York came into the area. He said he had done so well trapping fox in Wyoming that he was basically vacationing for the rest of the season. I asked if he started in September in Wyoming. He said he started in August. I said AUGUST? He said "don't knock it", that he averaged $20 on fox. When asked who paid $20 for August fox he said he shipped all his furs to a buyer he knew in New York. It sounded like a waste of wildlife to me.

We can start trapping coyotes for the CWD study starting In August. But access to farm land Is a bit rough with none of the crops being harvested.

Wolf, coyote, fox, muskrat and beaver open Oct 1. I'll trap muskrat in the last week of October. Nov 1 marten, fisher, mink, wolverine open and I'll go hard right from the opener. Lynx and otter open Dec 1 and i'll go hard from opener and start on wolves at this time. Things get to be a blur around Christmas when I start the under ice beaver until the end of Jan when marten and fisher close and then mid Feb lynx closes. We go until spring or fighting damage is bad on beaver, rats and otter (or we quota out) Seasons end May 15.

It opens nov 1st here, but I dont think im going to set right away

Just south of I-10 and smack dab between San Antonio and Houston here I start with coyotes around Thanksgiving, raccoons and cats start up around Christmas. Then trap till mid March.