I have a friend that decides to give a good at coyote this year. He had trapped when younger and has some experience. He talked about putting up fur of his own and some others but now he has caught a few coyote and been freezing them. Just asked me if I wanted to buy them from him on carcass for 15 bucks each and I could sell them for whatever I can get. Of course I finish all of my fur so there may be a buck to be made but I guess my point is why set traps if you are not willing to handle the fur? I am a little upset about the whole thing. The guy is younger than me by a couple years and is complaining about arthritis, no heat, no good lighting, and a million other reasons be can't do it. I just don't get it... Anyone else ever experience this?

Only thing I can think of is just lazy. You could offer to skin flesh and board and split all profits with him. I do it for a buddy when he gets over whelmed. That way you dont screw yourself on junk

$5 each.

That way he dosnt evn get has money. Plus some may not be worth 15 when put up

Actually explain to him that it is illegal for you to buy thm as you do not have a buyers permit for the state of michigan and he should take them to a buyer

He wanted to trap, not put up fur. Id rather spend the time making sets and catchin stuff-not in the garage putting up fur. I mostly coon trap, and after being out for 10-12 hours a day on my vacation, I dont consider myself lazy. Sounds like a decent deal for you at least.

All trappers are individuals, there are alot that sell on the carcass and fur buyers buy it all. Coon hunters are the same way. Your friend appears to know his limitations, does not mean he is not a god hunter or trapper. Think about the 1800's when trappers, hunters, traders and woodsmen formed companies, teams and alliances: some all contributed fro a share of the profit and the life style. Picking up where another leaves off is what makes the world work. Batting clean up is normal. You have to decide the your relationship based on some type of value system, money, friendship, education, whatever: but put it on the table and keep it honest.

Putting up fur is the hard part, catching it is fun. I see it with hunting and to a smaller degree fishing. I am given one or two deer and sometimes a bear almost every year by someone who wanted to brag about what great hunters they are but don't want to do the work of taking care of the animal. IMO if you are going to harvest it you should respect it enough to take care of it afterwards. As far as trapping goes isn't what your friend wants to do the same as selling on the carcass, I've never done that except to taxidermists who want to do their own skinning. If he can't find someone to buy in the round then he should be obligated to take care of it. I have a friend who makes decent wages putting up other people's fur and enjoys doing it.

No point in judging him. Can you make money on them at $15? If so, then buy them and encourage him to go get a lot more! If not just move on.

I have caught thousands of coons and probably skinned less than 5% of them. I could make a lot more money trapping than I could skinning so I let someone else do the skinning for me. People bashed me for it but I couldn't care less, I was paying the bills, not trying to please anyone else.

I greatly admire those trappers who put up fur with pride, however I don't believe putting up fur is a prerequisite to being a trapper. JMHO

What makes a trapper?...Money,..been that way since the Mountain Man went to the mountains and the voyageur went to the lakes!
Saying that,one can expand or diminish it's reasoning to keep tract with current affairs.

His arthritis only bothers him doing up fur but not trapping? Tell him you will put up his fur for 25 an animal and he can sell them and keep whats left. And hes not doing you a favor freezing them first.
I don't have a problem at all if guys sell whole, rough skinned or done up, aint my place to say or care what they do with it...…..but that sounds like a loosing proposition to me. What if he expects you to skin a mangy or rubbed one?

Most of the best coyote men I know personally put up little to no fur. Full time ADC men, who trap year round so they catch a lot of coyotes when they aren't worth anything and sometimes aren't allowed to sell fur even when it is prime (seen as a conflict of interest depending on who they work for).

X2

I can understand the economics of not putting up your own fur if time doesn't allow it. Let's say you're trapping on the Horicon marsh and you count muskrats by the thousands; not hundreds. Then it makes sense to hire your fur put-up, or sell green. But even then, I think a trapper should know how to put-up fur and have experience doing it; it will make them a better trapper.

When I was buying fur on the west coast in the late 70's I had never heard of trappers not putting up their own fur. Imagine my surprise when a trapper called me to come buy his 'rats, when I showed up at his place he opens a chest freezer nearly full of frozen, whole muskrats. My mouth sort of dropped open, I didn't know what to say, I had never seen such a thing. The guy went on to explain that he had just moved out west from Ohio and he couldn't find anyone to buy green or carcass fur. I told him he wasn't going to find anyone.

Trapping is about the return on investment,when that return is so low,...it's about conservation.

Ok, so I was on a rant. I k ow putting up fur is not required to be a trapper but he k ew it needed to be taken care of, I warned him about the difference in skinning a frozen yote as to a fresh one I told him of a buyer that will buy in any form, round, green, finished, and he has just plain dropped the ball. If I don't do something with these furs they will go to waste because the buyer is not taking anything until the 19th and he needs the room in his freezer for the deer he just got. I told him I would finish them and send them to auctin and give him 30 percent of what they bring. They are all good looking so should bring ok money. I am not sure my heading was good, I think the person catching the fur should think far enough ahead to have a plan of what to do with it.

By the way, this guy has no job, lots of time and a million excuses...

Real trappers don't use Dukes.

Around here you would not be considered a finished trapper if you couldn't or wouldn't put up your own fur.
There are still some though that pay others to do their work.
There are trappers from time to time that ask me to put up their fur.When they hear my price they either put it up themselves or quit trapping.

Eh, sometimes I put it up, sometimes I don't. So I'm a naughty trapper if I don't put all my fur up? In a low market i don't like to hold on to it any longer than I have to.

Around here if you didn't put up fur, you would be skipping the easy part.