Just wondering what went on in Balston Spa today

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Grey fox 18 to 23
Red 18 to 34, most about 24
Coyotes mid 30's to high of 41
Mink AWFUL Mine went 9.50 males, 6.50 females nothing over 10
Otter 47 high, 22.50 low
Rats High 6.05, most in 3.50 range
Bobcat,96,80,41,114
Beaver high 24.50, most good beaver in the teens
Castor 55/lb
weasel 5
Pine marten mid 20's
Fisher: many fisher in sale, many not prime
Males averaged in the 20's,females high was 60.50 My best female brought 56. Fisher caught after 11/15 brought best money. I understand there are maney fisher unsold in the auction houses

Mink were a disaster!

Did ENCON have a biologist there to see their unprime trophy fisher sell for 2/3 less!

thats about the same exact report i got.other than mink and those stupid early fisher pretty good.

You got that right, what a joke.....

i got the permit a couple years ago and didn't even look at the dates.sent in my report tellin them just what i thought and i didn't trap nor will i till they change.

Thankyou guys those prices don't seem to bad compared to other areas! I hope most of you did well!

So who are the lowbrow dip---ts, New York State Conservation,or, the trappers that caught them to early?? NYSTA needs to have workshops educating trappers about the differences in value and usability for prime fur vs. unprime fur. Don't rely on some biologist with a diploma in hand to be an authority about fur, that's up to the state assn. and the trapper to understand best, IMO.

I can't figure out why any trapper would target non prime fur.

Education, education, education. There i said it three times to break through the thick wall. Some trappers are extremely savvy, but they likely have been doing it a long time, or they catch on quickly, some.....not so much.

In my area of western New York, the DEC only has the season open from October 25th thru the 31st to allow all trappers opportunity to harvest this “trophy” before the winter snow hits and they are actually prime. Just to answer your question above about who the dipsh!ts actually are......

I really did understand that, how do you get trappers to boycott your DEC, only in regards to setting a season when the Fisher truly have prime fur? The "educated" biologist must think he's providing opportunity for the folks that want to trap in t-shirt weather??

It is in the works to change the season dates within the next few seasons supposedly. According to region 5 biologist.

Joe. Very well said!

Didn’t know I was whining Joe. I’ve lived here all my life and am quite happy with the opportunities I have to trap a large variety of animals. I just think the DEC could have done a much better job of setting the season to a time when the fur is at least approaching prime. It’s a waste to trap “as many as you want” and have them all be next to worthless. I did catch my PA fisher during their season and at least I know it will be graded as a prime pelt.

I’m with tony, joe, I live between Erie and buffalo, our Fisher season sucks... ya it’s great we can catch as many as we want..... but there not prime.... close but not..... is any fur prime that early?

Maybe DEC feels the best way to determine a close to real population density, is to open the season when there is the maximum number of fisher available to harvest and the largest number of trappers (coon fox coyote) in the field; which is the first week. DEC then records the number harvested and in particular the number of healthy young of the year. (lower jaw data). Then DEC looks at fisher density per township: report available on line. In they winter they monitor trail cams and bait stations cams to check the number of survivors (they need beaver carcasses). Pelt value is the least important data point. Looking at restrictions as far as access to private property it very difficult to determine population densities. Another data point that should be considered is the number released after season is closed which are incidental catches in fox coyote and coon sets. Its not about the the pelt value, its about building a sustainable population that can be harvested year after year. I remember beaver limits and short seasons both here and in PA. Give the biologists a break and let them do their job and the C.O.'s are doing their jobs also working with you for tomorrow. Maybe some day we will have an otter season due to the research being done with our tax dollars.I know if "snake head fish" ever show up I would want otters out there eating as many as possible. Until then we have what is considered a viable method of collecting maximum amount of data to determine fisher populations and their impact on the environment and prey species (rabbits turkey grouse). Joe P. has some great comments and observations, thanks Joe.

About ten years ago I had asked a local DEC officer what was the reasoning behind closing our season so early, Dec 10th. He said that the deeper the snow, the easier fisher are to catch. So, while the DEC wants us to thin them out, they don't want us to wipe them out.