No window on fur out.

Ok, so where do you make the cut? Are those coyotes that are boarded done correctly?

They look like 5 of last weeks coyotes. Out of 7. Mostly lack of guard hair and a bit of mange on one.

Lumberjake from the pics those coyotes look to be well handled and correct on the boards.Colour may not be the best-hard to tell from a pic but otherwise they look fine for what they are.One looks to have snare damage in front of the hips,and another looks weak in the guard hair on the neck and flanks.The handling is likely way better than avg.
I would ship those.Dont expect big money,but should be way better than $2.

Thanks Boco. That’s means a lot coming from you. I really appreciate it. I’ll let you know how they grade and what I get for them.

LumberJake, what is the "pencil test " ? Also what is the width of you board at the base ? My NAFA spec boards are 9" wide from 39" to the base, which I always thought was to wide, yours seem narrower. Does anyone know if board width even matters ?

In my opinion, precise board width doesn't matter. On the other hand it should be within reason and not way off the charts.

For example - if NAFA or FHA or Groenwald specs say a certain pelt should be 8 inches wide at the base, 7.5 inches is fine, maybe even 7.25 inches. 8.5 inches is fine as well. 6 inches or less and 10 inches or more are too far off the charts and would be too narrow and too wide respectively.

There isn't a magic number as to far off the spec you can be. The important thing is that the pelt looks very similar in shape to what the standard is.

Trust me - when a NAFA grader has thousands of Raccoon to go through, he/she isn't going to stand there and measure the width of each pelt. Width is something you can eye ball.

They grade by Hwys and boundary lines now days,lol. I would like to send to some western sales but I can't cause I live too far east of the hwy and they can't use my type of coyote.

Spot on tbn.

WE got snow now so I'm off this morning to try and catch some of those $99.00 coyotes for the study.

Im curious about the " powder boy "comment .. Ive had top lots in the past so I know how the game is played , I was simply sharing an experience a friend had on the grading floor .

A 2 dollar coyote in Ohio is Way better than the average as where i'm at, 1 buck or nothing is the rate. Wishing we had pales running round here.

Kyron, the pencil test was in the latest issue of International Trapper. It said if you stick the eraser end of a pencil into the fur of your coyote hide depending on how much of the pencil is hidden gives you an idea of how it will grade. If only the eraser head is hidden then I believe he said flat. If the eraser head is hidden and 1/4-1/3 of the pencil is hidden then semi and if 1/3-1/2 of pencil was hidden then heavy. Don't quote me on the exact numbers. Im recalling from memory. As far as the width of my boards, I'd have to measure them. I bought all my boards from Top Lot stretcher. I am not very handy with wood working. So my boards are not homemade. I boarded my two coyotes last year on those boards and got $35 a piece for them.

I think a lot of grading gets done on the curve, ie if there were a 1000 coyotes that were all grade # 3 some of them a small percentage would be top lot, some in the #1, the majority #1 and 2 and a few would be junk. On a given lot of coyote they are compared with each other. In other words out of that 1000 grade 3 coyotes some of them would be the best of that lot.

I'm glad I don't trap in WI. I trap Oct. coyotes in Maine. Any with mange or small pups I pitch and send the rest to NAFA. My 2017 coyotes averaged $45.75. 2016 averaged $29.58 . I did have several that brought $6.00

Color does not seem to matter much. Most of mine grade DBR-DK. This is the best from last year:

137507 3XL-XXL I-II DBR-DK 1-4 1 100.00 100.00

If they grade color red all mine have gone 2-7 dollars.

Your put up is fine. How to tell if you should put them up, experience. If they have no major flaws and are fully furred, you should be OK. From the pictures, yours don't appear to be real heavy (could just be the pics), and that might be the norm for your area. Look em over fairly close after they have dried or hung for a couple hours. A dead give away are parts of the pelt that look wooly, even if the rest looks ok, it indicates other problems. Other than major problems like mange and big holes or tears, a few flaws are normal, and those minor flaws get more numerous as the winter wears on. Selling the first few times to someone local or who can look at them and give you pointers would be the best. Sending to auction doesn't really help you learn, as you have no real feedback on individual pelts. After you've done more, and you have looked them over after finished, you will start to see the things you need to look for to make a decision about skinning. I pitched a really big heavy dog yesterday as he had two bare spots in the middle of it's back, old wounds from the looks of it. It still had value as the rest was OK, but was it worth it to me time and effort wise (had 6 more that needed skinning) to fight it. To be honest, if it would have been in the first 10 of the season, it would have got handled. Now working into the 70s, my oomph isn't what it was 2 months ago. BTW, every auction, I get a couple of those really cheap ones, nothing is foolproof. Good luck,and keep plugging away.

I averaged $45 on these 3 coyotes. They went for $50, $45, $40 I do not know which one was which obviously. All three were graded II which surprised me. One was caught in November but the other 2 were caught mid December.

They all looked kinda flat to me.

Here are some fifty cent beauties.

No....no widow in coyotes! Selling on an international auction is prolly the worst place to learn fur grading. Hang out at a fur buyers and ask lots of questions, or better yet if you have deep pockets, buy fur! You learn quick that way, cause every mistake you make will cost you money! And that is on an up market! The auctions have a hundred grades, and two hundred reasons why , but that is what is needed when the fur goes straight to the manufacturer. Different deal when a fur buyer buys it. It may go through five more sets of hands before it gets offered to a end user. Just for referance, the pic of the third yote is real close to being the price you ask about. Learning to judge fur takes time, but it amazes me what some people will skin! Good luck