Dirt - if you want to watch an exciting auction, check out the wolverine part. Generally a lot of bidding on most of the lots. There aren't a lot of buyers in the room but plenty of action from those who are there.

Wolves and bears can also be exciting, in certain parts. Section III of the wolves is usually a snooze fest but the better pales can get exciting.

The prices both auctions settle for on wolves or wolverines does not excite me. That being said, they are improving their wolverine game.

P.S. their black wolf prices seem to be improving also.

Maybe both have refocused a little effort here since they can't hardly sell anything else for a decent return.

I wasn't necessarily talking about price. I was talking about action in the auction room. Competitive bidding. For more than one or two bids. Starting at $250.00 and ending at $375.00, for example.

With most other species (except coyote), the auctioneer says a price, a hand goes up, no further interest and the hammer drops. That is hardly an exciting auction.[spoiler][/spoiler]

Grades are up.

Thank you.

THANKS! my beaver grades look pretty good, muskrat not so much, but it was a pretty poor rat collection...few chewed up, and early

I sure hope B grade cats do well. Every cat I have has a B attached to it. A-B, B, or B-C. My coyotes are a mixed bag. I've got a little bit of everything. In fact, 6 of my 16 coyotes graded as Eastern and they all came from Colorado/Utah. Grey Fox was the standard I-II XPL on everything. In 3 years of shipping Greys I've never gotten a SELECT grey fox. Coming from southern Utah/Colorado you think thats a regional thing or am I stretching them in some way thats wrong?

Is there even a select grade for grey fox?
Didn't think they broke them down that much-I don't think they get big enough numbers.

Yes, looking at the catalog from March there are Select Grey fox in there.

Western Greys can be fickle, too early their flat, to late they get fuzzy. without seeing how they were handled it's hard to say though.
On the coyotes, I would venture a guess those six may have been early. Long mane with no/minimal under fur making them coarse.

I have a coyote in lot 15498, this lot doesn't show in the catalog. Is the catalog incomplete?

The catalog is complete. Your coyote got pulled for some reason - to be used as a pelt in a grading demo or at a convention or some other educational purpose. Happens all the time. When the auction is over, you will be paid for that coyote at the same price as what that grade of coyote sold for during the auction.

No need to call about it. The pelt is in the system and you will get paid.

A couple of my cats were graded pale / extra pale? Does that generally help or hurt the price?

[quote=furiousfarmer]In fact, 6 of my 16 coyotes graded as Eastern and they all came from Colorado/Utah. /quote]

I was surprised to see all of my red fox (NY) were graded as Central.

If you had western cats, that color would definately help the price. Probably will help your NY cats as well. What section are they in?

Thank you. It was one of my better graded coyotes so it had me curious. 3X-2X SELECT HVY-SEMI A-B

I target fox in October and early November when Bobcats aren't in season yet. And then I catch Greys all year long as a bycatch while bobcat trapping so they get caught from October to February. The coyotes are mostly shot and the dates are also about the same range so you could very well be correct about why 6 of them went Eastern.

Western greys are usually not heavy enough to make the top end, plus they are smaller. NE sections are the premier grey fox, if you see them side by side, there is no comparison! Just the luck of the draw and living in the wrong place for the top end! I'll never see a top lot or even get close to it with my local coyotes!

They are in the Northern section. Is the Canada section the most prized? Followed by Northern, then Western, etc? or is that just the way the catalog is organized?

The Canada section along with the central section are the LEAST prized sections. Both have blah cats with no character.

Western is the best. Then Southwest. Then Northwest. Then Northern. Then central.

Might be a few other sections but western is definately the best. That is where the 1000.00 dollar cats are.