Guys I have been wondering something since before I started trapping full time this year. So I only have 12 raccoon stretchers that I have been using for everything, minus mice and squirrels, I have been using deer antlers and older beer bottles for that. Did we adopt NAFA or FHA standards because we were making it easier for the buyers to process the fur? I wouldn't even question it if we were still getting great fur prices, but with what I guess everybody says rock bottom fur prices, should we still be pelting them to the standards that used to pay top dollar since this is creating less work for the fur buyers?

Not to ramble but I have been reading through all of my older books that talk about raccoon used to be boarded flat too, not sure when the change happened to cased. Well I flat boarded two beavers and asked myself why am I doing this method that takes up a ton of real estate? So the next beaver I cased, and I can say that unless for some reasons beavers go through the roof in price, I am going to case every beaver I get from now on. I am keeping all of my fur for personal use from this year, and probably half of next year's catch for what it's worth. Interested to hear some of your thoughts on the manner and whether you agree or disagree with us doing more work for less money to make it easier on the fur buyer. Thanks

Matt

Interesting thought. I also trap for the love of it and keep my pelts. This year for the first time I decided to just dry the foxes fur in. Turning them was always annoying having to watch them and not let them get too dry and risk tearing. Even though they are traditionally done fur out that’s just for sale anyway. Hoping they turn out ok once I get them tanned. A lot easier to throw them on the board fur in then leave them alone for several days and take them off the board when I think of it or need more boards.

Turning pelts that have gotten to dry is no great problem. If the pelt gets to dry just re-hydrate with a damp towel 10-15minutes and you should have little problem turning, I do it all the time and have never torn a pelt. Don't worry about putting the re-hydrated pelt back on the board fur out. The re-hydrated skin dries very well and quickly, unlike a green skin against wood.

Part of it is for grading and part of it is for consistency for marketing. Holencik made wire stretchers for cased beaver many years ago, but the industry wouldn't buy into it. Beaver don't have the skin pattern that muskrats do, but with the exception of some clips in the fur they can be graded cased like a muskrat. Demands change and markets can too, that's why there was a buyer from Ill. last season wanting some heavy beaver cut down the back instead of the belly, maybe see if they could develop a belly market since the fur is so much different than the back fur.

Same thing with coyotes. On our eastern's the belly is not what they are bought for, and hasn't been for several years, that's why you saw a lot of coyotes being dried open by the same Ill. buyer, they're going to get split anyway.

If you are saving the fur for yourself it doesn't matter how you handle them, but if you are going to send bever off for dressing cased ones will probably either be split or you'll see a surcharge because of the extra handling and difficulty since prices are set for open skins.

The Forreston, IL buyer has a fleshing machine that I believe requires the pelts to be open skinned to flesh the pelts in one pass? They already were supposedly open skinning coon for this reason. They are cutting processing costs, but appear to have to tan these pelts to sell? Some people on here have seen the machine. I've only seen the ranch mink fleshing machine in Stoughton.

Groney splits all his green skinned coon for the fleshing machine. I've sen It In action. When I worked for NAFA they started doing coon on a machine but they were left cased. But they all had to be touched up by hand on the neck. Paid me a buck a piece to do It.

Thats why they went broke,lol.
They overpaid you.