I guess it is what it is, if enough trappers are willing to sell at below cost to deliver them to the buyer, then the hatters have a deal that’s hard to beat, no need to offer more. I do understand just wanting to get out there and catch a few. If’n thats all the beavers they need, then the guys who enjoy it enough to sell at break even or a loss will keep them supplied and everyone is happy. I admit even if they had no cash value, I would probably go get a few mink just to braintan them and make a few special items for friends and family. To busy with the beaver for that though.

I agree

Ain't no gov't subsidies for trappers. That I know of anyway.

It's called USDA Wildlife Services.

If all the meat, milk, eggs, grain and lumber that we consume that was produced by producers who did not cover the cost of production for that year or years there would a a lot of real famine in the world and here too. The world is fortunate that fur is a luxury item for most and not needed to preserve life or health as waiting for disgruntled trappers could be a life threatning situation if it were really a needed commodity.

Bryce

This winter when I'm in Arizona and all those poor farmers blow by me on there $20,000 side by sides I'll try to remember that they can barely cover the cost of production. Then when the dust settles, I'll move down the trail on my 20 year old fourwheeler.

I have not trapped beaver as long as you guys. I recently found some old tickets from a country buyer from 2015. I got $15 top price for beaver in the round. I didn't even know how to skin a beaver back then. $20 for green beaver is better than I've ever gotten. I have a full time job that pays my bills and trap every evening all winter for fun. There may be others like me who have no idea that beaver trapping can be profitable . What sort of prices did green beaver bring before 2015 so I have a better feel for what I might be missing out on? I don't even realize that I shouldn't be satisfied with breaking even.

You are allowed to be satisfied with whatever you find satisfying that is legal.
And if you are just happy to get anything at all, and consider catching a few beaver each year your hobby and whatever the furbuyer gives you is less you have to pay for fun, I dont fault you for that. And perhaps there are enough guys like you to supply the hat makers. If so all is well that ends well. If the hat makers need more than a few hobbie caught beaver though, they will have to pay an actual wage because to hit it hard and bring in numbers, one must make beaver trapping a job and do it full time.

And I will just go ahead and admit it, I have issues with everyone else downstream making money while the trappers who actually supply raw materials to make that all possible are losing money. I can not participate in that. I don’t fault you for it though because I know how much we all like just being out there doing it. When you walk up to that truck to sell them, it’s your choice and if you are comfortable with it I tip my stetson to you, and I guarantee the fur buyer and the hat makers appreciate it.

Go look at some hats and see the XXXXX's on the inside ring of the hat to figure how many hides went into it.

Stetson always used to label their hats according to how many beaver went into it. A three beaver hat would have three XXXs a five beaver five XXXXXs, etc. The more beaver in a hat the tighter and thicker the felt, the more beaver in it the longer it would last and the more it would correspondingly it would cost. I'm assuming they still do but haven't looked at a new Stetson.

I assume that they actually figure a beaver is X number of ounces of felt, because otherwise you would have a huge difference between a hat made from five small beaver compared to one made from five super blanket beaver.

If they cant get beaver they'll use something else. Salesman and woman earn more money than they should.

"So, how much beaver makes an X?

The fact is, no matter what era your hat is from, we just don’t exactly know how much beaver fur is in there. The fact is, we don’t really have a sure-fire way to know what the Xs mean. Sadly, Stetson did not keep records for posterity on how much beaver to rabbit fur mix was contained in its products. It was an industry secret, in any case, and one that Stetson would not have made public during the hat heyday, anyway. An ancient Chinese secret, if you will (I know, that old TV commercial reference dates ME, too). So, the fact is we don’t know at all how much beaver fur was in Stetson’s hats. We don’t know with precision what the Xs mean.

Sadly, there is no way at all to ever ascertain just how much beaver is in any particular X quality hat. Further, that formula changed as the decades moved on. Triple X hats in the 1910s were of better felt quality that the XXX hats of the 1950s and the XXX hats of the 50s were far superior to those of the 1970s. It is patently obvious that the fur content and finishing process was radically different from era to era, so a three X hat from 1920 and one from 1970 are in no way at all similar in quality. Cost cutting in manufacturing and costs for materials were major reasons for this disparate quality.

Collectors do know merely by handling hats if the beaver content is high or low as there are telltale signs on quality to an experienced hand. But saying that a XXX hat from 1922 was as high as 50% is just a guesstimate. In fact, we are only “pretty” sure that a Stetson 100 is 100% beaver (but made of the most delicate part of the beaver, the belly fur) or that a Stetson 50 is 50% beaver, a Stetson 25 is 25%… well that is, at least, what Stetson used to say in advertising once in a while"

I can tell you what they brought stretched and dried the last 30 years at Canadian auctions. We will call Section III beaver " hatter beaver". In the mid 1990's Section III beaver averaged in the $20 area. This probably means that top price for section III beaver was around $30. Pretty much after that it was a rare year that section III averaged over $10. Beaver pretty much have been on a steady downhill slide since the mid 90's Even Northern better beaver have pretty much gone down with a few exception years. If you figure inflation, it is worse. For most people, beaver trapping for fur/ or felt is and has not been very lucrative. When you sold your beaver in the round you sold the hide, castors, and maybe carcass value. You probably didn't do to well on that $15 beaver in the round. If I was even remotely interested in trapping beaver for sub $20 averages, I would definitely skin them ( and I wouldn't slow down to do a good job) and sell the castors and try to find a market for the carcass. IMHO you haven't missed out on much.

My son paid a DJ $20 for a slow song so he could dance with a girl before we left an event we attended yesterday.

There are much easier ways to make $20 than trapping beaver. lol

"Son, you better put that old guitar steel trap away. There ain't no money in it and it will lead you to an early grave." (T.T.Hall)

Thats for sure, especially when it costs $20 to catch the beaver leaving a net profit of….

At least it is a way for the folks who just want to catch a few to not lose as much money on the adventure. But thats about all it is. Just cant help but wonder, would Groeny still run the route knowing ahead of time that the best they could hope for was to break even or not lose a lot of money? Would the hatters plan to keep making hats knowing that?

In the end, it seems enough of us love what we do enough to let others make money from our endeavors while we make none. I get it. I love it too. I may not be able to stomach that gut punch, but I won’t fault those who can. It is what it is. Rock on Groeny, hat on hatters…

What I've been hearing is that the decline in rabbit fur( hemorrhagic disease and war in Europe) is helping boost the beaver market. The felt trade is low on material so there is keen competition now for what beaver is being produced.

BTW, if I can average $20 on my stretched and dried beaver my true average will be closer to $35 with the bi-products that I sell. Depending on what I do with carcasses maybe more, as I use what I can't sell on the bobcat/civet line.

I'm guessing that's why he canceled a bunch of his roots last year

[quote][/quote] Well no way I can catch one for 20 dollars lol. Wa. is a cage only state making my own traps cost more than that. I will sure try and get a few beaver this year if I get healed up in time. I haven't been able to trap the last 4 years because of a bad aortic valve ,but that been replaced and Im feeling really good. I got 12 weeks of cardic rehab so by Jan. I'm gonna set at least the 3 cage traps I have lol.

I always hate this argument, yes I agree we all have money in traps, but unless they are disposable one use traps you can catch many a critter with the same trap. I hope you get healed up.