I can show you countless side by side seting in the driveways of house trailers and run down houses setting next to junk cars . I wouldnt consider the ownership of a fancy side by side a sign of wealth . It astounds me the folks that own them . I'm logging a place right now that the reason they are getting it logged is they want a five seater aside by side

Among Arizona snow bird farmers ( don't work in the winter from up north) it is. I really didn't mention the lack of run down cars or trailers. There is usually a nice double wide trailer or 5th wheeler and I rather nice truck involved too.

Ha, nothing of course! If you are saying the he just loves it and does not care about profit, fair enough. But it also sounds like he is “laughing all the way to the bank” on his beaver, so kudos on that as well! I would NOT be laughing all the way to the bank on $20 beavers in my region and situation. If Jerry can, I am impressed for sure, and I am not saying I doubt it, although from my perspective it is an amazing feat.

One thing I am looking for, at the core of this discussion, is a comparison between the return on our efforts as trappers compared to the return on efforts of the industries that rely on fur we produce. There will be different points of view by people in different situations and with different levels of skill, proficiency, drive to work hard, beaver population, local laws, money needed to survive… lots of variables.

In the end maybe it just doesn’t matter. Some people will be comfortable with no profit even if the furbuyer and the hat makers are laughing all the way to the bank just because they can still do what they love to do - however I will say that in this case, for most people, they will just have a little fun because they still have to make a living. Some people may find that $20 beaver has them laughing all the way to the bank. If there are enough people in that situation, they can supply the hatter market and the price is currently right on beaver and everyone is making money and my concerns are my own and out in left field. Clearly Jerry is pro, and has his system to the point that his cost is MUCH less than mine. Even though I can not compare my business costs with his costs, I am fairly certain I could not bring in beavers for anything close to $10 each around here no matter what I did. Which makes me wonder, what are other trappers costs?

I do insist on a fair wage when I am supplying an industry where others are making a fair wage. Even if I love what I do. I can not wear a smile and do that.

Part of the story is like this: It costs me the same amount of fuel if I have a three beaver day or a thirteen beaver day. Therefore trappers that have put in their dues and know how to produce good numbers will tend to be much more profitable on their lines. Also, if it takes you an hour to skin and put up a beaver rather than half that it makes a big difference too.

I'll put it this way I figure I have about an 1 hour minimum handling time per beaver. That is scouting, gear prep work , setting traps, checking traps, hauling beaver around again and again, recovering traps, skinning, sharpening knives, boarding beaver, sometimes freezing hides, then thawing hides, keeping fire going, removing from boards, storing hides, putting boards away, clean up, removing castors, drying castors, storing the castors, boxing, shipping the castors, boxing and shipping hides, putting gear away, gutting the carcasses, storing the carcasses, hauling the guts away, loading those carcasses on a sled and sending them to town, cleaning that mess up, putting gear away. It is all time

There is a lot of work involved.

I usually dry my beaver in front of a fan before skinning. Did you include that ...lol

My traps keep working for me when I'm sleeping in bed,and even when I am doing other work.They are constantly making money when they are set.
Dont forget that.

100% right.

And loosanarrow you said by the time you figured "your time" it cost you 20 a beaver.

I just wondered what you charge yourself an hour while your trapping and basically if you charge yourself the same amount per hour while you're at the ballgame.. or the track or setting in front of the tv...or hunting a deer?

If you did apply the same charge per hour when hunting a deer what would you have in that deer by the time you killed it.

Figuring all th expenses at the same rate..fuel..mileage?

All the scouting fuel..food plot seed( if you use a food.plot)(that'd be the same as bait and lure for trapping) and all the minerals or supplements you or corn you buy to bait the deer..if.you do...and the special clothes and don't forget your gun or bow and your ammo or arrows.


I guarantee you that you're gonna make more money trapping beaver..or lose less money trapping beaver..however you wanna look at it..than you're going to on that deer.


It'd probably be cheaper to buy a quarter of beef at 3.00 a pound hanging weight..wouldn't it.?

Yes. But no other industries are relying on the product of my deer hunting to make money. I just eat the meat and enjoy taking my food from local forest.

And if the beaver have absolutely no value at all, and there is absolutely no cash market value at all, I would still spend some of my money to afford me the pleasure of trapping a few; however, until I am making a wage I will not go beyond that, I will catch enough for my own uses.

Not that my thoughts matter much in the face of the fact that Jerry, and therefore assumedly some other trappers, are happy and laughing all the way to the bank at $20 beaver skins. Perhaps my entire premise was mistaken, and $20 beaver is enough over cost to make a wage. And if not that, then perhaps there are those who can afford to not make money chasing beavers all day. I can not make any money selling the pelts at $20 each, so I won’t be selling any. Those who can, again, kudos! Maybe it’s just that I can’t match folks like Jerry and produce them that cheap, and if I were better at it I could make money like the furbuyer and hatter. And I am not being sarcastic, I mean that. Just because I cant do it does not mean no one can do it. Maybe I was out of line suggesting that the downstream folks are making money while trappers are not.

That is why I would like to hear from real numbers beaver fur trappers what expenses they incur to bring in a beav

Castors are 10 dollar avg per beaver lately,why not trap them for the castors-no work involved if your too lazy to process the hides for 20,just take the trap off the beaver,cut out the castors-voila-10 bucks no work.And the carcass left in the bush will increase the carrying capacity of the land for coyotes and other predators worth cash money when skint.

Huh? You still only get $10 for the beaver. What is missing in your analysis is cost to get to the point where you are removing the castors. Add $20 for the skin, now you have $30. Great, what was the cost and how much time was involved. Those figures give you a wage estimate.

Have you ever tracked expenses and time boco? Curious if you know your cost to produce a beaver?

Just call your castor buyer and tell him where the beavers are, then he can deposit your money into your account and the only work will be the call.

There are no recreational beaver in the few I catch....they are all commercial beaver.

Deer hunting is recreational....beaver trapping is WORK!

I can catch more beaver in a day than i would care to process-the cost to get them is next to nothing.We are polluted with water here and water has beaver.I could go to the cabin for a week and live cheaper than I do at home since I live on bush meat at camp.When I trap I trap,I dont spend all day driving around for 150 miles with a 5 ton truck.In that week at camp,in the fall,I could trap and put up 8 beaver a day (and other fur)within a 10 mile radius of the cabin by canoe and 4 wheeler.My 4 wheeler runs all day on around 2 cups of gas.My canoe runs on beaver meat and partridge.
Like Beaverpeeler,all my trapping income and expenses is filed for tax purposes.All expenses I am entitled to I claim,including all equipment,operating expenses capital cost allowances vehices/ building depreciation,heating costs use of home expenses when putting up fur at home etc.
I know exactly how much profit I earn trapping.
I dont only trap beaver when trapping-I trap beaver when I am trapping all other furbearers at the same time,which is the most cost efficient way to trap.
Who would go over the same ground repeatedly trapping only one species at a time-doesnt make sense,and a poor way to manage a trapline.

If everyone would listen to this, beaver would be worth more!

I have a beaver trapping friend who can make $40 or more per hour at his other job as an ivory and soapstone carver. He would love to trap a ton of beaver but the opportunity loss for catching $20 dollar beaver is too great so he keeps his efforts to a minimum.

I, on the other hand would spend the winter scratching my rear end if I wasn't out trapping. So I don't figure my time spent trapping as an expense.

Part of the problem…

Goes to show, it is all relative. Just because I can’t do it doesn’t mean no one can…

Why is he so attached to a bit of extra money breathing unhealthy rock dust over taking a couple weeks a year to participate in the web of life and enjoying the creators wonders?Some people have their priorities mixed up.
I trapped way more when I was younger and working a full time job than I do now in retirement.
Its all about time management-like I said your traps will keep working for you when you are doing other stuff(like working somewhere else)

I used to take a couple weeks vacation from work-every wednesday off for two months,plus weekends-ran 5 full lines from November to Feb.