Guess I haven't got that far from fur handling. Started this week catching up on otters from last season.

Regan still buys some fur and his grandkids help process now.

Jimmy Watson and Roy Lewis in south Arkansas

Saw Rick at the Minnesota convention this year. Still doing what he does because he says he doesn't know anything else. Sounds about right for most of us trappers.

Looks good Dean At least otter have demand but way too cheap. Hemseth along with most of the rest of us are the last of our kind

Back in the mid 80's I got permission to trap on a very big ranch but I could only trap beaver. It was damage control. They would not let you trap coyote which is mostly what I trapped then. I did take a lot of beaver off the ranch. It was certainly a beautiful place and had it all to my self. Many thousands of acres .When it came time to sell my beaver there was a guy I think his name was Paul. He worked for Pacific Fur. He came to my neighbors to buy and pick up cans. She would buy cans and put them in like 10 foot long bags. He would show up in a big truck to load the cans and them come into my garage to look at my fur. Kinda cool private sale.

George Haupt (Thumb Fur Co.) near Sandusky, Mi. Starting going with my Dad when they had the fox club, usually about 100 a year. I starting trapping when I as 10 and I sold to George until he passed. When I was 14 I got a Remington Sportsmen 12 for Christmas. We were at George’s and he had a rifled slug barrel in his display case. I was checking it out while he was with another customer. When George had wrote my check he asked if I was interested in the barrel and I told him yes but I wasn’t going to buy it now. He said to just take it and Merry Christmas. Not many men like George was.

I have to mention Neil Hooper from Indianola Ia. Back in the 60's ran a route into SW Ia.

Thanks Paul, yeah I been tanning otter since prices went below twenty bucks. I need to get some blankets or hats made. Or Trade some tanned otter for other things.

I started trapping rats in 1967 there was afir buyer named Ford Peterson i didn't have a clew what i was doing to skin or stretch them. Ford traded me 6 rats for 6 wire stretchers and showed me how to use them after that it was $.50 ea I was in hog heaven.
Years later he was getting older and tried to get me to go to work for him

Cambridge fur,kishwaukee fur, groenwold, irv schomeyer bought out of his garage in cuba city wi, buckhorn from richland center wi to name a few from this area. this was back in the 70s and early 80s.

Dean was one of the "Best". He and I visited quite a bit when he brought his fur into Montreal to Murray Lippman.

Pete Smith was another buyer I loved to visit with. He started in the business with his dad in the late 1950's and bought a lot of fur throughout New York, PA. and up through New England. A fine gentleman there also.

I'm sure that didn't happen that way. Volunteer organizations are never great at distributing thanks for small donations, no matter how sentimental they may be.

Any New England guys remember Walter Strokie and Reggie Nettles? The first fur I sold was to a furrier in Springfield Massachusetts. He had a factory that made fur coats. He was an old Jewish guy named Max Zeller, that wore suits that appeared too big on him. My mother, God bless her, drove me down with a load of coons. I don’t think he normally bought raw fur but he really liked me. He made me an offer and I started marching out of there. When I hit the sidewalk, I heard a whistle and he flagged me back and offered me my price. Then he walked me all over his plant and seemingly introduced me to everyone. He seemed really proud of me for sticking to my guns. During the war, Polish people saved his family and he liked that my family had immigrated from Poland. He kept introducing me proudly as the “New generation Pollack.” What a great experience for me. I think I had about 20 nice coons and I remember my mom being shocked at how much money I was paid.

You may be too young to remember old Russ, Rusty's dad, a real character. I think the sons you mention are grandsons of Russ. That fellow your mom took you to in Madison Lake was Bernie Kahnke. Sold quite a few coon to him over the years. You may be too young to remember Oshman's in Mankato, or Hannible Hase out of Blue Earth?

The first piece of fur I sold was a put up coyote in 1977, I had shot gunned pheasant hunting. It was late October and I too it in to Pacific Hide and fur in Gt Falls MT. Don Judkins was the buyer and he looked it over and said " It's a little early, so all I can give you is $75." My house payment was $110 at the time. The next year I trapped muskrats and made more way more than I ever did working. I sold all my rat's to Don and started going in to the fur room helping in the spring. One day the old guy that worked there shows up and looks at me funny on the way by. I had seen him, but never met him. He was Bob Young. Don come up and introduced us and Bob ask if I liked working in the fur room. I told him I did and he said to come back next fall if I wanted a job. I went back and he ask if I would move out of state and I said yes. He took me in his office and he called Roger Schearer, in Spokane. He told Roger he was sending me over to work and that I needed $5 an hour. I worked two years in Spokane and then went back to Gt Falls and worked two years there.

In the 70's and 80's In Chippewa Falls my favorite was Ezra Vincent, near him was Muellers - not my guy for several reasons. Ezra was a straight shooter and great old gentlemen. For a few years around Cornell where I lived a Roy Schroeder as well trying to get it going. Never really took off.

Sorry about the slow response. Had to run to Cody today. I vaguely remember talk of cow milking lol, are you the guy who had a wore out all metal paring knife that you used for pelting?

Bernie do you remember when bud died, the last year I talked to him he told me he was planning on trapping one more year. I think that was 91 or 92. I moved to WY spring of 94 and never went back to IA to trap. Bud had caught 225 mink that year.