Amoung the bobcats we've caught this year are a few young ones that will likely stretch S/M <32" if stretched on regular sized bobcat stretchers, but if I put them on stretchers that are 3/4" or 1" narrower, I'm know I can get them over the 32" threshold that would put them into the M/L length. Do you think it will make any difference in the value of the pelts? Or should I just put them regular stretchers?

Some times if a bobcat pelt is stretched too narrow, the buyer/grader will down grade a size to compensate for the narrow stretch.

I would stretch them on what ever stretcher best presents the belly.

With the value of small cats discounted drastically, that inch or so is not going to make much of a difference.

Okay, Thank you. Regular stretchers it is.

... put them on adjustable fox boards... only narrows the face/neck and you can hit standard width at belly .. gets you an inch or two on the kits



.. that cat would be under 32 on a medium otter board

I'm with Savell on that. Cats have narrow heads and necks and standard stretchers don't do them justice. Especially the small ones.

x3
I do small cats either on adjustable boards or a couple of small boards I have made for them, they are a little narrower, but they have that narrower head and neck on them. In fact all of my boards, even the ones for jumbo cats that are wider than standard boards have narrower head and neck.

Wissmiss is also correct, present the belly as good as possible. Length is more important than width, but once you get the length, wider bellies are better. If you have two stretchers that the cat will fit on and make the same size, but one gives you an extra inch of length and the other gives you an extra half inch of width, choose the one that gives you the wider belly. Just make sure you don't drop down a size to gain belly width, most buyers will dock you harder on losing a size than on a little bit narrower belly. (within reason, if it looks like you stretched it on a fence post they aren't going to give you much for it)

I used wide otter boards for lynx when I was winning the fur handling competitions at FHA in the 2000's.
They look great on a wide otter board-its a bit narrower than a catboard and a bit different shape.They are plenty wide but with a longer look to them.