That is exactly what he is. With every one of his uninformed anti post, he tips his hand a bit more forward. All of us know that there are many reasons that effect wildlife, habit loss, weather during the hatch period and so on.

We also know there is a direct correlation between predator management and nesting birds, especially ground nesters. It's in my opinion that some DNR's purposely mismanage predators as they have a agenda. Like here in Ohio, one example is our turkey numbers are down, bobcat numbers are up, yet the Wildlife Council won't approve a bobcat season, and the DNR sure don't seem to be doing what they could to persuade them.

There are many Ohio hunters and trappers that are doing there own studies. They are getting aggressive with predator management on private lands. They are managing the coons, possums, skunks, yotes, and are seeing results. Although in the early stages, some have reported a increase in the turkeys and I suspect next year will prove further the correlation.

Here's yet another bizarre reply on raccoons.

When it comes to ground nestings birds or any other prey species Management, you have to have an all the above strategy. If you neglect a leg of it, that's going to be your limiting factor. Here on SE Ohio its nothing to see winter flocks of turkeys in the 30-100 bird range. Almost always over picked corn/soybeans with some surrounding cover. We don't have the coon pop here like the flatlander part of the state is. Cover is huge as well as food. One problem that gets overlooked is that nesting grounds are gettibg broken up more and more by pathing throigh them. Studies are showing, and jts not hard to figure this out, that if you make it easier for predator's to nove through the nesting ground's, you're going to get more predatotion as the predators dont have to expend as much energy searching the cover as they would if its one big, wooly area. Thats why we cut trails for deer /pheasant/dove hunting so its easier for hunters to see prey and take shots.

You don’t think removing hundreds of thousands of nest raiders makes a difference? Habitat is extremely important, but all those mouths have to eat something, and nests are easy.

I think the US Fish and Game department have those statistics.
I use to have a book that showed all the amounts of fur caught by state and regions and the average price of that fur. The years covered In that book were from the 1970s to the 1990s. To bad I tossed it a long time ago.

If you search for USFWS fur harvest data you can get all that from 1970 to 2018. You can search/sort by state, region, species and year.

Its an excel file

https://www.fishwildlife.org/download_file/view/2896/1213

Harvest numbers AFWA

Click on " US Furbearer Harvest Statistics Database 1970-2018"

Rather than trying to boil the ocean, I'm attempting to generate the graph for Wisconsin that Corky was originally looking for... I need inputs for the average raccoon pelt price from 2000-2022... it seems to exist in the above Fur buyers report but does anyone know if there's a consolidation version by dates rather than trying to look each report up individually?

Catch 22 here is a pic this kitty is living about 45 miles east of Cincinnati

You might be able to go back on any fur sale reports from NAFA/Fur harvesters or state sales and get a rough idea of averages by year. Dont really need a local average really for what you're doing. National average ornat least pick a state above the Mason-Dixie line and youll be good. Ohio for example has state fur auction records going back to 1998

I think wildlife managers are more interested in valuable wildlife. Furbearers have loss that title. Hence, most furbearer management is really not a priority anymore. I know it is that way here.

Good Lead- Fur Harvesters breaks out Minn/WI coon separately

Amen, Spike. I have noticed a definite increase in turkey on my farm since I started trapping it every year. I also see a grouse once in a while. Eric

I have wondered several times if he isn't an anti that slipped in here

I’m usually just confused by his wordy nonsense posts. Eric

Beav, didn’t you spend several summers in Alaska trapping fox for F&WS to protect nesting waterfowl?

Our game commission and dept of Fish & Wildlife have avg prices and numbers harvested for furbearers going back many decades.

I trapped for Delta Waterfowl for eight years and trapped three islands in AK, to help the Aleutian Canada goose and other sea and shore birds. I am of the opinion that trapping can and does make a difference in ground nesting bird nest success, if enough is done. On the islands we eradicated the fox, they were invasive. For Delta we trapped 15 Mar-15 Jul. When I started, we were trapping a 6 x 6 mile block and had to have permission on at least 80% of the block. There is a lot of difference in fur trapping and trapping to protect ground nesting birds. Have you ever fur trapped the same ground four months, no matter how little you are catching? I saw all the numbers for the control blocks and trapped blocks while I work for Delta, both the US and Canada. I would also bet Delta has never had a hatch rate success in the 90% rate, much less 99%.
You may suggest that he contact Delta Waterfowl and ask if they have seen a difference in fur prices and nesting success.

"The increase in raccoons coincides with a decrease in furbearer trapping license sales in Iowa and low pelt values in international fur markets, according to the Iowa DNR. Markets in Russia and China, some of the largest purchasers of furs, have been complicated by difficult foreign relations spurred by American support for Ukraine and Taiwan.

As fur becomes less fashionable with many Western consumers, pelts that went for as much as $40 in the 1970s now sell for under $5, according to one Iowa DNR wildlife biologist. Data reported by the Des Moines Register shows that even in the last decade, the number of raccoons trapped has dramatically declined from about 308,000 in 2011 to about 34,500 in 2021."


Hmm......maybe that's why our pheasant population has been down? I wonder if MattLA would contact the State of Iowa and demand more predators be introduced.......maybe bring back the wolf and mountain lion. That should "balance " things out.

Using those WI figures one can see a decline in sold fur of 100K in a decade roughly per year. We know that many may have been harvested that were not sold but probably not nearly as many as the numbers of coons may have increased due to much lower harvests. Also when not harvesting coons that means other wild incidentals are not being caught or harvested so their numbers probably increase as well. Those numbers combined with some dry springs or years, some habitat loss etc. could impact clutch survival.
The data from the prairie provinces and states would be intersting to review as the drought should have really concentrated the waterfowl for nesting and the predators would have much easier and greater opportunities to destroy nests.

Bryce