I bet it would
Dont forget to score it.

I talked to Frank the other day. At some point he may try to take the agent job but he's not ready yet.

Yep. Thanks

Dang, thats a bummer.

Caught one muskrat today. Got four beaver fleshed, two boarded, and got the muskrat boarded. Gerry has all his traps pulled ,we are going to see if we can get all we can done for the February sale.

Sounds like a productive day NF.

I pulled my traps today too. Rained like crazy last night so I was glad to get them pulled up. Very sub-par day from what I'm used to: 5 beaver and 3 nutria from 24 traps. Two of the beaver were kits.

Compressor went bad in my walk-in freezer and everything is thawing out. Very glad I'm caught up on my put ups or it could have been disastrous. Unfortunately it looks like a goodly portion of this year's beaver money will go towards a new compressor.

I should have 100 beaver put up and dry by the end of this week...I might take a bag full of pelts and see what UPS would charge me to get them to Wisconsin (FHA). At least then I can figure out what the per pelt charge would be when I consider my selling options.

I have a feeling FHA is going to have a barn burner sale come March...at least when it comes to beaver.

BP, do you know someone who has a business who can print shipping labels, it’s a lot cheaper.

NF, that's a good idea. I'll check it out.

Check out Pirate Ship, I shipped fur out west for 1/2 of what UPS was charging.

I've never sold to FHA

What do I do to join up?
I was going to sell at my local auction in February at Hinsdale and I usually do pretty well, but I see there a pickup only 10 miles from my house for FHA and would like to expand my options

Any guidance would be appreciated

Turtle, first the bad: You have to wait a long time to get your money. SO from the time you deliver fur until you've got a check in your hand is usually about 3 months (1 month after the sale). Second, once that fur is delivered you have no control over it. The company decides when to sell and at what price. You could conceivably wait years for your fur to sell. Also the company will accept sometimes insulting low prices for your fur where if it was you you would tell them where to stick that offer.

Now the good:

When there's an uptick in the market auction room frenzy can really help the trapper out. For the felt market the buyers have very few options of where to get what they need so at auction you can be pretty sure you're getting top money for your product. No middleman taking his cut unless you want to consider the 11% FHA takes as their cut "the middleman". A lot better proposition.

For me there is the added expense of getting my fur to an agent. Before George Brady passed away I had to travel about 450 miles round trip to get my fur to FHA. There is a small "expedite" charge for FHA's expense in getting fur to Canada as well. Manageable.

So, what you would want to do is get in contact with your closest agent and they will get you signed up with an account #. Or alternatively, call FHA direct and follow their instructions. Pretty easy really.

I have a feeling that if you can wait for your dough this year FHA will get you the best dollar on beaver. Especially when you average in the smaller sizes that really shined last year at FHA.

Thank you very much BP!
I can see the pro and cons

I've always wanted to get an "account" with them for another option of selling. With the market going the way it is for beaver i can see the risk being quite low for beaver this year and quite possibly a high reward.

Maybe I'll send a few to see how it goes and at least I'll be signed up for future endeavors. I'll have to scratch my head on this one.

I recently sold 10 beaver to a native crafter who's bought quite a bit of fur from me the last couple years. He took a mix of all sizes and paid $30 nose count. The cash in hand was what I needed and we were both happy with the exchange. And that's all that really counts. I miss the days when all my fur was sold face to face. I enjoy the interaction and being with like minded people.

Again thank you for the information

Two years ago a $30 nose count would have me doing back flips! Even in todays' market I think you did fine, but did you get all that you might have possibly got? Maybe, maybe not. Last year's late sale averaged just under $30 for eastern section beaver. I personally averaged $33 with 85 beaver that got low $20 offers from our association sale at the end of March.

I have a feeling we will see a little better average overall this season on beaver. I don't believe for minute that we will double or triple the amount of beaver produced last year this time around. Not enough trappers left.

That being said, there is always going to be a craft market for beaver and my head scratching these days is wondering whether the felt market will push the crafters enough to beat the felt price for select goods. I think eventually it will.

Good day in shop today, got four more beaver out of freezer for this week.

Nice looking otter put-ups. What's in the bags in the last pic?

Also, a question: How much more $$$ do you figure on the your otters by leaving feet on? I always figure it takes me an extra 20-25 minutes to skin out the feet and the last few years I've been getting the same money for them as the others. About $60.

And finally, from what I see outside the door window, today was a good day to be in on the warm side of that door!

BP, beaver in the bags, I’ll open them tomorrow morning when I fix the fire, they will be thawed by Tuesday morning, or mostly thawed, then in the fridge til I can flesh em. As for leaving the feet on the otter, I don’t know if it’s worth it but we’ve been getting around $40 apiece. We got about 6-8” of snow last night, it was a nice day to be by the wood stove.

NF looks like your rolling along just fine. Wish I lived closer I'd come over and chew the fat with you boys while putting up some fur.

Ive been staying busy too. Finished a few more up this morning and pulled two more out a little while ago.

The Mrs says "you going to thaw them out on the kitchen table?"
I think I better move them or it might be a little cold in the bedroom tonight HaHa!

Dale, you’d be more than welcome.

I used to skin in the basement, once I started doing mink down there, I had to build a shed. Lol

Newfox is that a custom table you built there or is it one of those beaver tables I've seen in a magazine or somewhere like that