You are dreaming TW,or not selling to the right place.
Early northern beaver have the same underfur as prime southern beaver.
neither are the best for the felters
Same as western beaver which are mushy and dont make the best felt.
Northern heavys make the best felt why they sell for higher price.Northern trappers havent produced a lot of winter beaver for quite a while now,but I bet that will change after the upcoming auction in North Bay.

You may be right. But, in the mean time will you quit arguing with us so called southerners who are enjoying HIGH times?

Noticed Mississippi sale beaver averaged 26.00 but not near the amount of them there I would have expected. Not as big a catch at the sale innArkansas and Missouri as I would have thought either.

I sure hope you don't tell the buyers of southern beavers any of this^^^^^

Lol

Also, glad you don't sign their fur buying checks.

I think if a guy from the south is getting close to the same for his beaver as a guy from the north, with out a doubt he is selling in the right place. Should he sell them where he gets less?
Boco have you ever sold fur over the counter? Does Canada have fur buyers that buy from trappers other than people buying for Gorney the last few years?

Last spring's higher southern beaver prices was likely due to the sudden realization of the demand outweighing supply. Hence, southern beaver were bought green at near northern finished beaver prices.

I have noticed a slight downward adjustment in those average prices this winter by reading the posts made by folks here on Tman.

If southern beaver maintain even $20avgs (green/frozen pelts) I'll be surprised. The demand appears to still be there, but a slight downward adjustment has already occurred.

Swamp Wolf I agree with what you said about the price for southern beaver going up. But will the northern beaver go up, stay the same or follow the southern beaver and start down?

How do the hatter southern beaver prices compare to the fur boom in late70s/early 80s?

I havent sold a good beaver for under 70cad (lg and up) in quite a few years,likely 7 or 8 years at least.
I just send my fall beaver to the auction.The others I have repeat buyers for them.

From what I was told the demand for southern beaver is expected to remain for next season. Guess we'll see.

The majority of the beaver have been going to the hatter trade for a few years already, what has changed is the supply.

Last year was the perfect storm in the beaver market.

Trappers are always a year behind the market, it will be interesting to see how the prices will adjust when the trappers increase the supply.

Between Ontario, Quebec and Minnesota if the guys go at it could easily double what Fha is offering on this sale.

Talking with a bunch of Ontario guys they are all going for spring beaver which has not happened in many years.

So you send the bottom of the barrel to the auction house. Makes sense to me. I take it craft buyers? Are they tanned? Do they need a fur buyers license? I guess the trinket trade is a good place to sell small numbers.

I sell all I catch from wolves to weasels not just beaver,I sell good fall beaver to the auction not low grade.Although last year when the price went crazy I shipped about 50 small beaver that I had on hand from a couple seasons harvest that I was planning on tanning myself.Couldnt pass up on the spike at the auction.
I sell the winter beaver tanned to established furriers most up on the coast,they use more than I could ever supply.
Wolves demand outstips the supply as do ermine.Wolves sell out at 750 and weasels at 25.
I send the odd wolf to the auction.havent shipped an ermine to the auction for more than 10 years at least.
Marten go to auction.Not much demand by the local furriers for marten.They all want winter beaver and pay for them.
Seems like everyone wants tanned wolves.Almost all tanned weasels sell in bulk to middlemen who resell for profit.

If you listen to what the auction tells you,you know what to ship without having anything sit there unsold.
It would be retarded to send low grade stuff to the auction that they could not sell,lol.
Its retarded to even trap low grade fur on purpose let alone ship it to auction.

If buyers start to pay a premium for HVY winter beaver like they used to,those beaver will show up again at the auction,Until then trappers here will continue to ship fall and spring open water beaver to the auction since that is the kind (price point)that the auction buyers want to pay for.

I think maybe I under stand more than you think I do. I worked buying and selling fur and the trinket trade is not the fur trade even if it is fur. We dealt in thousands of beaver a year. I have spent days bailing them to ship. I would think the coaster furriers could get their beaver cheaper at FHA. Maybe all the add on charges are a show stopper. You always brag the auction house up like that is your main outlet. Come to find out all they get the lesser quality fur. Good strategy.

No the auction gets my good fur,They dont want low grade fur because that is difficult for them to sell,so why would one ship it there.But some still do.
The fur market is much more than just raw fur.I supply my markets with what they want.Help them and it helps you.
Most trappers dont have a clue how to market their fur.
As a trapper(Fur Manager),tanner and furrier myself I guess I have a better grasp of the industry than most.
The auction is by far the best way to market raw fur.But there is much more to the fur market than the raw fur market regardless of what you think or what you call it.
And we are not even talking about manufacture and retail which is where the real money(profit) is in the fur trade.
Pushing junk into the market at any point is bad for buisness if you are in it for the long run.

So your fall and open water beaver are better than your under the ice beaver? I can not say I ever saw that in the lower 48 or Alaska. So if you better beaver go to FHA how do they average out compared to the one going to the crafters? I know it is going to be less since they are not tanned. Why not ship them all to the crafters for $70+?

Better for what?I never said one was better than the other.Different use.
My customers ask and pay a premium for winter HVY beaver.You have to meet your market.
The buyers at the auction pay good money for fall Semis.Fall semis dont work for trim which is what my tanned beaver customers use them mostly for.
Myself I retain some medium and large medium fall(silky) hvys for making fur hats and mitts
One year I got a top lot for beaver at NAFA 300 bucks-It was a xxl black fall(silky) hvy,not a winter hvy-so which is so called "better".

Shipping lower grades to auction works well when there is a strong fur market. Someone will pay decent money for lower grades, not trash. Selling high grades face to face provides that buyer with exactly what was requested and no risk. A lot of risk at auction with no guaranteed sale price. Sell high grades to contracted buyer and lower grades at auction, everyone wins. I’ve done this with section 3 beaver and slight grade muskrats. I believe I recall this model worked very well in 2012-2014.

So fall beaver are as good a quality as under the ice beaver? They don't make what I call a heavy. So you get fall heavies? So you are selecting heavy clean beaver to sell to the crafters, and what is left over you ship to FHA unless small and silky. Semis are semis and heavies are heavies I got that, and they don't always go to the same place. NAFA is dead and gone. The top lot beaver has little to do with the fur market. It is great you got it. But it is just an advertising stunt.
Maybe those southern beaver would grade semi at FHA in this market and that is why they are doing so well on them. Semi's are not all created equal as far as under fur goes. There is a line where they are flat or heavies. But maybe FHA widened that semi swath.

Like I said,you have to meet your market.I sell damaged pelts to the sewers.Not a big deal to them for trim.Prime is more important.They want the guard hair to stand up.
Grade does not always determine which is "better" (to use your terminolgy) in the fur trade.
Do you remember when september fox were selling "better"as you say than winter hvys?Because of the colour and use?
As far as beaver grades there are fall hvys and winter hvys same with semis.fall semis and winter semis.The density can be there but not the length for a longer shear,if that is what a buyer wants.
It is terminology that defines the characteristics of a pelt.Whether they are broken out or not depends on the market.and the collection.

As far as southern and northern,you are not talking grades you are referring to sections.Some southern beaver do section in with northerns.
Paul Dobbins had some northern section beaver at NAFA years ago.he explained they were transplants from the north.Pretty much debunks the BS about fur sections being determined by shippers address.