Excellent observations Gerald Schmitt. I completely agree with your thoughts.

When I started out as a 10-year-old trapping rats my neighbor's dad ran Master Furriers in Madison WI. I would drop off my carcass rats at his house. And he would take them to his dad's place and then bring back my cash.

I'm going to trap until I'm 90 years old. Then I'm going to get a new hobby. I only have 4 years to go. LOL

I just looked at my Noth Bay paperwork and I had 87 mink, and the top was $74.00, and I averaged $58.00. That was in 1987. Rats were averaging $5.00. Coon were averaging around $25.00. I never broke a 100-mink year but I was close most of the time.

The first fur I sold, I received $1.25 nose count on rats, $40/mink and $3.50/coon.

Any speculation on what a younger guy could do to try and boost the fur economy around him?

Keep traping Leroy wait as long as you can to get the best quality Put up if you can and only the largest coon should be saved Dryland coon are usually large boars that prime up first mink and weasel are fun to trap without a huge expenditure plus trevor barnes is at least last year looking for red squirrel frozen whole a buck or two ain't much but its more then you had before the 70's and early 80's are gone and never coming back

It would help if we could get a peace treaty with Russia and Ukraine. So they would rejoin the world economy again. Also China needs to stop trying to take Taiwan.

Garryowen

Fur industry is dying a slow, painful death. Very little hope imo.

Fur industry I agree is dying or could already be considered dead. Even the little increases on certain goods still don’t make much in an economy like we have today. You’re either being paid to trap or just hobby trapping. Your not ganna justify cost and time value with fur values of today or last few years. One would make twice as much money at simple job much easier and less time involved then it would take to stack the furs to come out maybe ahead. So imo your either adc trapping or just enjoying going out there to trap there’s little to no fur trapping to be had in today’s markets. Again all just a opinion.

Excellent post Mr Schmitt.

When I was a kid there was a lot of fur market support, a network of sorts. You could sell on the hoof or processed local, sell at the state association sale, ship to a regional buyer or ship to one of the international auctions if you processed your fur. There was a small-collection buyer in my town who bought in the evenings/weekends, but the next town over about 20 miles from me was a buyer who purchased huge collections. He also sold a lot of supplies and a kid could just go and listen, observe and learn. There was also a traveling buyer on Tuesdays at the local stockyard, plus another 1 or 2 who made a few rounds per season. It helped that you could actually make a little money (or a lot to a poor country kid). For decades short-hair fur was moving, being buoyed by the ranch mink market. Then came the long-hair fur craze pushed by speculators. Now its just nick-knacks here and there.
All of this was made possible because there was a general fur market, not a "specialty item of the year" market, where most people miss it and its gone before they can get on it. For a select few, there is an item worth pursuing but for most its a hobby. Trinket sales won't support an industry either. There is simply no demand for the quantities the North American trappers are able to supply. Comparatively, considering the cost of production today, the market is even worse than just the pelt prices would indicate (a 1975 or 85 dollar value versus a 2025 dollar value).
Most all of this is gone now & I don't see any reason it will change in my remaining time here, if ever.

I'm pulling for you Gary

Fur industry has some life yet. Fur is trending more in fashion again. The thing is consumers want assurance that animals were harvested humanely. People have gotten very soft. Not that animals shouldn't be taken humanely,but some things are out of a fur harvester's control.

The biggest problem on the harvesters side is price. Ranch mink are finally going into profitability in some colors. And high end wild fur is worth money, but we need profitability in muskrat, raccoon, beaver, wild mink, coyotes, fox, etc. That would really boost this industry.

I don't look for any big spike in prices, always about the same low market every season

Make sure you get some skunks in this season coonman. I hope you capitalized on some of those higher prices beaver for a couple seasons. I don't see coon shining anytime soon though

The fur industry is on its last legs. I don’t see that ship righting itself anytime soon. But that said, the trapping industry here in Pa seems to be thriving. Even though fur has little or no value, there’s still a lot of trappers here. Guys selling equipment see lots of new customers. Many are older guys, recently retired, who want to try to trap. Lots of them want to catch a bobcat, fisher or otter. ( here in Pa, a $6.97 permit is needed for each of these, with a limit of one). Not many guys running long lines for coon, rats, fox. The more traps you run, the more you lose.

But there has been an uptick in trapper numbers running a limited number of sets. Lots of guys chasing beaver too. Even when beaver prices jumped a year ago, I probably only broke even with the fifty I caught. If one really enjoys trapping, you’re better off forgetting about prices and making a profit. Nobody I know makes money golfing, hunting or fishing, so not profiting from a hobby like trapping should be no different.

This thread lacks one thing.....




Boco!

And walleyed.

Some years ago I mentored a young guy for a couple of years. He really got into trapping. He was averaging 30 coon, 40 mink, 30 beaver, and maybe close to 100 rats for quite a few years when prices were good. I ran into him last Sunday. He said the only trapping he does now is nuisance trapping which has kept him busy. He told me he has 3 beaver complaints he's starting now. He got them in the last week or so.

He always made money, no matter how much trapping lowered his taxable income.

Wear it?

Make sure him and his his girlfriend wear fur. Join a trapping organization and get his friends and family involved