[quote=beaverpeeler]The worst grade for beaver is gd dmg; the "hatter" grade. All the XXL gd dmg sold for $43 on this last sale. The previous sale in June of '25 those same beaver all sold @$16. So it looks like the hatter market is getting active again.
Taking it one step further, you would assume that all the XXL beaver of the better grades would have done at least as well as the gd dmg section. But that did not happen. Some of the western pale lights went for $26, and quite a few Slt dmg went for $40 even.
I'm going to guess that the 4-5 hatter buyers in attendance were waiting for their section (gd dmg) to align more closely to last June, which did not happen. The bidding started at $25 and it rapidly went up.
So....Just like out there on the river reading sign... I kind of like to look for sign on how the market is shaping up for next year.
.....So Boco, are those mink or squirrel tracks I'm seeing? LOL
They ran out of time/quantity to fill there orders and had to bid for the GD DGD stuff. Last year I did a fair bit of my beaver trapping in the winter and had a nice selection that went in, got a top lot beaver from the March sale. This year had a horrible bag of beaver to send in, most was from damage control work. Not as bad as your one chewed up beaver beaverpeeler but a couple were close. My averages for the March 2024-2025 sales are almost the same.
Think both you and Boco are correct, the garment trade set the price for the nicer pelts and the hatter bidders waited, once it got down to the end of the eastern sections they had no choice but to bid.
Couple examples below: March 2026 Sale
All prices CAD
1X RR XDK-BRN 54.00
1X GD DGD 51.30
Lg Select HVY-BRN 47.25
Lg GD DGD 37.80
LM GD SLT XDK-DK 21.60
LM GD DGD 27.00
The upper portion, nicer sections should still be selling for a better average in my opinion. Nice 1X + beavers should be averaging $100,
3X-2X $125 + CAD for the time, material and equipment required to harvest them. That's why I try to get paid twice for them.
Still do not see it as a long term market trend and it would not surprise me if the average drops back down around the $15-$20 USD mark for the next sale.
$1.40 U.S. per inch. Good luck! At least you have standards.
