Coon just went back up!!

Well I just got off the phone with Gary G. and he said they decided to go back to the prices they were at before everyone freaked out over the Corona virus. I am sure that hair will ignite on some who sold out during the panic that followed. He said he was at 14.00 for 3-4x clean heavy #1 skins. Sometimes it pays to have a thousand to flesh while all the speculation and chaos abounds. Let the hate begin. Hope all my friends listened and still have their fur to sell at the revised prices. LLL

Cool. So when it is all said and done, they just made a little extra feeding off of the virus scare.

Wonder if rats will tic up a bit too then?

Bryce

I KNEW IT!!!!!’ Got the buyers who attended my auction all scared of coon so they won’t bid. Sell all mine for chump change and now they want them again!!! Lolllllll. That’s the game right there. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

I talked to Guy this morning. $18 for clear 4X As and 5X As.

Let's hope!

Groney rocks again.

Somebody let coonman220 know before it's too late

Same ole' Game

steak n shrimp in N.E. Iowa tonight boyzzz.

I'm guessing they will look back through their records and everyone that sold 4x and 5x for 3 dollars will be getting a check in the mail. I'll be checking the mailbox daily. Maybe they will make up for it next year !!

I don't understand the thinking. The guy knocks his prices, everyone follows suit, using a sickness in china as an excuse, and now that he shafted enough people out of their fur cheap, suddenly he is a hero? He doesn't rock...I'm sorry. Last year, my 4X brought high twentys at Fur Harvester sale. WTH! And Larry, I'm not a hater. You know that. But each to their own.

Question: What's worse 3$ coon on a 14$ market or a bad check?

Are you asking me, teepee? FHA. has had no bad checks.

I'm sure the prices that groney quoted plunger and LLL are factual. But how many of your hides are going to grade that way? And are the ordinary skins that don't fit that category going to sell In the $2.00 pile?
When the dust settles I'm betting your still going to be looking at a $5.00 average.

Strange isn't it?

Ever ship to auction and alot of your stuff goes cheap first sale, and your leftovers go better next sale?

Exactly what I was thinking. How many coons are going to grade A out there?

They've been denning up since late Oct here in Wi, so they'll all be yellow and bit, according to the buyer.

Hey Beav, I got 1 for $14 though. That's all that matters......

No way man! He's good entertainment!

Beav I’ve sent all my coon to FHA and over the years have averaged out at 14$ I trap as many as I feel like dealing with

I was referencing swamps post about 3$ 4x-5x coon when evidently the market is 14$, and comparing it to the NAFA debacle. Ether way it's a bad deal for the trapper. Nothing was said about FHA.

Does this explain it?

Were taking about groney and his prices we haven't seen what's going to happen at FHA.
If you have coon up there I hope you do well.

Guessing people avoided coon this year like a coughing Chinaman!

I certainly did, had a feeling something was going to happen. Only kept the very best of the coons

I dont have a dog in this hunt but we all know there is a bit of a difference in top price and average price.

I have averaged 16 bucks at auction the last two years, and no it wasn't through beavs nafa that he used to love so much. I confess that I haven't sent much small stuff, as untill this year, I was keeping what I caught in yote sets. This year I'm sending twos and bigger, but even setting DP's I don't catch very many ones. I've had better color than this year, but I have a big coon and put up right, they go in with the weatern heavys. The lowest priced coon I have had for the last three years has been six bucks. I would rather have a number of people bidding on my stuff than only one guy. I've said my piece, you can argue all you want, I have fur to put up.

I will take that bet. Put your money where your pie hole is Beav. I have said all along I will average 13.00 or more just like last year. Just more than happy to take your moldy money. I would put it towards my average along with the coon bones I sold. LLL

$13 average on coon this year ? Last year was better than this year, could be but doubt going see coon in high $20s at auction, I have compare nafa results to fha on coon before, but I understand anyway that coon are not as high as a year ago, I plan on sell next week, I wont sell coon for $5 or $6 average. Not when most but not all are over 3xl, wonder if big demand on rats, price drop a $1?

Anyone else want any of beav's action? I have 50 coon out of a thousand that are 2x and 3 -1x. This is why those who do not know all should never talk smack. I was done trapping my 1000 I had wanted to keep by December15th and started the 10th of November. A few slates in the beginning but still well furred. I have never said who I was going to sell to. I know it isn't going to be SHAFTA. I do know that every March for ten seasons I have sold and have always caught the top market. GFW has reset the market is all I know. LLL

Yes Coonman. 13.00 or higher. Lots of people going to be p.o.ed selling coon last week for 3 or 4 bucks but they can look in the mirror and be mad. It is like the stockmarket and your 401K. You only lost if you sold. LLL

Who is shafta? I sold finish coon for $9.05 average to groenwold in late December an finish rats for $3.55 average

Well looky here. A little ray of hope yet. Plan on selling my 160 this weekend.

Its soda pop.Liberty Bibberty.

God luck.

He's going to be here Friday .I will take some over to test the bull.

Is ethical for a Christian to bet?
On one level it seems illogical.
On the reality plain, what else would you expect.

There is still a lot of speculation with the fur market this year. With the coronavirus in China and thousands infected and many others dying from it, the last thing on their minds is luxury fur. So its anybody's guess.

Mac are you asking me that as a Christian? Catholics play bingo. I know he would not bet me. He is just running his mouth. LLL

Lee if you only ship your biggest coon that is not an average. LLL

The Beav was trapping when you all were crapping yellow.I believe the beav.

You are under the assumption we care what you believe. LLL

Maybe he wants in on the bet?

I wonder how many people would feel bad enough to sent Groony a check if coon would of dropped to nothing

And in 40 plus years of selling to them, I have yet to have a check bounce!

Best of luck Larry! If you get $13 average from Groney that just proves you can sell ice to an Eskimo. That’s a compliment

You can't talk to the Canadian Super Trapper like that !!!

BOCO is the man !!!

w

It kind of looks like they could not get very coons bought at the price offered deciede to double it only make half as much.
But look on the bright side if there is any coons left out there I bet they will get see or will know about them .

You got it walleyed.!
Of course he cares what I say otherwise he wouldn't have gone out of his way to reply,lol.
And for the record,I always do around 10% higher than the auction avg---AT THE AUCTION---and not just some years-every year.And a lot of trappers I know do as well.
And its because there is a lot of lesser goods shipped there from who knows where that brings down the overall auction avg.

Coonman, you better get some of the GFW action asap and then tell us how much more you got than your $9.05 ave in late Dec. It might be better than selling plasma!!

I sell hundreds of Northern Ontario coon a year. All of thrm go to FHA. I average around 20$ usaly. With some going over 35$. My lowest 6$. But our coon AR a lot heavier then Anything south of the border.

According to NAFA the worst lynx come from the central areas of Canada and Labador.

According to NAFA the Central and Southern areas of Canada and the Northern United States produce Sables that are smaller in size and lighter in weight.

Now we know where the lessor goods come from.

That's what brings down the overall avg and why here we do better than the avg.
2 of the top lot marten a couple years ago came from Kapuskasing(ne ont),the rest from NW ont, Labrador,northern alberta northern manitba/nwt and Alaska.
Our MR section lynx get lotted with NWT.

I cannot comment on if you average what you say but to say wirey haired Canadian coon are heavier than anything south of there is wrong. I would guess you will not see that this year. LLL

I know FHA's "coon regions" are are called different than NAFA's . I think NAFA had 7 coon regions: Western Northern, Western North Centrals, Canadian, Eastern North Centrals, Western Semi Heavy, ?, and Centrals. How do FHA's coon regions go...?

Seems to me that James bay Ont is in Southern or central Canada. Seems to be a whole lot of Canada north of it.

The bay pushes the subarctic climate south here.
Coldest temp ever recorded in ONT-Iroquois falls,(about 40 miles south east of here as the crow flies)-72.9 f-in 1935.Of course that was before global warming.

tHIS

How cold does it get now ? I cant imagine what things would be like if that cold, a year ago from January, the high temp toward end Jan on couple days was -20 for high temp, that was bad, I should not went to work that day. Many didn't

I would also testify too this.

I may not have the “best” fur here however I do practice patience and harvest the majority below ice which could increase my odds to success because I know I’m not that lucky.

I'm rich I have 4 in the freezer new gun here I come!

Still aint gonna go trap raccoons! Lol

If you want to check the fur catalogs on previous sold coon at every auction since 2015 at FHA just go on there website all that information is available. You will see that Canada coon usaly sells for the highest amount. Expecialy last year. With some exceptions to western Canadian coon. Some times the western coon from western Canada beats the Ontario stuff. But usaly it's veary close. It always sell better then north east USA or western USA

That explains your debilitating cerebral injury
due to severe brain freeze.

Prayers sent.

60% of the coon I've shipped to FHA or SHAFTA
graded Canadian as long as they were 8.5" to 9"
at the skirt and +32" long.

Still haven't seen $20.00 averages since 2013.

We also grade a very heavy coon where I'm from
in Northern New York just south of Canadian Border.

I want some of whatever ^^^^^^this^^^^^^ dude is smoking !!!!

w

Yup....the cold will do that to ya

Thats 20 Canuck dollars....cant even by a beer with that.

1 word Boco-----BACON--------nuff said.

and is anyone else wondering if Boco has family on here??

Sold a small batch at the Colorado sale for $12 average. I took a bit of everything there to test the waters. I was happy with $12. Coyote buyers that come thru offered $6 on my heavy 3X-4X, $3 on my semi 3X-2X, and $1 on the rest a week ago I said no thanks. I’ll take some to a actual fur buyer this weekend that I’ve sold to for years. I’m thinking he will offer around $8. I always sell him some no matter what for all the advice he has given me over the years. I plan on taking 40 or so with some other fur to GFW when they come through here in March. Never sold to them and I appreciate them stopping in Kansas. Maybe send the rest of them and other furs to FHA. Still thinking about it.

POOF!!! And just like that coon prices went back up !

I went and looked and as I suspected it confirmed what I already knew. Everything you stated is not only false but not even close. LLL

What set of eyes were you useing.

The ones in your arse don't usaly work veary well.

Plus I said go look at there previous sale catalogs online. This shows every lot every grade every section of pelts of everythig sold from. 2015 up word. I'm not talking about the auction report averages. And yes everything I talk about is in Canadian dollers. Which US currency is 1.32 compared to ours. But heck we're not the ones getting screwed. That 10$ US coon is worth 13.20$ Canadian to me. As long as I plan to spend my money In Canada everything is just peachy.

Time out! I need more popcorn.

Don’t get this thread deleted. I’m kinda interested in what other people are thinking about coon prices. Calm down.

yep

Canadian raccoons talk funny.

on a lighter note--Boco and Walleyed have been approached to do a 70's spin off tv show.gonna call it "The Love Goat"Walleyed plays the Captain and Boco is gonna play the little guy that hollers "de plane-de plane."

Eastern-Northern coon AND Canadian coon
are wooly, wirey, and cork-screw haired in texture,
and therefore of much lesser quality than the
straight haired Western coon.

Show me just one report where Canadian coon out performed
western-northern in either FHA or SHAFTA at any auction.

You can't because it NEVER happened !!!

w

So what are the FHA coon "regions" and how do they crosswalk to NAFA's old regions...?

Love goat,,,hahahaha

A buddy of mine not too far from me, sold his coon to Griz (Groney)before Christmas and ave. a little over $11 finished. I still have mine, but might unload this weekend.

I think they're pretty much the same.

FHA/Ontario Trapper's Association grades
were around first, and the newcomer auction
SHAFTA copied them.

w

I have never caught the numbers of coons LLtrapper has. But, I have heard of the "the Golden triangle" of coon production and associated fur quality for coons. LLtrapper lives and traps in that area. I would encourage others to look up and read about the Golden triangle for coon quality. I believe there is some truth in this.

TRUE DAT !!!!

w

I've got about 7-800 coon left to finish then I'll see what progresses.

Speaking of SHAFTA. Looks like FHA is planning to market FHA coon between two NAFA offerings at the end of the Auction.

Yes The pig comment and bragging sounded familiar.

You yankees have been screwed over for so long by the local yokel buyers you cant fathom that we get better prices for our fur at our auction house.LOL.
Not only do we produce way more fur per trapper but its also better fur.-So get over it and get some therapy for your yankee arrogance syndrome,LOL.

Canadiantrappertalk has posts similar to this one Arrogance isn't regional

No one mentioned way the price went back to were it was. China took the ban off of incoming wild life products. We can fur into China again.

Hey I enjoy Canadian story time too. I just know it is found in the fiction section is all. In 2018 for instance Canadian section coon sold for an average of 4.41 compared to Northern Westerns at 10.25. Top price on Canadian coon was 23.00. Top on Northern Western was 26.00. You are entitled to your opinion but not your own facts. I bet you have never seen a coon that came from the Triangle. It would be like me saying my IA coyotes do better than Alberta coyotes. It simply is not true. Spin it like you want but if you are honest you will come to a different conclusion. LLL

TRUE DAT !!!!

w

Well to prove you wrong again I checked the fur bible.
Quote page 737/Fur grading/ Raccoon-sections.
Sections recognized for raccoon reflect the density of the fur and the thickness of the leather,and therefore the ultimate use in the garment industry.The following sections are recognized.
#1-Canadian-All Canadian provinces east of Alberta.
"Raccoon pelts from Canada have the heaviest fur.The guardhairs are 3 inches long and the underfur is extremely dense.
These pelts are used for trim collars and hats to give full appearance".

So although fashon demands change from time to time-Canadian raccoon is obviously the best pelts,although at times small flat coat coon may fit the bill of fashon requirements and may be in more demand for certain fashon uses popular at the time.

#2-Heavy-New england,eastern,Northern,and NW sections in the US.
The largest and heaviest pelts in this section come from the Dakotas and western minnesota.The best colour pelts in this section come from Iowa.

#3-semiheavy

#4-coat.
So although your lesser quality coons may be more in demand in this current fashon trend it doesnt make them a better coon furwise.
So now we know who is in fantasyland.LOL.

LLL is in SW IA which is about 350 miles from the triangle. His coon aren't near as heavy as a triangle coon!

LLL, you including all those first week coon you sold on the carcass in that $13 average?

A country buyer upping his pay sure got the auction guys panties in a wad ! Lol

There is 6 pages here I haven't read yet, but...I am pretty sure coon didn't go back up. Nice try.

Have had lots of coon grade Can.
Were they on holiday when caught.

LL, hope your av knocks em out of the park.
Your marketing skills may be worth the price of the ride along.

I'm in no position to say the guys claiming Groeny upper his pay are wrong since I have no first-hand info from Groeny.

Do you know otherwise Les?

I am not sure they ever went down. Maybe Groney dropped his price and others followed his lead, but did the market drop? What a buyer is paying isn't always the market.

After 6 pages ,,, common sense thinking MJM very nice

Was it for this reason or was it that January 25th to February 9th was the Chinese New Year celebration and the country was basically shut down during that time as they do every year?

If I recall correctly, someone posted about 2 weeks ago that GFWCO told them they were dropping their prices on coons because they had a bunch sitting on a pier in China that hadn't moved in a few weeks. Attributed it to Coronavirus rather than the country shutting down for almost a month.

Dave - How far into Iowa then are you saying the triangle goes - to Decorah? I always considered most all of Iowa in it. I know the lines are imaginary but just wanted to see what you felt the triangle boundary was.

Well If you have been following the coon market for the last few months and reading the results of several state auctions and those that have been posting their country prices you can see that the average on coon Is about $8.00 and a bit less for green skinned goods. And that includes price info from those who have sold to groney. So If a country fur buyer can buy all the coon he wants for a $8.00 average why would he all of a sudden start paying $13.00 and up? That makes no sense at all.

Lets say you have 500 coon on the boards and I don't care If you caught them In the golden triangle or you caught them In heaven they aren't all going to grade clear leather and A-B colors and they all won't be 4XL and Bigger. Heck they won't even all be 3XL. To catch that many coon your going to have to start out at the end of Oct and those early caught coon aren't going to be fully prime and If your In the water your going to be catching lots of sows and young of the year coon and those will fall short of being fully prime and fully grown. Sure there may be some $13.00 and even some $18.00 coon In that 500 but they all won't bring that kind of money.

It will be interesting to see how the FHA coon sales do. That's going to tell us what the coon market Is doing.

Beav, I find this hard to believe myself, but maybe Groeny can't get all coon he wants at those previous low prices?

But If I remember right someone said he bought up 100,000 coon for $6.00 from some auction house.

Dave you are truly amazing. My coon grade the same as yours. That is according to Gary, FHA and SHAFTA. You don't send anything to auction so you are bias to what GFW tells you. I average just as good or better than you do and you know it. I live 90 miles south of the SD border. I do not know where you got your info but I never trapped any coon before the 10th of November and never sold a single "carcass or green" fur this year. You don't know what you don't know but now we will get to here Eastern IA story time starring Dave Plunger. It is also in the fiction section. LLL

Man I hate agreeing with you beav, but your right on!

I didn't realize the thread was about the entire market going up. I thought the post was about Groeny paying more.

In case ya need to read what put your panties in a wad to refresh your memory.

Why do you think he raised his prices? No one was pushing his corona price. No one. Dave ask yourself why he called me and has every other day during this. Just maybe he wants to buy my out of the triangle, semi heavy junk. Lots of haters here. The normal ones I said would chirp up sure did not disappoint. Beav all I will say to you is I can kill 1000 coon in three weeks if I chose to so do not mistake my drive for your own nor our weather for yours or my good colored coon for your WI school buses. Not the same creature. LLL

Calls me as well LLL...Only thing I hate is dishonesty!

Answer my question then. LLL

No one hates any one, as far as I can see we are just throwing out our opinions.

So I'm still waiting Is this fact or fiction?

I believe that was last year. Honestly I think if SHAFTA had 100,000 coon worth buying they would have sold them during their last March/June sale like they sold all mine at. I had no coon left after that. They wrote the hot check on all the mink of mine they gave away at fire prices. Again ask yourselves why if he was not being pushed by any other buyer then why raise his prices? No one curious? LLL

I had a fur buyer once that wasn't paying good at the end of the season because he run low on money. Not saying this is Groenys deal, just throwing out that there could be many reasons.

Ever see them raise prices because they were out of money? LLL

According to an outdated 30+ year old pamphlet written in 1987,
probably by a drunken Canadian, who is biased against
United States wild fur doesn't prove anything to us.

Heck, the guy doesn't even know how to spell FASHION or COLOR !!!

w

Because he can

Nope, but after he got a loan, he did.

Or after he got a container into China so he could get paid

Duh.. Of course he wants to buy your coon. He wants to buy everyone's coon, that's why he's called a "fur buyer". That doesn't mean you have the same quality coon as a triangle coon!

In the past you've said you run a 24hr check, than a few moments later its an extended check. You claim to have only 50 2X, and 3 1X out of a thousand coon. Your either culling a LOT of coon, or your a blatant liar. You forget that years ago I raised coon, and even with the best nutrition, the vast majority of YOY are 2X coon. You trap the water, and we ALL know that first week water coon are primarily sows with YOY. A hunk of carp in a hole attracts ALL sizes. Don't pee down my back and tell me its raining!

Yea, that's what I'm trying to get across. Who knows why he raised his pay unless your privy. Maybe the market improved, maybe it didn't. Maybe there were other reasons,
But why whine about it? Take the money if it suits you.

i shouldn't of went pee before i opened this thread as now i can't join in.

Anyone care to take a second and outline this Golden Triangle. Is it golden because of the color, size or weight? thanks

What a great thread.

I like to know about the triangle also . It is news for me

Its like the triangular monster.

No, I don't, I guess...not first hand.

I don't believe for a minute that golden triangle coon are heavier on the average than my Canadian border coon, but mine are sleeping in December, and not out much.

No they aren't Les, but they tend to be well colored, and aren't too heavy for a lot of applications. Those Canadian coon are really whooly, not silky like a coon from NE IA, SW WI, and SE MN.

Heck, I'm about 40 miles south of the coveted triangle, and my coon aren't quite as good as up there.

I do not think it is purely the issue of being heavier - I think it was the combination of qualities of fur, color, leather quality. Now days it may not matter much. It has been years since I heard it but I do remember it being discussed.

I was worried when I heard NAFA went under that we on Trapperman would lose the entertainment of who's coon is better, bigger, fluffier, heavier, denser, prettier, and most abundant. Glad I was wrong. Those off-season moments of clarity give me the creeps.

It only makes perfect sense. There is a perfect spot for a lot of things geographically. Ya don't go to Wisconsin to find great bananas lol.

Not a chance.

We hear by word of mouth that groney Is raising prices. But lets wait and see how that works out when the skins hit the rat wagon window. Saying It's so doesn't make It so.

like I said before If the corona virus Is shutting down shopping and there Isn't any work force working and the retail fur stores aren't selling any fur products. Why would they need more fur In china?

I believe the Beav,he was trapping and selling coon when yall were still crapping yellow.

Dave I have not agreed with you on a lot of things but don’t ever remember calling you a liar. That is exactly what you have done here. I said in fact I do have the size I said I do. However I did let a untruth go that you said on your first post here. I had Gary text me his price break down and it seems as though you are confused or untruthful since 3x-4x are combined at 14.00 and 5x are at 18.00. Did you misspeak? LLL

A good clear on the top end of a 4X can make it... Maybe your not privy enough?

You have yet to explain how your the ONLY water trapper on planet earth taking coon the first week, who doesn't catch any 1X or 2X coon with out culling. We have a bigger coon on average here than you do down in the banana belt, and we still have a fair percentage of 2X first season in the water.

And you still didn't answer whether your counting those first week coon you sold on the carcass in your $13 average?

I believe this is the old NAFA one that is no longer on the internut.

What's wrong with the bananas in Wisconsin? The bananas I buy are pretty much the same Maine to Florida to Kansas.

dirty--nothin worse than a dirty nanner.

Yep lol, if'in ya want good clean bananas ya go to central America. Duh lol.....

No triangles there Dirt

Is that first hand lol.....

Yep

Is that a east-of-central Iowa saying or is it more widespread...? Never heard it before but it sounds a little kinky...

we say leg here but its a lot colder and the snow much deeper where he is.

Josey Wales

Ever see the color of a WI coon?

NAFA did not do triangles. They had the" circle of trust".

No, it's just as elusive as you honestly answering questions on threads.

Do you guys know how much groney Is paying me and LLL and Dave to keep this going?

hopefully more than his coons

I thought Duke paid Dave and NAFA paid you,,,,how did you guys get rat wagon guy to pitch in too?You guys are good !!!

He he a ha ha ha lol

LOL

Wouldn't take much.

Dave I already told you I sold zero coon this season. ZERO. I also trapped ZERO coon the first week. I also said nothing about culling. I said I owned 1000 coon and have 50 2xl and 3 xl so far off the boards. I am not done scraping and there will probably be a few more in that few I have left to finish which I will finish next week.

The A color (top lot type) 4x outlier is a one in 300 or better as you well know.

Your biggest issue with size can easily be explained because I used to have smaller coon when I used wire like you do. I skin and board to specifications of the auction houses as well as most fur buyers. Most yearling coon by the second week of the season are 3x when put up properly. My geographical location in the Loess Hills has a huge part in the food base as well as numbers. Talk to Gary on that and he will explain to you why he now runs a route that goes right down interstate 29 that parallels the MO river bottom and the hills. He learned there are big coon in this area. Yes you can generalize areas but again it is not always correct to say an area has this size fur and this color. Not always right. SHAFTA always graded fur by location and your zip code. Not the right thing to do. Go 50 miles east of here and the coon colors, size and heft go down hill quickly. Gary found that out on his Red Oak stop. LLL

LOL!!

Nafa never graded fur by zip code or truck they came off.They did start the breakdown that way though,but the end grade never reflected that.

I have never sold any fur through a panel van window. They always bring it and park it on my street though. I had to pull him out with my pickup last year when he got stuck. LLL

SHAFTA Rocked until the bad checks.

Pays me more than youns.

Anybody ever sell a coon into the FUR market for 130$?

LOL! Poor man.

I sold tons of fur through NAFA.They had a pick up ten minutes from my house.For the most part,I was always treated good.Besides,,I have some top lot certificates from them,,,with them certificates and two bucks,,I can get a loaf of bread at the store !!

No,but I did trap a muskrat for $140 once,,but that's a different story.

$88.00 for a 5XL in 1979 to Dominion-Soudak in Winnipeg.

Yes. I had two in the same top lot in I believe 2013 at FHA. I will see if I can find it and post a picture. Lee S. can vouch for it. I had told him and believe he had one in the same lot from a Kansas coon. That begs the question... How many Canadian section coon have ever get a top lot since they give only one lot that award? I have enough to paper a wall with. All from SW IA both NAFA and FHA Western Northern as well as SHAFTA Northern Heavy. Most were participation trophies the last few years. LLL

9164
4X-3X SELECT A
8010344
2
$130.00
$260.00

It was at the March 2014 sale. LLL

That does it LL. I'm moving to Pottawatever County!!!!!!

YEP!!!

LLL, why didn't you just say from the start that you do catch a fair number of coon that are naturally a 2, and you force them into something they aren't on wood. Like an experienced grader has never seen an overstretched coon before.

Wow that's a beast of a coon did you catch him in a coyote aet

Phewww...and it's only Thursday.

Next time I look this might be 20 pages! lol

yep

Skeetbuster, that's the same sell and lot# 752601 as the one I had, Feb 2012. I don't think ether one came out of the golden triangle, I know mine didn't.Those were the good old days.

And I got 10 cents more than the other guy too.

Dave the vid with Groeny in your coon handling lair last year was pretty flippin cool. Respect for you big numbers Midwest coon guys and T Man Poo flingers. Makes for good read and the reason I log on everyday. My coon look like summer time road kill possum patty. Wish I had yalls problems with the coon measuring contest lol

I'm pretty sure the good ole days were in the late 70's and 80's when coon AVERAGED $70 to $90 dollars in today's money.

Thanks for the post. It shows how those who do not skin or BOARD their coon are loosing big money even in this down market. This coon on the carcass was a double. Skinned and just laying on the beam it measured a big 2x and after fleshing it stretched on a jumbo board that is 7.5" wide at the base. The leather and fur make up the other 1/2" to make it 8". he was an easy triple when boarded.

Dave we can go round and round on things you do not that I do that maximize my coon size. I have sold thousands upon thousands of board stretched coon to GFW. They measure mine the same way they measure yours. They grade mine the same as yours. By the map of sections we are in the same zone and according to that we are both in the NC. We both know that is not true. I have way too many grading sheets from both auctions that say different.

We have debated the way we trap. You are a river trapper while I am a row trapper. You complain about the weather shutting you down early on the river as a reason you just cannot catch the numbers I do. I told you to move then to where you can since you are not limited to your boat line except for your own design. The main difference between you and I is your self limiting mind set. Throw those wire stretchers in the trash, replace them with wood, buy a truck and trap an unlimited road line. This is just my advice to you. Maybe try sending some fur to auction or sell to another buyer. Step out of the box you have designed and see that it is a big world out there just waiting to be plundered by someone who wants it.

Yes this was my coon pictures. Thanks ebsurveyor for posting them. LLL

i've made a bunch a boards for you guys over the years.6 1/2 in coon board called a G.A..messed up the math of the buyers and they gave a big whoa there buddy.

G.A.?

think coon,were made for a big coon guy-late 80's,early nineties i'd say.

OK. Mine are all grawles boards for the most part with some we made with the same measurements when I took a fifty foot Linden tree out of our front yard and had it milled into lumber. Some may not know that it is the same as Bass wood. LLL

wasn't tough to figure out huh. .i have been bringing patterns and such home from my old bosses that i made em for for 20 yrs.will have logs on a mill soon but may just sell "make your own" lumber out of it and haul it a little westward for a couple pay my way conventions.

also have me thinkin of other boards i've named over the years.

So pcr2 what do you say about overstretching a 2x NC or Northern heavy coon on a board to make it a true 3x opposed to selling it as a 1x on wire? LLL

now--no,i believe most buyers would balk at it but maybe not.

fleshing for buyers for 30 years you learn the value of a 1/2 in.sittin here smilin about a buyer that would have a pile of coon noses on the floor.always cut the noses off to gain length and being inside it didn't get seen-not that it should matter.

My point was you cannot overstretch a heavy coon by hand. I never pull the tail. I center it on the board , flip it over and staple the flanks and then turn it and staple the pelt straight across and then remove the tail staple, spread the tail, pushing it almost to a pleat and then staple a hardware cloth over it . I never stretch a coon. I use the board as a form not a stretcher. LLL

The coon in that picture is big, I will give it that but looks just as ugly or uglier than a Pa coon fur-wise.

Don't you "square off" the base to get the pelt measurement?? I am looking where the outside edges of the "square off" would be on the base and see 2xl range. Am I not doing my measurements correctly?? I'm fairly new at all of this....

What are the dimensions of your boards LL?

Could you explain how cutting off the nose would gain length? What am I missing?

PCR2-As long as it replaces MSM!!!

In my opinion you have to much leg on the belly side. And your window looks to be way to long.
I like to pin about 1" to about a 1/2" of leg on the belly side. Then pull all the flank fur around to the back side and pin It. I feel this way displays the flank fur a bit better and gives It more depth.
With the correct opening cut you shouldn't have to do any trimming to create a window.

Your put up looks great I just do mine a little different.

Interesting....so he started as a carcass XL, then went to a skinned 3xl-ish, then to a boarded 5xl. Dumb question: Why can't you do the same with wire??? wire gets too narrow or something else???

There Is no way you can make a XL coon Into a 5XL coon.
A XL coon measures between 27" and 29" a 5 XL coon when finished measures 38" or better. So I don't see how you can gain 9" no matter how you skin or board.
There must have been a mistake In the original measurement.

You can do it with two small coons and spool of thread.

I'm just going by the posted photos next to a measuring stick. Maybe they are not the same coon.

Mr. LL took these photos to show why a carcass coon may not sell as well as a properly boarded coon.

I want to see the silk purse.

That one I need the last picture is not the same coon. It was a 3x as I stated. You all need to read for comprehension

So did coons really go back up?? I thought by the title that’s what this thread was about Read the whole eleven pages of it and still don’t know. Lollll

It went off topic on the second page. Yes they went back to pre corona. LLL

By the looks of it yet to be determined,,, but it looks like 1 buyer greowold is paying more but still all hear say until someone sells to him to find out. Lol

Good one ebsurveyor.

Did other fur prices drop due to corona? If others did drop, have they also bounced back up like coon have?

One thing you can count on with Pa BLACK HOLE region coon- we aint getting much for ours. Id be a nervous wreck if I had a bunch of golden triangle region coon......

Heck in 1934 a average coon was 115.50 in todays money. We could go on and on.

More mis information. They did NOT go back to pre corona prices. Coon were at $20-$16-$10-$5 and $2 prior to the virus out break. They are still $2 across the board lower than they were.

Larry, I also don't have to catch as many coon as you for the same income. I spend half as much as you do to catch a coon. I've taken over 90 coon in a 24 hr check and didn't put 30 miles on my truck. I ran the ROW for decades, and I make more money, for less work, by river trapping. Kind of hilarious you give advice on something you've never done! Do you tell your doctor how to perform surgery too? You only know your little corner of the planet. I've trapped coon in 3 states, and each state required a completely different approach to have success. Go to MS with your style, and you'll be quite disapointed. But as the many PMs from those who have met you say... You know it all in your own mind!

Yes we could go on about how un-special the Feb 2012 Auction average of $20.57 for Western Northerns was. Only thing that was special was the carrot.

I never said a word about the average. why don't you go make a hat or something.

its just plain crazy what ya'll are doin to that dead horse,carry on.

Oh yea the PMs. Probably a lot like you. I hear tell of you running me down on another site too. Easy to talk about someone behind there back. Spineless in my mind. You love me or you hate me but at least I will tell you to your face what I think and truly am not looking for approval of man. I put this post out to inform. You came along to disrupt or out do. Common thing for you and certainly not the first time. You can make excuses for what you don't do all you want. You have been doing it for years. As for my little corner... I have trapped in several other states including WI NE and SD. That does not mean anything to me and does not make me a better trapper. As for MS coon I would not go there to trap them if paid (nothing against MS) just not a place I would trap coon.

Love the part where you stated I was ripping a fur buyer off by stretching a coon on a board to it's full potential. It tells me much about your little box you have built. As for advice, you don't read well either. I told you how to trap more coon and how to properly stretch them. I know plenty about both subjects and have tried the wire thing. After getting jacked for along time, I took folks opinions who know or knew how to maximize my sizes. Only the insane keep doing the same thing hoping for a different outcome. LLL

Thank you. Can I ask you a serious question though? What makes you a bigger finished coon? Wood or wire and what did/do you use? LLL

I river trap and farm trap.I agree,, I can run miles of river for next to nothing.

Yea but you cant get any roadkill on the river.
Some places you could get 50 coon not to mention all the other critters driving around all day.

It's cheap til the ice comes and you are done. At least you have time to put them up. I will just keep on going. LLLLLL

LLtrapper do you run alot of coyotes sets as well when trapping coon?

That's why I said I do BOTH.Didnt you just discuss reading comprehension with someone????? I also asked your board dimensions but you didn't answer.

My trapline doesn't depend on roadkill.My bread and butter gas money is rats.

Having trapped in the golden triangle off and on, mostly on since 1971, 75% 3x and larger is the average for our area and I have to cull. LLL you must have a heck of a big coon.

Sorry I should have addressed Dave. He does not. Hence the comment. I read well I just don't communicate well on the computer I guess. LLL

So LL, what are your board dimensions?

I answered your question before you asked it actually. The length of them is 48" and 56". 7.5" at 30"

Wood In my opinion will give you a bigger coon. My coon boards are just a tad more narrow in the head and shoulder area then your commercial boards It's not much but It does give me just a bit more In length. Some time It's the difference between one size grade and another. That rounded off nose area on your board will lose you a 1" or more for starters.
My rat boards are also a bit less In width In the head and shoulder area.

As a coon dries on wire the wire collapses and the coon becomes less In width. And unless you add a board to your wire form you will never get a true length. Those 2 metal toothed devices just don't cut It.

tmrchessie had a great post on wire stretchers maybe in the archives??


So Is the price of coon still up or is this post STRETCHED to the limit

Everyone will know the price of coon on the international market when the price is set at the upcoming FHA auction.Not before.

pcr mentioned a dead horse.

The Judge has pounded his gavel

That's why I said I do BOTH.Didnt you just discuss reading comprehension with someone????? I also asked your board dimensions but you didn't answer. [/quote]
Sorry I should have addressed Dave. He does not. Hence the comment. I read well I just don't communicate well on the computer I guess. LLL
[/quote]
lol,,no problem and thank you for the board dimensions.

Personally I like way coon stretch on wood, look in comparison with stretched.wire, iI have mix boards. Some I bought used on trap shed some new. To nafa specs, have grawes Dakota jumbo boards. Was told by nafa to use wider boards on any coon over 2xll for better presention, anyone can put a coon on narrow smaller regular board with maybe 7 3/4 base an get real long one, I like 8 to 8 3/4 base on 3 xl an up

My boards are exactly 8 inches. When I decided to switch to boards I talked to someone I figured had some knowledge on the subject. So I talked to Greg Schroeder and he brought me my boards. I assume these are the boards that should be used for my area since Greg grades coon at fha........

I put a coon on an 8 inch board and when it comes off that board it measures 8 inches.

I used wire for a long time before I switched to boards. Then I went back to wire for one season because they were way faster. Big mistake. My overall size took a hit. Back to boards now. I'm a firm believer that it increases your size considerably. FHA states the coon boards should be 48 by 7.5. that's what mine are. I put everything except 5X on them and get along fine with both Groeny and FHA size grades. I sold my finished coon in January for a 9.65 average.

T.E.--fat bottomed red fox board for those dang big NY fox.been with fur harvesters as long as i known and makes a staple puller that looks like a fur comb.

Sorry I should've clarified why Greg told me to use these boards. He said it is better to lose an inch or two to make my coon look heavier and grade a better section. It seems to work because the coon I ship are majority heavies at FHA and I've had people comment on how heavy and nice my coon look. It also helps im in the NE corner of Iowa.
I sold EVERY coon I caught lat year from titty sows to YOY pieces of junk to even larges for a $10.50 average in my pocket and I started November 2. Not a real small sample size either sold over 1000. FHA treated me decent last year and I hope it does again this year.

Im not knocking anyone for using 7.5 inch boards im just stating my opinion and to each their own.

I'd say $9.65 is pretty good for this year but im unsure I haven't marketed any fur yet but did ship some of my coon. When you ship your coon do you see about 50/50 heavies and centrals? Just curious.

I couldn't agree more. You use what works for you through trial and error over the years while constantly learning and adjusting to provide a better product.

I have the supposedly undesirable south of 80 coon. Mine usually grade about 30-40 % heavies. In today's market I would say my coon will average 2-3 dollars less than the golden triangle coon. This year I started on the 17th November and stopped the first week in January. I culled probably well over 10 percent of my catch.

Thanks lobo. Im always interested to see how coon from other parts of the country grade.

Good luck on your coon. I hope they sell well. I'm going to have some beaver and maybe rats up there.

In science, a sample of a 1,000 would be pretty good for a lot of things. For coon marketing any given year, it surely would be a statistically robust population.

I do congratulate all the coon trappers who bust their butt and harvest hundreds and into a few thousands of masked bandits a year and market finished skins. That is a lot of work even if you have techniques of skinning, fleshing, and drying the hides down to a high efficiency. I will never, ever achieve such numbers, even if I was retired from a full time 9-430 job. Its just not in me in multiple ways.

But I do like to finish fur because its sort of a pride accomplishment for me and I mostly enjoyed shipping to NAFA to see where my hides would stack up against other peoples. In most years I was good with the results. When I got back into trapping more after the high-priced Feb 2012 NAFA sale (right, for some reason more recently I was thinking it was in 2013), I started putting coon up on wood. I enjoy it. Some skins from last year.

Great looking fur-nicely handled.

For me it was the Feb 2013 sale where coon peaked.

Walleye101 welcome to the hat sewing corner.

I own boards, but quit using them years ago. With my method of using wire, I found no advantage. I compared the same coon on wire vs wood many times, and gained nothing. In some cases wire produced a little more length because wire can give which allowed a little more length to be gained.

Great pic there Dave.Lotta work there,impressive.
They look good,how many in that pic?

I Love seeing River Coon. Nice Job Mr.Plueger. Way to go!

That’s a haul and lots of work. Congrats.

That was my last sale of the year in 2018, with a little over 400 in that pic. I had sold 400 prior to this sale.

Wow that's a beast of a coon lltrapper

The green coon hanging are scraped in order on the next picture. LLL

Very nice photos LL and DP. Not many trappers come close to the effort and results that you two put up on a yearly basis!

Chris

Coon catching machines!!!!!

Nice put ups LL.

Do you make all your widows that big?

LLL,

What are the thickness measurement of your coon-boards ?

I personally use 1/4" boards
as I gain length by using this gauge board.

Have to staple a wood strip across
the base of each board to keep them
from cupping but the 1/4" gauge
definitely gains me length.

w

Beavis,

Are you implying that a window that wide
takes too much fur off of the flanks ?

w

Beav that is the money cut window. I do not trim it at all. I staple the flank when pulled straight down. Gene Purdy was my mentor and that is how he showed me years ago. The picture that you are looking at is bulging with fur so it may look like it is big but I think it is the way it sits in the picture. You have commented on it twice now and that's ok but have NEVER had any buyer comment on too big of a window. I thought you said you only had 1" of the leg on the belly side. There is at least an inch and a half I guess. LLL

The whole hide is on that board. Nothing but front legs, lips, and bung are cut off that coon. LLL

Thanks LL ,always enjoy and learn from your posts.

Happy Birthday and thanks. LLL

I found a neat little thing at my state trapping convention, during the fur handling demo he took the front legs and took a little rubber pony tail and ponytailed the leg when it dries it looked real nice without a hole

I cut the legs off. They stack a whole lot better when you do. LLL

Yea you cut the legs off after it dries and it leaves just a little rossette thing. Maybe too time consuming but it turns out really nice

I just cut my front legs off as well to time consuming to do anything else with them and just like Larry said they stack better when you have hundreds of coon in grade piles.

I cut mine off also ,but staple them shut.

If you cut them off before fleshing It makes the job a lot easier.

I totally agree

I kinda figured guys putting up big numbers wouldn't want to spend the time with it but I like it and wanted to put it out there.

Will see what Colt offers on Sat when he gets here.

Sold furs to gfw today, everthing ok for terrible fur market except coon, told him wasn't happy with price, I don't think like it an ssy might wanna keep but for what had, send unknown fha an more gas.mileage. Shipper freight fees, fees let go for average $7.80 finish big prime winter coon. Mostly. Say price up for week or few days. Nor sure but down $10 top or $14 on 1 coon had

How big? 3-4 X ?

TRANSLATION = BOHICA !!!!

I can kind of understand him after I've had a few. Makes perfect sense.

I didn't get anything out of that...….I tried

He's speaking in cursive...Give him a break!

Something was not right if you say you had "big prime winter coon" and only had one coon at 14.00. I personally know at least one guy who averaged 10 and change on 200 plus coon. Some were early too. LLL

I've heard they've dropped back considerably..Fears of China not accepting any wild life products. Not sure how an Iowa finished coon could spread corona, but that's what they're stance is at the moment. I'm sure dressed goods will still be allowed, but who knows.

LLL you may have to hold those coon for quite some time if your shooting for that $13 now. I wish no one financial hard ship, and truly hope you eventually do well.

yep

Selling coon might be the least of our problems in 3-6 months. Buckle up gentlemen, turbulence ahead...

There nothing wrong them coons, better in primeness than ones sold for $9.05 average. Some 2xl, mostly 3-5 xl, nothing wrong all them, lol on $13 average. I doubt go see it at furbuyer. Everything else was ok prices for market conditions, coon prices sucked, he say the buyers they had , say no longer thought a good idea with price increase. An not make things happen, but I sold them, kinda wishing would took coon back but for 33 coon, not worth gas run around an fha shipper fees, may been same thing or less money when done shipping, u can't make it pay to go though ups an pay shipping on bunch beaver especally, beaver are bought by lbs on dry hides, with casters, which most pods, not great, $11.50 beaver an caster

So if the Corona virus fear is making the coon market tank why is the coyote and cat market still strong?? Those furs or most of them have been getting dressed and cut into plates in China also.

Good question. I think corn, wheat, soybeans should follow the coyote market instead of the coon market. Lol

Yes sir farmers are in a world of hurt right now.

A lesson to be learned is not to let a single buyer be a person's or nation's major fallback or defacto market. Up through the past couple of years, the U.S. exports about HALF of the soybeans grown here-- corn not even close to that percentage to be exported (usually down below 20%). The number one buyer of soybeans on the global market has been China at over 60% since about 2009 (first time I looked at that data). Meanwhile, we use very little biodiesel made from soy or other home-grown oil crops. Yes, biodiesel has more issues such as changing filters more often AND it would be cutting in on the market share of the petrol boys but WE could certainly do more biodiesel or plastics made from soy or whatever other products that they come up with from soybeans. But the EASY way has been to sell it abroad. But when there's really only own buyer and now that country is in a free-fall storm, does that sound like a good strategy...??

Its a mystery

Maybe sooner.

The panic is setting in. Try to buy a box of face masks. The hoarding has already started. Not that a face mask is going to prevent you from exposure to the Corona virus. But that's what folks see on TV.

Remember the Y2K panic? Here we go again!

On a serious note, if this thing does get out of hand, you might want to visit your elderly relation/friends who have health complications and are in nursing homes. Quarantines will be going up pronto.

Bwana speaks to the nation tonight to calm our fears. This will be interesting.

Craaap......I better go buy another box of rubber gloves.....for skinning, not for going to the grocery store.

At the MT sale last weekend coyotes sold between 38 and 39% cheaper than they did in ND in January. I am thinking they dropped too.

The US and Canada use about 65% of the coyotes through Canada Goose so the reliance on China is no where near as much with yotes as most other furs. It is interesting to note that we can use more expensive labor to tan and dress coyotes but not other furs. I Must be missing something. To me coyotes show us what demand does. With Canada and the US being a combined 360 million people we can consume most of the coyotes and create a high demand worldwide but now days 35 million mink can't cover raising expenses in a 7 billion world market. Six years ago 60 million mink were not enough.

Bryce

Bryce, Jim Gibb reported elsewhere that for the past three years CG has used China to tan and manufacture their ruffs . In essence we are still relying on them although that can be rectified it won't be quick or easy.

I doubt anyone going get $13 average take home on coons on bunch. Ought be new thread, coon went back down again