fur in prime?

everything still needs a bit more time.  badgers arn't prime till feb-mar. no fur is worth much now. coyotes and coons are nearly worthless

according to most fur buyers, it seems the fur is never prime.  Throw the badger in the freezer.  I should be worth something this winter.

Been picking up road kill fur fur about a week

I was out walking for pheasants in the NW part of the state this last weekend. I kicked up a really nice looking coyote. Real thick and heavy. I've seen a couple others that look really heathy, hopefully the ND coyotes are worth something this year.

ktent Said:
according to most fur buyers, it seems the fur is never prime. 

One very large AMEN TO THAT!!!!

I had 2 yotes sneak on my goose decoys yesterday and they were beutiful very fured up up.  they looked like show dogs.  coons should be getting close

Don't take to minot he'll tell you that he's so full from last year that it's worth 5-10 dollars. You hear that year after year same old story.

I talked to the guy at the FUR SHED in downer and he said He is not buying any furs until he gets rid of the ones he has already. he said fur sales droped to the lowest.

So a guy is best off letting them run away then. Or skinning them and getting another deep freeze to keep the hides for 10 years.

The Anti people did it . It's easier for them to hate a lady for wearing a fur coat than a group of bikers wearing Leather.  

In all reality the anti's have very little to do with it.  Back in the late 80's I owned a mink ranch.  The anti's were really getting into full gear then.  We'd go to conventions and they were just insane.  In 1987 the mink at auction set record highs for prices.  In 1988 they fell to record lows.  The anti's were all over themselves claiming victory.  But the irony of the deal was that there were more mink coats being sold than ever.  What truly happened is that there was a trade embargo with Russia that was lifted.  Russia is probably the largest mink producer in the world.  The U.S. people in the mink industry thought Russia had been selling their furs on the european market during the embargo of the 80's.  When in fact they had been storing them for a long time.  Well about the time the embargo was lifted, Russia was in the worst economic shape it had probably been in.  They had to unload all their mink on the market at once.  It basically crashed the market and the fur market has never recovered.  But the sales of furs on the retail market has continued at an incredible pace. 

Geothermal Said:
The Anti people did it . It's easier for them to hate a lady for wearing a fur coat than a group of bikers wearing Leather.  

Ok that might explain why mink are down,  What about the rest of the fur market coyote, Fox Badger and everything else that crashed along with them ?  Just because there is a bumper crop of oranges in Florida doesn't mean apples and strawberries are going to be cheap

Russia and China are our main consumers of wild fur now. As the world wide economy improves so will the price of wild fur.
There is a glut of fur in the system now due to low prices paid late last season. As the economy improves so will the movement of these furs. The raising price of oil will help the Russian economy and will help the coon market. Ultimitly the Russians are the worlds largest consumer of raccoon.
It will take a good coyote to bring $10 this year.
By the way 2 years ago I averaged over $39 on coon.

bvrtrpr

the other furs go the way the mink go.  It is a rather strange marketplace.  when mink prices are high, the other pelts sell for more than they usually do because compared to mink they are much less and the mink are too high priced for most people.  When mink prices crash, other people can than afford them so they jump on the mink bandwagon and forego the other furs thus creating too high of inventory of those and so the prices plummet.  Back in 1978-1981 mink prices were sky high and fox were bringing $100 and coyotes $200.  Needless to say we shot the crap out of them. 

Geothermal Said:
Ok that might explain why mink are down,  What about the rest of the fur market coyote, Fox Badger and everything else that crashed along with them ?  Just because there is a bumper crop of oranges in Florida doesn't mean apples and strawberries are going to be cheap

I disagree with the saying that other furs go which mink goes, it all depends on the Russia and China.  If cold in them areas, price will rise.  Look at the lynx cat a couple years ago, they were selling for 750 average in the Idaho, Nevada, Eastern Washington, and Oregon with some good prices coming outta Wyoming, Utah and Montana.  One cat went for $1600 and that was because wild fur was in fashion that year.  Other countries wanted the animals.

Check out this site for a future outlook
http://ecodefense12287.yuku.com/topic/1164/t/NAFA-2009-Wild-Fur-Forecast.html

Also, fur primeness is based upon photoperiodism and genetics.  It has nothing to do with cold weather.

lynx are kind of in their own league so to speak.  there are so few taken each year that I think the supply/demand thing with them works like normal.  but I may be wrong.  I was unaware that chinese wear fur. 

archer109 Said:
I disagree with the saying that other furs go which mink goes, it all depends on the Russia and China.  If cold in them areas, price will rise.  Look at the lynx cat a couple years ago, they were selling for 750 average in the Idaho, Nevada, Eastern Washington, and Oregon with some good prices coming outta Wyoming, Utah and Montana.  One cat went for $1600 and that was because wild fur was in fashion that year.  Other countries wanted the animals.

Check out this site for a future outlook
http://ecodefense12287.yuku.com/topic/1164/t/NAFA-2009-Wild-Fur-Forecast.html

Have you guys ever checked Canadas market ?   Winnipeg has an auction , I have never sent any up but I know a couple of people who have and they claim that they got quite a bit more than they would have in the U.S. 

I hae sent furs to winnipeg in the late 80s it was good back then but now i know people that have had furs sitting waiting to be sold.

Ya the auction houses do give out some better prices, but you have to skin and stretch.  If willing to put your own fur up, will get higher prices.  One reason why fur prices has been down is especially coon is back in 2007 coon prices were high and most coon early or prime was given some good prices.  Well now the auction house still has coon in storage.  It just isn't coon, they have lots of coyotes, etc.  Once they can lower the numbers in there storage and sell some of them furs, prices will come up.  Two different auctions houses, NAFA and FHA.

When I wrote lynx cat, that is just how the auction houses grade the top bobcats.  Bobcats from the states of eastern Oregon and Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming and etc.  Western mountain states.