Off Topic Question About Trapping
Pennsylvania
This is not a bowhunting question but with the depth of knowledge on here I know someone will be able to answer my question. I've been watching the trapping shows on the Sportsman's Channel and as I approach retirement I was thinking that trapping could give me more reason to be in the woods, a way to exercise more, and maybe open some properties up to me for bowhunting. I mainly want to focus on fox and racoons which I see a ton of in my spots now. The question is, where can the fur be sold and to what state do you need to prepare them for sale? When I was a kid you could just meet the buyer with a whole animal on a certain night/place and be done with it. Is that still possible or do they need to be caped, stretched and salted? Not looking to make an income from it at all but also don't want to get into it and have no outlet for the skins/animals. Any help appreciated.
Forgot to add that I am in SE PA, Hatfield area.
I haven't trapped in awhile, so here goes.
Find out what district your in for the Pa trapper association, they will list when and where the fur sales are. Fur prices are Way Down. So I don't think you'll find anyone buying whole animals. You Tube will show you how to prepare furs for sale. You can find used traps for sale on facebook market place, seem all the time. fox and coon can be caught in 1.5 coil spring traps. If you got coyotes you'll need 1.75 or 1 3/4 minimum. # 2 best, all are coil spring. Raccoons you can easily catch in dog proof traps and not catch dogs or cats. Learn how to use a snare pole to let non-targeted animal loose. Double stake all traps or use a ground cable to hole traps. Make sure all traps have good swivels or added swivels or you'll loose animals. Out of box traps really need to be worked on to improve catches. Again You Tubes a great place to learn trapping and how to prepare traps.
Teeton, Thanks for the info. All good stuff. Things are a lot different than they were years ago and don't expect to make any money. Just in it for the fun. I didn't trap as a kid but went with friends to sell whole animals.
I trapped a lot when I was younger, still have all my stuff and trap a little on occasion. My brother has been trapping since we were kids. I used to raise ranch fox for furs too, until the market crashed. We trapped some beavers a couple years ago and I tanned the furs for my own use. I make string silencers with them for longbows and recurves and use the tails for bow grips. Beavers are also very tasty. Tastes a lot like roast beef to me.
Hides sold to local fur buyers should be fleshed, stretched, and dried, but not salted. You can also box up and send your dried furs away to be sold. We used to send them to Hudson Bay Fur Co and they'd auction them off. But that was years ago. I'm just tossing some ideas out there.
If you wanted to tan them yourself, or have them tanned, you could perhaps sell them at traditional archery, trapper, or mountain man/flintlock rendezvous.
My brother sells some simply stretched and dried, and others he tans and keeps. He has big bundles of furs of all kinds. I don't know why he doesn't sell more. I think he just likes having them around. He doesn't shy away from skunks either, he has a huge bundle of tanned skunk pelts with quite a variety of patterns on them. Last time I was there I couldn't even get him to sell me one to make a possibles bag. He likes his skunks. Lol
The Trapper magazine has region reports and contacts and I'm sure lists of fur buyers. Maybe pick up an issue or subscribe to it for more info. Fur, Fish, and Game magazine is still in print too. I sometimes pick up a copy from the magazine rack at a local supermarket.
Are you near any of these fur buyers?
https://patrappers.com/resources/fur-buyers/
Thanks Jeff, Reading, Manheim and Honey Brook are all within an hours drive or so but from what I have read and watched on Youtube on the prep etc, it sure seems like a lot of work to get rid of the fur. The trapping part is attractive to me for the chance to be outdoors roaming but the skinning, fleshing, stretching and selling are killing this idea quickly. I may get a couple of dog-proofs and just give it a test run before I go to strong on it. Its kind of like butchering my deer, I have done it, but dropping it off at a butcher allows me more time actually in the woods rather than standing in my barn. I guess I can just go roaming and not use trapping as an excuse!
Back in the day, we sold most of our pelts raw/green to fur buyers that were within driving distance. Raw meaning, they were not stretched and dried, or even perfectly fleshed. We'd skin them the day we caught them, give them a quick fleshing to remove some of the heavy fat(so they took up less room) then freeze them in bread bags until we had enough to make a trip to the fur buyer. Thawed them out a day or two in advance, throw em in big garbage bags and away we go. The buyers were fine with that sort of treatment. I guess to be sure, you could call the fur buyers near you and see what they say.
My brother uses a lot of those dog proof traps. They work well.
Now you got me looking at packbaskets. Always wanted one of those fiberglass ones :)
When I was a kid I had friends that trapped muskrats and they would freeze them whole and when the fur buyer came to, I think Pennsburg on a Wednesday night if I remember right, we would haul all these frozen muskrats up there and get a buck or two for each. The old Stroeman yellow bread bag would be used to freeze them in. From what I read online about local fur buyers, they no longer take whole animals or skinned ones. They need to be fully stretched and fleshed or they won't buy them. I have an abundance of coons and foxes in my spots but don't want to kill them unless I find somewhere to take them easily or want to add a pelt to my own fur collection.
When I was kid (late 70's, early 80's) we fleshed and stretched all of our hides from the trap line and from running coons at night with the dogs. My dad would take me to the fur post every Saturday to sell my pelts. Made killer money back then and had a great time doing it.
Sadly now, hides aren't worth much at all and barely anyone I know traps or runs dogs, can't even make enough to buy dog food. Trapping is still a great tool for controlling nest raiders and predators but there is no money in it.
I help my neighbor butcher at his shop in the evenings when he gets busy with deer. He has a young fella that does all his skinning and all the hides go directly into the dumpster, it's sad but they just aren't worth anything commercially.
Anyhow Griz, enjoy your time trapping and stay safe out there.
A lot of good advice here.
I’m the 70s I was getting $45 for a big coon and $65 for red fox unskinned. I don’t recall the place I took them to, it was in Western PA because we lived in Johnstown at the time, but I doubt it’s still there now anyway.
Phil, those are the prices I remember as a kid for jumbo coon and I got as much as $75 for a jumbo red fox a couple times.
Westmoreland Fur Post is where we would take our furs, near Crabtree, PA. I'm not sure if it's still there... now I want to take a ride and see.
Great memories.
Thanks all. Great info and love the reminiscing. Different times but they sure seemed good. I wish I had savored those times a bit more.
Everyone I know that traps does it as a hobby or for predator control. It costs them more in expenses then they regain in fur sales.
The Westmoreland Fur Post has been closed for 5 or 6 years now since the lady owner passed. Krofickes has been closed for 10-15 years. At one time we had 3 trapping shops in a 1/2 mile radius.
I know of one guy who gets permission to deer hunt because he is getting predators.
Yeah, used to have fur buyers all around. Not so much anymore. Closest one, the only one, I know of now is an hour away. Back in the day my buddy's uncle bought them just down the road, so that's where I always went, but now he lives in Wyoming where he traps coyotes, bobcats, and hunts mountain lions with his dogs. We went out there hunting mulies and stayed with him. He had the whole back of his work bench lined with lion skulls. Had a fresh female lion hide in the fridge. When he held it by the nose straight up over his head the tail was still curled up on the floor. He gave me a badger hide and I made a Lakota style side quiver with it. Still has the claws on it. Them things got some serious diggers on em.
The last deer hide I took to West. FP and got $2 for it.
Dale, thanks for information on the Westmoreland Fur Post. I'm surprised they stayed open as long as they did with the price of furs being so low for so long.
Back in the day, like late 70's early 80's there was at least two places we took furs to in Lancaster county.
Phil, I remember those prices. $10 for coal black muskrats. We averaged $25-$30 for a good coon, upwards of $75 for fox. My buddy and I were getting a couple a hundred bucks each from November thru January. Good money for a couple of high schoolers!
Griz - There is a lot of good info here. You could also check in with the members on the Trapping Forum on HuntingPA.com
