Kicking off trapping season
Contributors to this thread:Small Game
From: jmiller
21-Oct-23
The middle of October is generally slow for me in the deer woods, so I usually get my trapping fix. I tan all my fur and make handcrafted hats and mittens so the fur is plenty prime here in North Dakota by the middle of the month. I love checking the sets each morning before work, it's like Christmas!
From: jmiller
21-Oct-23
From: t-roy
21-Oct-23
Off to a good start, Jeff! Do you scent check your skunk sets from downwind like a big buck?? ;-)
From: Scoot
21-Oct-23
Awesome! Good work Jeff!
From: Supernaut
21-Oct-23
Really nice!
From: jmiller
21-Oct-23
T Roy as soon as I roll up I know if I got one or not. The sweet smell of success wafts up through the air!
From: t-roy
21-Oct-23
:—)))
From: Rgiesey
21-Oct-23
Great thread!
From: Altitude Sickness
21-Oct-23
Jeff can make some nice hats from Those skunks
From: t-roy
21-Oct-23
And coyotes!
From: Missouribreaks
21-Oct-23
Good luck trappers !
From: AccMan
21-Oct-23
You are sure helping the turkeys.
From: AccMan
21-Oct-23
You are sure helping the turkeys.
From: Lewis
21-Oct-23
Good for you kill em all Lewis
From: Groundhunter
22-Oct-23
Here in N Wis and the UP we have been at it. Beavers and yotes. Deer farm hunt operations and private land owners, pay well.
From: Groundhunter
22-Oct-23
Wis boys, this winter in Nebraska,
From: buckeye
22-Oct-23
That's the biggest pile of coyotes I've seen ground hunter, how long did it take to collect 60 of those buggers?
From: Screwball
22-Oct-23
I hunted deer in Nebraska a couple years back. I told the rancher trapping and hunting coyotes down here is cheating compared to WI. LOL that's impressive. I have been waiting a couple weeks for fur to prime up. Have a bobcat and fisher to catch, then Coyotes.
From: LBshooter
22-Oct-23
X2 buckeye. That's a haul!
From: Stoneman
22-Oct-23
Always check out this thread, thanks for kicking it off Jeff.
From: deerhunter72
22-Oct-23
Always enjoy the trapping threads! Thanks for posting.
From: Zbone
23-Oct-23
I like the trapping threads too, thanks for sharing, but hadn't realized there was still market for skunks... My grandfather trapped them as a kid and called them "polecats"... He graded them, the blacker they were the more money they brought... White ones with a full stripe, better ones with just a forked strip to the shoulder area, and top grade black ones without a stripe or maybe just a spot on their heads...
I've never seen a lady with a skunk fur coat though...8^)
From: Catscratch
23-Oct-23
They called them "sable" for marketing. Google image "Sable Coat" and you won't even recognize some of them.
The trapping threads are some of my favorites!
From: Aspen Ghost
23-Oct-23
Skunk is not sable. Sable is a finer silkier fur.
Mom had a full length skunk coat that her dad (a furrier) made for her when she was in high school in the late 1930s. Fur coats (including skunk) were very popular in Wisconsin then, not so much now. My sister still has the coat, it's in great shape and you'd never guess it was skunk because its all dark fur.
From: Zbone
23-Oct-23
Bet a skunk fur coat would be pretty though...
From: Aspen Ghost
23-Oct-23
Looks like skunk was indeed sometimes called "American Sable" in the early 1900s as Catscratch stated. But real Sable is different, closer to mink and in the Martin family.
From: Zbone
23-Oct-23
Yeah, I know the true Sables are in the weasel family that look much like our Pine Martins but are native to Russia and supposedly have the smoothest fur on earth,,, I seen the movie "Gorky Park"...8^)
From: Zbone
23-Oct-23
Wow, skunk fur coats are striking...
jmiller - Curious, what does a good skunk pelt bring now days?
From: Tradman and Huntress
24-Oct-23
Most of the value of a skunk is in selling the essence. It is used in both the lure and perfume industry and is bringing around $18 per ounce right now (but has been as high as $25, in our area). I've nicked the scent glands while skinning both skunk and mink, and the thought of losing money never crossed my mind...lol.
~Cheryl
From: Catscratch
24-Oct-23
My bad. I grew up selling skunk pelts for $3-5 each. The local buyer told me they sold the coats as American and Alaskan Sable. I never questioned him (and it was before the internet) and just went with it. Made sense to me as I figured Holleywood types wouldn't brag about their "skunk" coat at a party.
From: Two dogs mobile
24-Oct-23
Seeing those skunks reminds me of a story my Dad told. This was almost 100 years ago. Growing up in rural Kansas it was common for kids to walk a mile or so to school. When my Dad was in the second grade he ran a few traps on his way to and from school. He had one trap underneath an old building. On his way to school he got down to see if he had anything. Yes, he had a skunk and it let him have it. He went on to school, but was sent home.
From: Zbone
24-Oct-23
Cheryl - Where do ya sell the essence?
I'm trying to grasp in my mind how in the heck do ya harvest it, tie the gland off before you clip or cut it and what type of vile or container to transport it without smelling like a skunk?
From: Shiloh
24-Oct-23
We killed 10 skunks in our yard a week or so ago in one night and early the next morning. Wish I’d seen this. Could’ve shipped them!
From: Mike B
25-Oct-23
Zbone, I believe Moscow Hide and Fur buys skunk essence, as well as a number of other critter scents.
From: Zbone
25-Oct-23
Thanks Mike...
From: Nomad
25-Oct-23
Nomad's Link
Shilo....It is extracted with a hypodermic needle.
From: Zbone
25-Oct-23
Dang, you can find anything on youtube...8^)
Thanks Nomad...
From: Groundhunter
25-Oct-23
To kill skunks. I have a syringe on pole. Inject acetone, they go to sleep
From: Screwball
25-Oct-23
Ground hunter X2 no spray then.
From: Tradman and Huntress
26-Oct-23
Zbone- our local fur buyer buys the skunks whole and extracts the essence himself with a needle and syringe. I was also surprised that he would buy raccoons, which I thought were worthless, but apparently there's a demand for skulls and baculum.
From: Zbone
26-Oct-23
Thanks Tradman and Huntress... I had to look up baculum...8^))) Too funny...8^)))
My grandpa kept one around and used to tease me as a kid it was a toothpick...8^) Took me a long time before somebody told me what it was... He had a great sense of humor.... I can still see him giggling...8^)
Why is the world are they in demand?
From: Buckdeer
26-Oct-23
The skulls are worth more than the hide,I know a guy that sells his good bobcats to taxidermist.
From: Zbone
27-Oct-23
I googled "raccoon baculum uses":
" Known as the Texas Toothpick, it can also be used as a token of appreciation or love. Young suitors throughout the south have tied ribbons around raccoon baculum and given them to a love interest as a token of appreciation, and to help woo them."
Now have heard it all...8^))) That belongs on the funnies thread...8^))) Sold online for 12 bucks...8^)))
From: jmiller
27-Oct-23
Zbone the fur is not worth much. I make them into custom hats and mittens.
From: jmiller
27-Oct-23
I do the same with beaver, raccoon and coyote.
From: Zbone
27-Oct-23
Wow, cool looking... Thanks for sharing...
From: Tradman and Huntress
27-Oct-23
Awesome work Jmiller! Do you do you have a website or price list? I didn't even know I wanted a skunk hat until just now.
From: jmiller
27-Oct-23
Pm sent!
From: Zbone
27-Oct-23
Heck, I think Taylor Swift would wear one of those cool hats, her and Kelce, they're both into fashion...8^)
From: RK
27-Oct-23
Zbone. NOT. dead fashion
They are both way to woke for anything else. Maybe some day they will awake
From: Tradman and Huntress
27-Oct-23
Awesome work Jmiller! Do you do you have a website or price list? I didn't even know I wanted a skunk hat until just now.
From: jmiller
28-Oct-23
A longtime customer asked for a new product, I was able to put together a beaver fur handwarmer muff. I think I'll need to make myself one now!
From: Zbone
28-Oct-23
Beaver Muff, that's freakn cool...8^)))
From: Mad Trapper
29-Oct-23
Nice work Jeff!!!
From: Supernaut
29-Oct-23
Beautiful work with that fur Jeff.
From: Lewis
29-Oct-23
Great looking stuff those are very nice ?? Good luck Lewis
From: jmiller
12-Nov-23
It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful fur is. No synthetic material can match it for plushness and warmth. Fur still has a reputation as a status symbol for the wealthy, but historically it was worn by the poor as a means to stay warm. This pair of mittens was made from prime North Dakota spring beaver and the leather palms are from a December harvested ND doe. Fur and leather are renewable resources that are good for the soul and good for the planet.
From: Catscratch
12-Nov-23
Great post jmiller! In the 70's and 80's, when my dad was raising me, he often talked of animals being renewable resources. All we had to do was be good stewards of the land and pay attention to our harvests. The animals would provide for us forever.
I can only imagine how wonderful those mittens feel!
From: TMac
12-Nov-23
Beautiful!
From: scentman
14-Nov-23
Ya had me at " beaver fur handwarmer muff" lol... great work, cool thread.
From: jmiller
16-Nov-23
Busy turning pelts into garments
From: Catscratch
16-Nov-23
Simply awesome! Great work!
From: drycreek
17-Nov-23
It doesn’t get cold enough here for fur clothing, but I could have used some when I was working in ND. Good looking products J, and good luck trapping.
From: DL
17-Nov-23
Had a guy bring in a skunk that had not sprayed when it died. I froze it and was going to skin it out partially frozen for safety. Well things didn’t go as plan and I bagged it and rebadged it and back into the freezer. Took 9 months for the oder to finally go away or I just got used to it. The freezer after 3 years of being defrosted still has a skunk funk in it.
From: Altitude Sickness
17-Nov-23
I’ve been wearing Jeff’s creations for a few winters now.
From: Altitude Sickness
17-Nov-23
The coyote bomber. It better be cold wearing one of Jeff’s coyote bombers.
A high of 9 degrees this day
From: Altitude Sickness
17-Nov-23
From: Altitude Sickness
17-Nov-23
From: Altitude Sickness
17-Nov-23
This is sitting or standing gear. It’s much too warm for walking
From: jmiller
21-Nov-23
Warm weather still has fur moving
From: Teeton
23-Nov-23
From: jmiller
26-Nov-23
Coyote fur is worth very little on the market right now but they make mittens. I picked up a nice road killed Coyote last winter to make most of this set.
From: jmiller
28-Nov-23
First check of the six day North Dakota fisher season
