![]() ![]() Most of today’s trappers are recreational. A good marten line in the Interior can yield 200 to 300 marten, but at an average of $40 apiece, that barely buys the snowmachine, let alone gas and parts. Top prices for marten are around $70, and that is for the best - the average will come in far lower. Red fox prices are about where they were when I started trapping them in 1970 - $25, and not all are selling. Lynx, which a few years ago fetched several hundred dollars, are now well under $100 for the best. Other Alaska furs remain in the doldrums. Coat and parka manufacturers feel like they must have fur trim on their gear for it to sell, and coyote, with its light silvery color and ability to stand up on a parka hood, fits the requirement perfectly. Model Kate Upton wore a coyote-trimmed Canada Goose parka over her swimsuit on the front cover of Sports Illustrated and the sales took off. They are selling for as much as $100 each due to their popularity in the trim market. The same can be done with muskrats, and they are much cheaper.Īnother bright spot in the fur market is coyote. Muskrat has taken the place of mink in some instances. ![]() Wild mink, because of their lack of conformity, have not been able to fill in for ranch stock. Auction houses, such as the North American Fur Auction, have filed for bankruptcy. Mink farmers have been forced to cut production and many have gone out of business. Prices for pelts dropped dramatically to the $55 range and now are just more than $30. Worldwide, almost 100 million furs hit the market. Ranchers boosted production, China jumped on the bandwagon and produced 40 million pelts. In 2011, prices for ranch mink began to climb. Prices for mink pelts - and other furs - have always undergone fluctuations, and mink ranching, which provided a relatively stable supply, tended to stabilize prices and quality. Once women began taking charge of their own fashions, they wanted a fur that wasn’t quite so poofy. Back in the 1930s, the heyday of the fur industry, mink played second fiddle to the long-haired furs. Mink are used for a variety of manufactured items in the fashion industry. The over-production of ranch mink has done that. Lack of desirability hasn’t affected the fur market. Man has used fur since man began and will continue to do so. He can do that because he has fur.įur is one of the best insulators in the world. Your dog sleeps on the couch and then goes out and runs around in the snow without discomfort. Whether decorative or utilitarian, there is nothing more attractive or efficient than natural fur. However, if you walk down the street in a northern city, you’ll see plenty of coats and parkas with fur ruffs and trim. That negative publicity is a factor, without a doubt. There has been much anti-fur publicity, mostly from groups who dislike the use of foot-hold steel traps. The fur market has taken a big hit the past couple of seasons. It is hard to justify the gas and maintenance to run a long line when the fur you catch does little better than achieve the break-even point. It isn’t as easy to jump on a snowmachine when you’re 70. Most of the old-timers are just that - old. There don’t seem to be many trappers in the woods this year, and there are many reasons for the drop in numbers. Coyote is one of the few animals that can get a decent price. 2, 2019 photo, coyote pelts are displayed for sale at a trappers' auction in Herkimer, N.Y. ![]()
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