# Last years fur (PICS)



## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

I was down in my den last night, packing for next weeks deer hunt trip. I took a moment to fondle the latest batch of furs that I got back from the tannery. I thought you guys might like to see some pics, especially since I havent been able to post any interesting catches lately.

Last season was my first serious attempt at trapping. My goal was simple...to catch and tan one nice specimen of each land furbearer. I knew I wouldnt be able to try for all the species in one year, but I was lucky enough to collect everything I was after....except bobcat. Thats this years goal!  I'll admit that I concentrated on canines last year, and ignored alot of the other things like weasel, badger, fisher...and of course, all of the water species.

Anyway, heres the "sampler" of land-trapping furs that I collected last year. I already have some better specimens, and will be replacing some of these on the wall....










And heres some of the "overruns" that I had tanned, but dont need for my collection....











I love trapping those coyotes, but really need to turn my back on those so I can concentrate on red fox and the upcoming bobcat season.

-NC


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## David G Duncan (Mar 26, 2000)

NC,

Beautiful collection of furs! You can proud of these trophies.

I have a feeling that you will be adding a nice bobcat to this collection this winter  .

Good Luck deer hunting and water trapping!


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

David G Duncan said:


> I have a feeling that you will be adding a nice bobcat to this collection this winter



I hope youre right!  Right now, my Holy Grails of Michigan trapping are the bobcat and otter. 

Interestingly, the bobcat I caught as an incidental a couple of weeks ago, barely raised my pulse. Since I was not targetting him (because the season isnt open), it wasnt a "fair" catch. Its like scoring a goal after the buzzer...(as if I knew anything about team sports).

But, you watch me when I catch my first bobcat during season! I fully expect to do some kind of backwoods break dance in the snow!  

....and good luck to you on the deer also, Dave!

-NC


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## tjays (Nov 5, 2004)

Oh ya, when I saw my first cat hanging in the tree I was danceing in the snow! The sad part was my son was at pre-school and he was'nt with me on the trap line that day but when the school bus pulled up to the house I brought that TOM on the bus, the kids all had a hoot.


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Nice cat, Tjays! Love those spots!

In the back of my mind, I'm already thinking that I'd like to make a trip to the Yoop for cats. Do some winter camping and maybe snowshoe hunting during the daytime. Dave Duncan and I are planning this, he just doesnt know anything about it yet.  

Congrats on the cat....and the good looking kid! 

-NC


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## WalleyeTracker (Sep 21, 2005)

"And heres some of the "overruns" that I had tanned, but dont need for my collection...." Quote 

I was just curious if you have overruns what are your plans for them? Do you can you sell those? I would be interested if the price wasn't to high to purchase some of those I think those furs are awesome maybe I could get my wife to make me 1 of those warm winter ice fishing caps and mittens (lol)


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Walleye,

I have sent four or five shipments to the tannery so far. The place I use is called Moyles, in Idaho. They are a high-volume operation and probably the least expensive that you will find anywhere. Assuming that you properly skin, flesh, dry and store your fur....the tanning results are good. The leather on my pelts is similar to a soft chamois, and everything is clean and smells good. 

One serious problem with this tannery is their shaving operation. I have read about the inconsistency of their quality, very often, on another forum. Shaving is the process of thinning the leather, using power equipment and a skilled operator. Well...some of their operators are not very skilled apparently, and many hides are returned with missing tails, big rips, many holes, etc. It is a big gamble sending furs to Moyles, IMHO. If you send two pelts, one will come back perfect and the other mangled.

Now getting back to your question....

I save some "trophy" furs for myself and give other beautiful specimens away as gifts. My "overruns" are generally ones with rips and holes, thanks to Moyles. They look perfect hanging on the wall...and there are large usable areas on them for garments, but they are not perfect leather.

If youre still interested in buying some of these, please PM me. My price would be based on the actual cost of tanning, plus enough profit to buy a new trap.

_PS: Although I am not trying to create a business or profit-center here, if anyone else wants to buy tanned furs, please let me know._

-NC


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## dongiese (Jun 10, 2002)

I guess getting a price list won't hurt..


The wife comes to the site also


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## mhodnettjr (Jan 30, 2005)

very nice looking collection. at the rate that im at i dont know if i can have anything like that but i plan to get a few on the wall to complement the mounts!

mike


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## chizzel (Dec 6, 2004)

Whats the usual cost of getting a yote pelt tanned?


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## David G Duncan (Mar 26, 2000)

tjays,

Congratulations on the beautiful bobcat. Are those all your trophies or do you do taxidermy on the side?



NC.

An U.P. trapping and camping trip sounds great to me! Back in the early 1970's my friend Gary Dunlap and I spent a couple of weeks trapping mink and coyotes in the U.P. Gary at the time was the president of the Zone 3 trappers association. We had a blast and make enough money to cover our expenses, as I recall.

I am surprised to hear that you have had some quality problems with Moyle. Everything that I have sent to them has come back in excellent condition and I have been extremely pleased with their work.

I sent my bobcat, otter, beaver, mink, muskrat, skunk, oppossum, raccoon, red fox, grey fox pelts and several deer hides to them over the past two years and everything came back in top notch condition!

I currently have a cow elk hide being tanned by them. My tanning bill for last season was over $400. So if you get too many orders for overrun pelts, let me know and I could probably fill some orders for furs also  . I must say thou, that I have no overrun pelts with rips or tears or missing tails.

If anyone should be interested send me a PM and I will give them a price list. I need some new traps also  .

Did you register a compliant with Moyle?


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Dave,

No, I didnt bother to call Moyles about the quality. I have read many, many dozens of posts over the years, from people who had an experience just like mine. They never get compensation from Moyles. As you see when you sign their order form, you are pre-accepting _any_ tanning result, and they will not agree to be held liable for the results. This is one bad order out of 4 that I have sent, which from my reading...is about par for the course. Some people have 100% good returns and others have 100% bad returns, but the bulk are hit-and-miss. Its always a problem related to shaving.

Luckily, for garment applications and wallhangers, a small rip or hole is no problem. In fact, a few years before I started trapping, I bought a "prime coyote pelt" from Cabelas for a wallhanger. It cost around $130.00 and has about 8 holes stitched-up with cream-colored thread, if you look close. There is no way in the world you could tell this from the fur side.

I plan to try another tannery next time, Moyles isnt the only show in town.

-NC


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## tjays (Nov 5, 2004)

Dave & NC

Dave the picture was taken at the taxidermy when we picked the cat up below is some of my collection. Me and my son do like NC we have at least one of every critter tanned, finally got the nerve and skinned out a skunk last week, is wasnt to bad. 



NC I send my furs to USA ://www.usafoxx.net/index.htm Ive had pretty good luck with them.



Dave & NC, If you are going to camp the EUP let me know maybe I can show you some good Cat spots and gets some tips. I am not a very good trapper, I just get lucky.


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Beautiful mounts, TJays!  

Yes, thanks for the referral to USAFoxx...they are one of the ones I have planned on trying.

And thanks too, for offering to point out some cat spots to us in Da Yoop. Everytime I drive through the EUP (generally camping on Superior, heading to Canada for a fly-in, or the Bays De Noc for walleye), I spend more time scouting than watching the road  Lots of beautiful public land.

-NC


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## Avidhunter (Feb 23, 2004)

Congrats on all the nice catches!

Hey Bill ... long time  I don't post very often but when I saw USAFoxx and furs come up. Well, I couldn't help myself. 

It may be wise to do some serious checking before sending valuable furs to any tannery. I just got back a $250 box of dog toys from USAFoxx.  They destroyed the furs- rips, faces missing, lot #'s that don't match, all crammed into a plastic grocery store bag. They damaged some furs the year before and were decent enough to give me a credit toward this batch, so I thought I would give them another try- never again.

Lucky for me, I only sent my rats to USA last time since I was going to have them make a bedspread for me. Well, they lost that sale too. 

Sorry to rant(I suppose I should have put this in Sound Off). Just wanted to offer a word of caution. 

Good Luck this season, Jody


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Hey Jody,

Thanks for the reality check. I remember reading a very long thread on Trapperman, where people chimed-in on probably every tannery in the nation. There were absolutely no tanneries that stood above the rest, in terms of consistent quality. Its always a gamble when you send off your furs, and that is a real shame.

I see a great opportunity for someone to start a tanning business, serving recreational trappers with consistent quality. But alas....I am already over my head in other business, so someone else will have to run with this idea.

I have been seriously considering doing my own tanning. I have done many hides over the years, but they have always came out pretty stiff....and I think that is everyones problem. That is where shaving comes in, I believe. By reducing the thickness of the leather, its more likely to be pliable. I will be looking into this before I send off my next batch of furs.

Its a shame that we work so hard to catch fur and put it up...and then pay some tannery to rip it all to shreds  

-NC


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## David G Duncan (Mar 26, 2000)

NC & Avidhunter,

I don't know if makes any difference, but I normally specify taxidermy quality tanning and pay the higher price. As I have said I have had great success with Moyle, but I hope this is not my year to get a poor shaver :rant: .


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Dave,

Maybe thats the trick! I have never used the "taxidermy tan" option. Sounds like they would take extra care, thinking that you would be mounting the hide on a form and selling it. I just might send a couple with that option and see how they come back.

Thanks for the idea! 

-NC


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## Avidhunter (Feb 23, 2004)

Thanks for the tip Dave, that may be the best idea! I'll give it a try myself.

Bill, your the first person I've heard of that has had a poor experience with Moyle's, but I think your right... no one tannery seems to consistently excel past the others. I guess the thing that bothers me the most about USAFoxx is that with the different lot numbers- they're not even all MY furs anyway! :sad: Jody


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Jody,

Go over to www.trapperman.com and do a search of posts about Moyles. There might not be any recent ones, but I can tell you that I have read many, many dozens of horror stories about Moyles. Mixed batches, wrong counts, rips, tears, holes, missing tails...you name it.

Like Dave said, taxidermy tan implies that you will be mounting the skin....so they darn well better keep it in good shape. The problem is, I think they charge 2x the cost of regular tanning...which will sure limit the amount of fur I send in. My latest bill was around $250 as it is.

-NC


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