Pulled the line

I finally pulled the line this morning, for now. My catch rate was not sufficient enough to keep burning gas to go check traps. Also, I will be waiting to see what the weather does. A lot of backwater areas and shorelines were froze this morning. In one area, I was almost able to stand on the ice already.
Once everything locks up enough to somewhat safely walk on, I will be hitting them again. So far I have 73 rats skinned and in the freezer waiting to be sold.
Now it is time to do some work in the shed and do some fishing.

whats the going rate for a average rat these days ?

big g

From what I was told at the buyer’s place, $3 on the carcass starting. But, I can imagine the grade will be tough this year and some smaller ones will sell for $1.
I am debating on whether to take them in next week or wait until a little later. Right now the rats are my savings account

I want to say back in the mid 80’s, we were getting $3 a rat. Looks like inflation, didn’t hit trapping !!!

big g

Last year the rats were selling between $6.50-$7.25 for skinned rats. The guys who put the fur up were getting around $10
But, trappers are our own worst enemy. People who hadn’t trapped in years started again, flooded the market, and now there is a huge surplus of rats which drove the market back down.

Mike, wouldn’t it be safe to say the oversea’s markets haven’t helped the fur prices as well? I’m thinking back to last year when the bottom fell out of the market towards the end of the season. The warmer conditions overseas led to less demand for fur, thus driving the demand and price down. That combined with the influx of trappers and supply/surplus has brought us to this year’s price.

I do agree however, there were a lot of guys who came out of the woodwork looking to get rich in a hurry. That is a fact.

I’m hoping to see fewer guys this year. Once I get out…

Yes, the factors you mentioned also played into the market crash. So many variables affect wild fur prices. The supply and demand law were in full effect last year. The demand was high for the rats and supply was at usual levels. Then more trapper’s targeted rats with the hopes of cashing in on the “easy” money resulting in a huge supply that quickly exceeded the demand. I can’t blame all the trapper’s who bought licenses solely to trap rats and cash in on a market that had been low for many years.
The weather overseas this year is once again remaining above normal particularly Moscow. That is not helping the fur prices for this year.

On the WI side of the river, the competition is still there, but not near as many guys as last year. After the first week, trap stakes pretty much disappeared. As of today, it was down to myself, Jimmy, and 2 airboat guys.

Just adding more thoughts on the above question from Blue.
From what I have gathered, there was not much for surplus rats from the 05-06 year. Then China came in wanting a large order of muskrats. Since the rat market didn’t have any depth, once the China order was filled, the market took a dive immediately. That was why the guys who sold early and often, made out great while the guys who held them and still have them on hand, took a loss or missed out on the higher prices.

I couldn’t remember if it was China or Russia. Either way, it’ll probably be some time until we see prices that good again.

I agree, we may never see those prices again. If they stay in the $3 range, I would be happy.

Quick question. What do they make out of rat furs? Are they making them into coats?

Coats, fur collars, gloves, hats, you name it. It all depends on what fashion designers come up with this year.

I saw you mentioned rats…..how much do the coons go for? not looking to give you competition, as I would be the one wearing the traps . Just interesting reading. thanks for the posts and pictures.

thanks-
Broncs

I sold 7 coon that were skinned only, commonly referred to as “gren hides”, the breakdown was
4 @ $15 these were my biggest ones
1 @ $10
2 @ $3 These two were very small coons

As soon as we get some ice, I will be putting the line back in for awhile

Wats if you happen across a nice beaver in one of your traps shoot me a price for it. I want to strech one out like the old timers!

I am so kicking myself right now
I pulled the line in anticipation of the ice coming and possibly preventing me from getting to the traps in the boat. Well, here it is Thursday and their is still plenty of open water I should have just kept the traps out and took my chances, because now I missed a week of trapping. Now they are talking snow and that could be bad. If we actually do get snow on top of the frozen backwater sloughs, I will never be able to find the runs under the ice
What the heck was I thinking ?

Mike, it’s time consuming, but there are ways to find the runs under the snow. Most guys won’t do it for a 3 dollar rat though. I did it for fifty cent rats.