With fur prices as low as they are, the topic of long term fur storage is surfacing more often these days. Items like small and slightly damaged coons are almost impossible to sell right now, but we trappers are nothing if not optimistic. Many are hoping they can store their low value fur for a year or two and bet on being able to sell them during a market … [Read more...]
Tyler Freel on PVC Fleshing Beams
Most folks, including myself, have always used traditional wooden fleshing beams in fur preparation. If you're looking for an alternative, however, I've heard the PVC beams work pretty slick. Tyler Freel over at the Outdoor Life Game Changers blog wrote a nice little piece on building a pvc fleshing beam. ....My buddy Garrett turned me onto PVC several years ago when he … [Read more...]
New Fleshing Machine Wows Canadian Trappers
Anyone want to invest in a revolutionary new fleshing machine? John Seabrook of Manitoulin Island in Canada has developed a device that makes fleshing pelts quicker, easier, and much less painful on the back! Here's more: MANITOULIN—John Seabrook unveiled his fleshing device last weekend at a Manitoulin Trappers’ Association workshop in front of a large crowd of eager Island … [Read more...]
Raccoon Fur Handling Video Part 3 – Boarding
Boarding Boarding on Wire … [Read more...]
Raccoon Fur Handling Video Part 2 – Fleshing
Raccoon Fur Handling Video Part 1 – Skinning
We've had some requests for fur handling videos recently, so I thought I would post a few that I've found on YouTube as part of a new fur handling series. We'll start off with raccoon, with three short coon handling videos from the guys at Coon Creek Outdoors. … [Read more...]
Trapping Today Product Review: Havalon Piranta Knives
Trappers do a lot of skinning. In order to be productive, safe and efficient, it's always been critical to have a sharp knife at the skinning table, but hasn't always been easy. I still have the skinning knife I used in my early days of trapping. It's a simple, small plastic-handled knife that hardly has any blade left after all of the sharpening it's been through. I spent … [Read more...]
ATA Sponsors Fur Handling Clinic
The Alaska Trappers Association recently sponsored a fur handling clinic for trappers in the Fairbanks, AK region. The clinic was aimed at providing valuable information trappers need to properly skin, flesh, stretch and dry pelts that they capture during the trapping season. The all-day clinic was designed to teach trappers how to handle fur from the time it is taken from a … [Read more...]