Does anyone sell racoon pelts?

[SoonerMedic]

Well, they were going for 40 bucks prime in 1980. I trapped a few and there was a buyer in a town near me. I've not done it since as I moved and got a new job. But, I'm sure, even if anyone is buying 'em, they're WAY shy of that price now days. Probably no market why they're so thick around here.

As for rabid coons, I'm killing 'em before getting 'em out of the trap and I ain't touching 'em. The trap is a live trap, not a spring trap. Back then, I used cheap cans of sardines for bait. Now, I'm using feed corn. The little farts go in my hog trap, eat the corn, open the door, and walk out. They're like little humans, opposable thumbs and all and smart. They've torn up a couple of my feeders, too. They do have a taste for feed corn around here.

MC, I know that Oklahoma's wildlife department has a list of people in Ok that deal with the fur trade. Perhaps Texas has the same? I mean I wouldn't count on it since it IS Texas, but who knows. lol

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

An old friend that passed recently got $60 for a coon hide in 1979. There may have been some luck involved, buyers would overpay on a nice hide sometimes for word of mouth advertising.

 

[Varminterror]

Mind you - the price fetched at fur auction for put up or finished hides is very different than price fetched at local fur buyers. When you go to auction, it becomes a volume deal. In years when I might have 200-350 coon to sell, 30-50+ coyotes, a dozen or more bobcat and beaver, then finishing everything out and sending up for auction makes sense. In the years (like right after my son was born in 2013, or 2008 when I was laid up with an injury all winter) where I didn't trap and sparsely ran the dogs, ending up with a handful of coyotes and 20-50 coon, it really doesn't make financial sense. Note the price average at auction in May posted by Jimmy - finished product - was $13 average, with high of $31, whereas I was getting an average of $6.50, and a few went $12-13. So I could have doubled my money by having a different license (required in KS), pay the auction's rip, and pay to ship or transport the hides myself (I've mailed once, driven up myself the rest of the time, won't mail again)... Seems like a lot to double your money, but the leg work, cost, and hassle for $350 (on 50 coon) goes away real quick, compared to selling whole carcass or green pelt at the local buyer. For 300 coon, sure - $7-10 each adds up, and the work starts to feel worth it when the price increases enough to buy me a new custom rifle. But for the average Joe, the volume just isn't there.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

We have no local fur buyers where I live in Alabama. In fact, we only have a few state wide. The closest one to me is 2 counties over and he will only pay less than 50% of what put up fur will bring at auction (in my experience with him). I am the administrator of a Facebook group called "Alabama Trappers". We have 675 members which is pretty good since in 2014, Alabama only had 400 licensed trappers. Fur prices are highly influenced by geographical area. As I noted in a previous post that coyotes averaged $100 in the February auction. That quality fur is not found in my neck of the woods. Coyote from my area won't pay the postage to get it to auction. Same with raccoon. Raccoon are pests and ADC (animal damage control) work is the only way to make a profit from trapping in today's world. For me, raccoons are simply incidentals caught in sets for other species. I don't intentionally target raccoons. No profit in it, fur wise.

 

[Varminterror]

That's a good point, @jimmyraythomason - average price at auction doesn't mean squat if your entire natural population would be at the low end. I've ran coon in TX and OK a few times, and hunted coyote down there quite a bit, in deep winter months, the fur doesn't come close to what we have even local in KS (although I do usually bring them home and stretch them anyway). I also lived part of my year in MN for many years, and the fur I could get early season there would match "ideal" season fur in KS. I'm not sure I'd say it was better overall if you took out our higher occurrence of mange, but it was better WAY longer through the season, without a doubt, whereas the southern fur I've taken overall leans towards lighter end, drawing lower price.

So that's another consideration to make - sucks to go through all of the trouble and have it only pay back in volume - but it REALLY sucks to not have it payback at all to send to auction. I like how jimmy ray put it - "coyotes from my area won't pay the postage to get it to auction." That's a very real implication for a lot of would-be fur-fighters.

It's not so uncommon though, even in a state with a decent furbuyer population to drive a few counties over to sell. I have 4 buyers I sell to, one primarily, but I'll drive about 100 miles one way to my second favored option before I sell to my 4th which is only 30miles.