This yrs sold furs

[Daniel Tremblay]

Well this year brought pretty good prices for my wife and I. With the six cats my average was 370 and would have been over 400 without the dark cascade female. Should be enough to pay off my winch and bumper so I'm more than happy. How was the rest of you guys year. Lets see the pictures of your cats put up.

This is a really bad picture, my phone didnt have enough flash to brighten it up but I will post better pictures from my camera later.

[jcathunter]

What did the western cats bring? I've got a few that I need to figure out what I want to do with them.

[Daniel Tremblay]

I didn't sell them at an auction, so I don't know. He did have some absolutely beautiful cats though from the desert though.

[Bigfoot]

[U.R.E.]

Guys, our good friend Dewey Walton has agreed to do a work shop on the proper handling of furs during the Oregon United Sporting Dog Association convention on April 2nd.

I've have seen Deweys hides and they are very well handled.

[livetohunt]

Sounds like a great sale to me they look great. I seen some of the prices from the Fallon sale were crazy this yr with many over $1000. Cant wait to see how they do at the Kfalls sell at the end of the month.

Hey Bigfoot. Are you putting them up on soild wood or adjustable wood strechers? One thing you can do that will help is to skip the flip. I cover all my fur out pelts in borax (skin side) rub it all in good and then put up fur out, you can't use to much borax. As for holes from the dogs make up some thin about 1/4" think about 2"x4" blocks I use them to pin and holes shut and it works good. Then just keep the fan going on them 24/7.

[Doogie]

needle and dental floss can help you close holes too, also you can wrap them in a DAMP towel to rehydrate them.

[Daniel Tremblay]

Yes I will admit that I was lucky to be shown the tricks of the trade by my father in-law. This year was my first year of doing it and I loved it. I found the whole deal to be a lot of fun. It always makes a guy feel good when the fur buyer tells you that the only possible thing I could have done better was to use static guard but he said not a big deal. Just takes a second to spray a touch of it on em.

[Bigfoot]

[livetohunt]

I will be going to the one in Kfalls too. The Borax helps to dry the fur out I use it on all my hides in spots where the fur might be folded. Works good around legs, eye, ears, but if you coat all of the skin with it on fur out pelts you dont seem to get hair slipage. I also you the borax to clean the fur if you got any spots where blood got on the fur or on my coyote's and on cats for there white bellies cleans them all up nice. You can rub it in dry work it into the fur really good then brush it out its amazing how good that borax is.

[U.R.E.]

How many of you use wire strechers and how many prefer wood? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Great post!!!

[livetohunt]

WIRE- is fast to put up on and they are cheap, the pelts seem to dry faster on wire. When they get dirty they stain the pelts.

WOOD- they look so much better when they are done and seem to get more for the pelts when its done and time to sell.
But they cost a lot more then wire, and pelts take about twice as long to dry, they also take up a lot more room.

I have both and use both, I also have some that I made that are 1/2 wire 1/2 wood. I took some wire ones and cut the bottom 1/4 off them put wood at the bottom they are the best of both worlds. I can pin the bottoms of the pelts down and tail like it was on all wood but at the same time have them hang up nice and take up less room. I'm going to make up more of these 1/2 and 1/2 boards this summer but one my new ones Im going to cut some flutes or channels down them to help with air movement as they dry.

[culverz]

I prefer using wood stretchers. Seem to produce a better looking product on cats.

[livetohunt]

Hey culverz do you make your own or buy them? I have looked at buying them but would cost about 2x as much due to shipping. Also do you use solid or adjustable ones?

[Daniel Tremblay]

I made an adjustable wood stretcher this year and didnt like it. Doesnt give the right shape to the cat. All wood pine boards with a runner stick up the belly works amazing and we use a small shop with a big wood stove. Takes about 2 hrs for the flesh and than ya turn em hair out and let em hang the rest of the night and brush em out the next morning. I made 7 or 8 solid boards this year and I think it averaged like 5 bucks a board and around 2 hrs to cut and sand em all. Just trace the size and cut away.