Skye Goode: January 2015

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Putting Up Coyote Fur

The following tutorial is how I put up my coyote pelts for auction. I do this same routine even if I'm sending in to the tannery, for both practice and just because I prefer to see my fur from start to end no matter what. The more time and effort and work you put into your furs, the more money you will get at auction. Here are a few tricks to possibly fool the fur graders and get your pelt to be placed into a better auction. I average $88 at the late auction with several going $125+.

First I wash in laundry soap to get all the blood, burrs, and dirt out. Rinse. Then I soak in hydrogen peroxide. Rinse.

Then I soak in fabric softener for 30 minutes. Rinse.

Hang to dry in front of several fans. The leather on your pelts will immediately begin to dry and shrink, so don't let pelts hang for more than an overnight or you'll never get it on the board.

If you need to sew up holes made by gun shots or skinning, this is the time to do it. I use a waxed thread that doesn't react to any conditions such as tanning or tumbling, but you can also use dental floss.

Once flipped, you can't even notice the damage.

After boarding, I apply Borax to the entire hide and remove the ear cartilage.

Once the leather out has a stiff feel to it, I flip my pelt to fur out (generally 8 hours). Then pin in the same spots as the leather out side.

Pinning the ears has a nice, well-kept appearance and shows the grader that you put extra time and effort into your furs.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Wisconsin Trapping Season 2014

I had a good first year trapping by myself.

I grew up in a family of trappers, and remember tagging along to check muskrat and coon traps with my mom as a kid before school, but never made any sets myself. This year, I decided to try it out on my own and focused on canines. All summer I got my fix in with nuisance trapping with live cages, but once October 18th came around, I was all about focusing on the coyotes that run through my backyard. I set about two dozen sets, extending about 16 miles round trip from my house, mostly private farm lands. I used 3 different kinds of sets: basic dirt hole with bait, scent post sets, and curiosity flat sets. I learned quickly to throw away my rebar stakes and invest in Wolf Fang cable stakes. I bought all different kinds of used traps from a local dealer, Trapper Art's Supply, and my stock include Duke #4s and #1.5s, Montana #2, and a few "unknown" brands that were too old to tell who manufactured them! After some modifications and a bath in Pete Rickard's logwood dye and trap wax, they were ready to go in the ground.

Below are some of my sets after I was finished and marked:

Basic dirt hole for coyote:

Scent post:

Territory crossing set:

Dirt hole with bleached bone attractor:

This first coyote was an interesting story. It was a perfect paw catch, but when I came out to check this trap, this small female was already dead; I believe this girl was a nomad just passing through, and the resident alpha female had came upon her caught in their territory and killed her on the spot.

So I re-bedded the trap in the same spot, catch circle, blood, and all, and added some of the glands from this first dead female.
Two weeks later, I caught the resident alpha female, evident by the semi-healed scars on her face. She was only caught by the toes, so I know she was a bit weery, but a catch is a catch.

Female

Male

#11 female coyote

#3 male red fox

Not every day produced, though some should have.....darn that dead spot!

I had an interest to try out dogproof traps this year for coon since I caught so many in cages over the summer, but after catching a few, and seeing that the fur won't be selling for much this season, I pulled my traps up during the week and decided to just target big boars. I bought my dogproofs from a small business, 100% made in the USA and they work great. You can order by clicking here: TrapsUSA.