Fall or spring beaver better?

[GummyMonster]

Good day,
The board is quiet , so I figured now is a good time to ask questions.
Looking for input from high volume beaver trappers.
Do you see a better price average for pelts from late fall or ice out. I know under ice is best, but wondering about open water.
I know prices are low,but i am hoping to get into beaver trapping once i heal up. Make some craft type wall hangings from the better ones,and sell bait to hunters and market castors along with pelts.
Thanks in advance.
Ken

[The Spruce]

IMO it is very close to a wash. If you trap very early fall, they will not do well though as most are still black. I go hard for a bit every fall when the ice first starts to form. The beavers are starting to prime a bit, the hide starts to lighten or get blotchy like late springs. A few of the fall pelts will grade silky as they are a lot lighter, these seem to move well, though at a slight discount. Winter are the best, and easiest to deal with as you can dry the pelts right away in the snow. There is also no mud, no sand , etc to deal with. But they are a lot of work to catch, and catch percentages are lower. That being said, I trap 90% of my beavers in the first 2 weeks as the ice goes out. Best time to put up numbers, and run a lot of gear. If I had the time I could do 100 beaver a day in the spring, but I still work full time...

Spruce

[wahbush]

Fall hands down here.Almost all after Oct 15 grade HVY.

[KegRiver]

I have always got my best prices for late winter under the ice pelts.

There is a very narrow window just as the ice melts where some pelts do draw better prices but they very quickly get sun burn and they get to fighting and bite each other damaging the pelt which drives the value way down.

So to answer your question I'd have to say fall is better. If you are only considering open water pelts.

Most beaver pelts are sheered for use in making felt, for hats mostly.
The longer the hair the more felt per pelt, simple as that.

Damage, cuts specifically, cause issues during the tanning process which lower the value and sun burning curls the tips of the guard hairs which makes for poor felt thus reducing the value.

Beaver molt once a year in late summer so the guard hairs are at their shortest in fall and at their longest in spring. That is why the best prices are realized from beaver caught under the ice in late winter. Longest guard hairs and least damage.

Under the ice the pelts will generally speaking, have the least damage and the best color, and by late winter, the longest guard hairs.

This does not included rubbed pelts which can become a problem in shallow water later in the season.

With so many factors reducing the value of late season pelts, on average I would suspect that many trappers would average better in fall then in spring. For individual pelts though, the best prices will always be later in the sesaon.

[drake]

i was talking with a fellow at the rendezvous and he showed me a sheard summer beaver that rivaled anything ive seen caught in winter, fall or spring.....i was very suprised

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by drake

i was talking with a fellow at the rendezvous and he showed me a sheard summer beaver that rivaled anything ive seen caught in winter, fall or spring.....i was very suprised

Were you aware that before 1900 it was common practice to trap all year?

Long fur changes and is worthless in summer.
Aquatic animals like Beaver and Otter do not have a different coat in summer then in winter and the fur is therefor usable throughout the year. But generally speaking is at it's best over the winter.

I'm not sure why fur harvest is no longer allowed during summer months.
Probably to protect the young, but I do know that it was not always the case.

[calgarychef]

I suppose if the fur is going to be used for felting it doesn't matter when the animal was taken as it's not the guard hair that's used? Most furs now are used as furs for clothing etc. so they gotta look good.

[Marty S]

The best time to take beaver is in the spring, why? From a financial standpoint the bear hunters, outfitters and government folk are all lined up wanting to buy your carcasses and some are willing to pay big. Some guys want the carcass for $5 and brow beat those who want more and others are willing to pay up to $25 per carcass and still have a big grin on their faces cuz they are happy! (Generally the $5 to $15 a carcass people are those that take a volume and need to turn a buck on the deal.)

The early spring beaver generally has a winter prime pelt, so some high quality fur can be taken right at ice out, meanwhile beaver price averages between winter, fall and spring are often negligible, so ultimately the market doesn't really care, spring vs fall vs winter, except when the damage shows up from the beaver fighting in the spring and they are chewing each other to shreds.

[GummyMonster]

Thanks' forcthe great advice guys. Ibhave some big deepfreezes, so i could freeze carcasses over winter,if i dont get too many,but trapping in the spring would bring more castor weight and no storage.
Guess i will try both,see what is for me.
Ken

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by GummyMonster

Thanks' forcthe great advice guys. Ibhave some big deepfreezes, so i could freeze carcasses over winter,if i dont get too many,but trapping in the spring would bring more castor weight and no storage.
Guess i will try both,see what is for me.
Ken

Your best castor weights are just befor spring melt starts.

As soon as there is open water Beaver start to make scent mounds and they use up a lot of castor on those mounds.

This takes some time of course so you could get close to top weights for a couple of weeks after open water, or even longer if there aren't a lot of travelers about.

Dispersing Beaver traveling through a colony seem to stimulate greater castor use among the resident beaver.

The travelers don't seem to use much if any.

[Red Bullets]

With the price of beaver last year you might be better off curing the pelt, taking off all the fur and use the raw leather for making drum skins. Then sell the drums.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

With the price of beaver last year you might be better off curing the pelt, taking off all the fur and use the raw leather for making drum skins. Then sell the drums.

LOL It's been that way for a while.

If you add up all the time involved and divide the price you sold a pelt for, it's generally less then half the minimum wage. Maybe even one quarter that for the less experienced trapper.

[HunterDave]

I don't do high volume beaver trapping but I find that there is more value in the carcass and castors than the pelt itself. Beaver pelts are easy to tan for wall hangers.

I prefer Spring beaver just as soon as the ice opens up until they start biting each other.