Thread: Two weeks off

Friday November 6th-

Two More Coons last night. I need to head to the fur buying as my freezer is full. I have 8 coons I will sell (keeping 2 plus 2 grinners). I also have a couple deer hides

Disappointment at the Fur Buyer:
Raccoon prices are the lowest I have seen them. Due to the trade issues with Russia, no one is buying furs right now. Buyer is only buying them for the meat to be sold into dog food and other lures. Prices running from $1.00 to $5.00 each. Deer fur is the same way. $5.00 for a nice buck fur. I ended up leaving with 17 dollars in my pocket. Two years ago, it would have been $140.00! It doesn't even pay for fuel. I will not be trapping coons this year on other farms. It isn't worth it to me and the animal will be worth more in a few years. I'm not going to do it just to do it.

More bad news: Muskrats are way down from last year as well. Went from $8 to $2.50. I have a prime area that is overloaded with them. Unfortunately, no sense wasting the time to trap them! What a shame

Saturday November 7th-
Three new bucks showed up on camera. One giant 10 point, another 8pt, and a main frame 8 with two 1.5 inch scorable points running off the base. This deer looks like it was wounded before and appears to be favoring his hind end. I would really like to harvest him if possible. Or at least see him on the hoof.

Night time:
Rattled in that 8 point. He is an up and comer and will make a good buck when he is 4.5 years old (if the neighbors don't shoot him). Sometimes, you have to be willing to let them go. I hear people all the time say "If I don't shoot him, someone else will". My theory is two fold: 1. What if they don't! 2. If that isn't a deer I want to take, then I am not going to take it. That simple. A trophy to me at this point in my life is far different than a trophy to someone else. I have NO PROBLEM with a neighbor harvesting that animal if that is one that he or she wants to legally take. By letting him walk by my stand, at least I know that he lives another day. I provide the cover, bedding, and nutrition for them to live the best life possible. I cannot control what happens on the other side of that no trespassing sign.

Sunday November 8th-

Pulled all my traps!

Dad finally got that main frame 8 with the two additional points in front of him. After further inspection, it looks as though he was the victim of a poacher. He decided the right thing to do was harvest him so he doesn't suffer. After skinning, it was revealed that there was a 22cal bullet hole on each side of his rear end. If your going to poach with a 22, aim for the neck. Oh well. It was pretty fresh and no meat was ruined. I'm glad he is not going to suffer like the one I came across a few years ago that was so emasciated that it couldn't walk. It drug itself to my property. Both his antlers were gone due to lack of nutrition. I ended his misery. It was a great learning tool for my daughter.

Monday November 9th

Back to work. Only a half day though as I have a cancer checkup. What a morning it would have been to be in the woods.

Checkup was negative. I get to live another day.

Evening. A deer we call "Viking helmet" decided to show up around 4:45pm. He ate grass at one of my food plots for about 15 minutes. He was at 16 yards. Although this deer has been earmarked as a shooter due to his age structure and lack of growth, I did not want to be the one to do it. I never picked up my bow. Dad on the other hand was at another stand about 200 yards away. Old Viking helmet didn't stand a chance and went less than 30 yards. Two bucks for him in less than 36 hours! Good for him. Mom and him have meat for another year. He was a big bodied deer. Old with just bad genetics.

Here is the good and bad of the organization known as QDMA: The good is that they are educating people on the need to allow younger age class structure deer to live to reach their full potential. The bad is that they do NOT educate people on how to properly age class a deer and determine that he will never reach the potential to which they hope. Eventually what happens is you have a bunch of deer running around that are over the age of 4.5 that will never reach a massive antler size. I try and educate the need to reduce overall numbers. Part of which is removing older deer from the herd. I've been managing my property and the surrounding area for more than 7 years. When I started, no one else bow hunted. All of them said there were no bucks around. I shot a total of 30 does over the course of a couple years while allowing the immature bucks to age paying very close attention to the button buck structure. Now, in many cases, hunters in my area are now seeing an average of 3 different bucks per night.

It is good to see hard work and effort pay off. I don't have all the right answers. I try something, if it works, I stay with it, if it doesn't, I try something else. You will never shoot that big 9point if you shoot "Viking helmet" 15 minutes before the other buck walks down the same trail.

excellent read Rich! Should be an article for sure.

Originally Posted by wicklundrh

Friday November 6th-

Two More Coons last night. I need to head to the fur buying as my freezer is full. I have 8 coons I will sell (keeping 2 plus 2 grinners). I also have a couple deer hides

Disappointment at the Fur Buyer:
Raccoon prices are the lowest I have seen them. Due to the trade issues with Russia, no one is buying furs right now. Buyer is only buying them for the meat to be sold into dog food and other lures. Prices running from $1.00 to $5.00 each. Deer fur is the same way. $5.00 for a nice buck fur. I ended up leaving with 17 dollars in my pocket. Two years ago, it would have been $140.00! It doesn't even pay for fuel. I will not be trapping coons this year on other farms. It isn't worth it to me and the animal will be worth more in a few years. I'm not going to do it just to do it.

More bad news: Muskrats are way down from last year as well. Went from $8 to $2.50. I have a prime area that is overloaded with them. Unfortunately, no sense wasting the time to trap them! What a shame

I coon hunted for 20 years with dogs. At one time years back a big coon would pay $25. I sold to J.C. Moiles in Owasso. I pulled in his yard one day with a truck box full of coon, he pulled them out into a wheelbarrow at $20. each.That was when fur prices were high. I made almost as much hunting as I did working. Just thought I'd share a memory with you.

Thanks Larry,

You know, Fur prices go up and down (like a lot of things). Some years, you make really darn good money, other years, the time isn't worth it.

Just a few short years ago, a big coon was worth $20 to $25 dollars. Basically, they went 1 dollar a pound. I made really good money. It will bounce back, just as all things do.

Nice thread Rick..well written..making great memories for sure