HITTING THE MARK

“It’s difficult to turn a $300 bobcat into a $1,000 ‘cat, but it’s really easy to turn a $1,000 bobcat into a $300 bobcat!”

These words have been spoken to me in various ways over the past several decades by some of my trapping mentors. Another golden piece of trapper’s wisdom that I’ve heard is this: “It’s not a $600 pelt just because you own it!”

At first these words may not have a positive ring, but truer words haven’t been spoken when it comes to fur and fur handling. Getting the best price that your fur deserves requires attention to a lot of details, and starting with one often overlooked detail will get you well on your way to a bigger paycheck — and it’s just a matter of inches.

There are a few important measurements that fur graders and buyers look at that most of us are familiar with. Overall length is one that is often misunderstood. Part of the reason for the confusion is that when trappers are given sizes to achieve, like L or XL for a given species, we start thinking that longer is better.

It is true that some species, such as martens, are sorted against a measurement