ITA Fur Sales
Detailed Information Regarding the Fur Sale 2021
ITA members,
Hope everyone’s trapping season is going well. My season has been going great for coyotes and fox but I struck out on wolves. I’ve been in contact with the big buyers across the west. Coyote prices are down drastically from last year but still the best fur that you can pursue. I have heard reports of down 30-40% off of last years prices. Cat market is down drastically. A grade bellies are always in demand but it sounds like B and C grade bellies are cheap. If you have large cats with great backs and casty bellies you will be better off leaving the feet on and skinning them as a wall hanger. Water animals are a tough market but always sellable. I have two buyers that are looking for rats and beaver but I’m sure prices will be tough. Castor is in extremely high demand. Porcupine guard hair is also in very short supply. If you have “odd-ball” animals, it might be worth leaving the feet on some of them for the specialty market. Cross fox, silver fox, nice furred badgers, extra-large cats with bad bellies, odd-ball colored coyotes, otter, weasels, marten, ring-tail cats, kit fox, fisher, lynx, and wolves. Obviously, some of those animals are not legal for harvest in Idaho but we have members in several states mailing fur in. I’m not saying do all your fur with the feet on, but a couple specialty furs might bring you a few extra bucks. We will have horn buyers at the sale as well if you have horns to sell. It would also make it easier if you could give me a rough idea of the amount of fur you are bringing by early January. If you are email and text savy that is easier for me because I get so many calls this time of year. This will ensure I can get the buyers to come to the sale. As always I have been working hard for the past few months working on getting as many buyers as possible to the sale to compete for your fur.
Sale Logistics
Fur check-ins will start Thurs evening at 6 PM. Check-in will continue all day Friday 7AM – 9 PM and then Saturday morning until 10 AM, please plan accordingly. If you plan to bring a large lot of fur on Saturday please contact me in advance so we can have be ready to receive your fur and keep things moving efficiently. There will only be one actual sale day and that will be on Saturday. The problem is that we need to get as much fur as possible checked in on Thursday evening and Friday. We cannot get 1500 coyotes in Saturday morning and get it all checked in and graded by buyers. To incentivize early check ins (including mailed in fur) we will be giving away chances (tickets) for the door prize drawings. A ticket will be given to anyone checking in fur on Thursday and Friday. Prizes include ITA memberships, 1% off coupons on sale commission, ITA gun of the year raffle tickets, ITA hats, etc. One lucky person will get a complete commission reduction coupon! We have been working on some fur sale updates that will drastically speed the overall fur sale process up.
Payment and Commission
Payment will be mailed within 5 business days after the sale. Commission is 5% for ITA members and 10% for non-members. 1% commission for no sales (new for 2021). That would be 1% of the minimum price asked. The commission on no sales is due to the amount of time we deal with no sales. There is a tremendous amount of time spent on no sales and some folks have openly admitted they have no plans on selling their fur they are just shopping it for a price. We apologize for any inconvenience with this. You can mail me fur but it must be in my hands by Tuesday at the latest, all cats/otters must have CITES tags. You cannot put a minimum on mailed-in fur. Also, any mailed in fur that doesn’t sell will not be mailed back, it will be held over for the next sale. Fish and game will be in attendance tagging bobcats and otter.
Additional Information
We are needing volunteers to set up tables, break down tables, help with the check in and I am asking everyone to bring one item to donate to help offset the costs of putting on the sale. Those donations could be old traps, tanned fur, raw fur, ammo, handmade items, stretchers, almost anything. I encourage folks to come to the fur sale even if they don’t have fur to sell. It will be great time for all: great demos, live auction, fish and game speakers, membership meeting is just a small list of activities. Food will be available at the sale and RV camping is available at the fairgrounds (electric hookups available, no water available this time of year). Remember the ITA is putting on this sale to give trappers an outlet to sell their fur but this is also our biggest fundraiser of the year. The proceeds made from this sale go towards protecting, educating, and enhancing trapping in Idaho. We will have another fur sale on March 14th and the exact same procedures will be followed at that sale. Thank you for all your support!
Thank you,
Rusty Kramer
Idaho Trappers Association President
208-870-3217
ITA members,
Hope everyone’s trapping season is going well. My season has been going great for coyotes and fox but I struck out on wolves. I’ve been in contact with the big buyers across the west. Coyote prices are down drastically from last year but still the best fur that you can pursue. I have heard reports of down 30-40% off of last years prices. Cat market is down drastically. A grade bellies are always in demand but it sounds like B and C grade bellies are cheap. If you have large cats with great backs and casty bellies you will be better off leaving the feet on and skinning them as a wall hanger. Water animals are a tough market but always sellable. I have two buyers that are looking for rats and beaver but I’m sure prices will be tough. Castor is in extremely high demand. Porcupine guard hair is also in very short supply. If you have “odd-ball” animals, it might be worth leaving the feet on some of them for the specialty market. Cross fox, silver fox, nice furred badgers, extra-large cats with bad bellies, odd-ball colored coyotes, otter, weasels, marten, ring-tail cats, kit fox, fisher, lynx, and wolves. Obviously, some of those animals are not legal for harvest in Idaho but we have members in several states mailing fur in. I’m not saying do all your fur with the feet on, but a couple specialty furs might bring you a few extra bucks. We will have horn buyers at the sale as well if you have horns to sell. It would also make it easier if you could give me a rough idea of the amount of fur you are bringing by early January. If you are email and text savy that is easier for me because I get so many calls this time of year. This will ensure I can get the buyers to come to the sale. As always I have been working hard for the past few months working on getting as many buyers as possible to the sale to compete for your fur.
Sale Logistics
Fur check-ins will start Thurs evening at 6 PM. Check-in will continue all day Friday 7AM – 9 PM and then Saturday morning until 10 AM, please plan accordingly. If you plan to bring a large lot of fur on Saturday please contact me in advance so we can have be ready to receive your fur and keep things moving efficiently. There will only be one actual sale day and that will be on Saturday. The problem is that we need to get as much fur as possible checked in on Thursday evening and Friday. We cannot get 1500 coyotes in Saturday morning and get it all checked in and graded by buyers. To incentivize early check ins (including mailed in fur) we will be giving away chances (tickets) for the door prize drawings. A ticket will be given to anyone checking in fur on Thursday and Friday. Prizes include ITA memberships, 1% off coupons on sale commission, ITA gun of the year raffle tickets, ITA hats, etc. One lucky person will get a complete commission reduction coupon! We have been working on some fur sale updates that will drastically speed the overall fur sale process up.
Payment and Commission
Payment will be mailed within 5 business days after the sale. Commission is 5% for ITA members and 10% for non-members. 1% commission for no sales (new for 2021). That would be 1% of the minimum price asked. The commission on no sales is due to the amount of time we deal with no sales. There is a tremendous amount of time spent on no sales and some folks have openly admitted they have no plans on selling their fur they are just shopping it for a price. We apologize for any inconvenience with this. You can mail me fur but it must be in my hands by Tuesday at the latest, all cats/otters must have CITES tags. You cannot put a minimum on mailed-in fur. Also, any mailed in fur that doesn’t sell will not be mailed back, it will be held over for the next sale. Fish and game will be in attendance tagging bobcats and otter.
Additional Information
We are needing volunteers to set up tables, break down tables, help with the check in and I am asking everyone to bring one item to donate to help offset the costs of putting on the sale. Those donations could be old traps, tanned fur, raw fur, ammo, handmade items, stretchers, almost anything. I encourage folks to come to the fur sale even if they don’t have fur to sell. It will be great time for all: great demos, live auction, fish and game speakers, membership meeting is just a small list of activities. Food will be available at the sale and RV camping is available at the fairgrounds (electric hookups available, no water available this time of year). Remember the ITA is putting on this sale to give trappers an outlet to sell their fur but this is also our biggest fundraiser of the year. The proceeds made from this sale go towards protecting, educating, and enhancing trapping in Idaho. We will have another fur sale on March 14th and the exact same procedures will be followed at that sale. Thank you for all your support!
Thank you,
Rusty Kramer
Idaho Trappers Association President
208-870-3217