brianlolson wrote:
My son and I just took up trapping this spring but have a few questions maybe someone could help us with. We live in the NE part of South Dakota.
Where can I find out the cut off as far as what time of the year the fur buyers stop purchasing certain species? We are especially interested in coons in particular so we know for the fall.
My son has already caught 3 beavers using some of his granda's old traps and is very excited about trapping We just need to find out what species we should target during certain times of the year.
We greatly appreciate any help anyone can provide us. Thanks in advance !
Well I'm 15 and going into my third year of trapping. but its enough experience to tell you what times of years buyers will pay best. If your into coon especially, here in South Dakota they normally top out in the December-late Janruary months..But it also depends on the seasonal weather..If its a warm season, they may drop early (like this year) if its cold they may stay prime longer, and sooner! I personally start Coon trapping the last 2 weeks of october, when they arnt worth much, but are worth enough to have some fun! Plus dry lining them is a challenge and it can be a good time!
If your in Northern South Dakota you may have more slough/wet land areas than we do here in Southern South Dakota! which mean you probably have more rats! and rats are staying high! They brought good prices year round increasing as the winter got colder. Rats woul be an awesome thing to start trapping along with the coons with your son. Rats are probably my fav critter to go after due to the fact that they are easy and I LOVE water trapping! If you were thinking about coon it would be a good thing if you tried water trapping both, along with mink and beaver! Beaver can also be really fun with the combination use of snares, bodygrips, and footholds!
If your into dryland trapping keep hammering the coons, but also try skunk! they may not be worth alot if you arnt skinning but its always a good time when you have a live one!!! Badger, and fox (I havnt got a fox to my name yet but hopefully next year I will) are good targets on the dryland line. I caught my first badger this year on a snare..I didnt stake right and he ended up going into his hole...I spent 2 hours digging a four ft wide and nearly 4 ft deep hole in the middle of a bean feild to get him out!!!
Now I've said that..It's easy to see that, here in South Dakota, we have a lot of trapping opprotunities! It's just up to you if you take the opprotunities or not!! Have fun in the upcoming seasons and stay safe!
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