By Dan Armitage
Ohio’s fur trapping season is underway with more to come as the statewide seasons for beaver and river otter open December 26. Trapping for fox, raccoon, skunk, opossum, weasel, and mink has been legal since November 10.
Some 11,000 fur taker permits were issued last year, about half the number of permits sold in 2009. The most popular counties for trapping were Putnam with 290 permits, Wayne with 282, and Holmes with 232 fur taker permits tendered.
The most recent fur auction organized by the Ohio State Trappers Association last March saw 635 pelts trading hands for a total of $24,275.55, or an average of $3.94 per pelt. At the lower end of the pay scale, possums brought an average of $.91 per pelt, squirrels $1.25, and raccoons $2.74.
Otter pelts, on the other hand, fetched an average of $33.21, followed by $21 paid per gray fox on average; skunk pelts brought $6.41, and red fox pelts sold for an average of $13.06.… Continue reading
Exposing the Big Game 