Some Spring Photos

John Fraser

John Fraser

Well-known member
I called this post “Some Spring Photos”, although this first photo doesn’t look that spring-like. However it was taken on March 11th, a time of year when the streams are usually starting to open up and I’m getting into some spring beaver trapping. Instead this year I was still ice fishing in a spot that hadn’t seen ice in 10 years. That morning I caught four lakers in about 20 minutes before going in to work. It was my first year fishing for lakers and now I’m hooked!
0311140839-00_zps12378971.jpg

Nine days later I finally got some beaver sets in and had a good end to the trapping season. Here’s the boys out checking traps with me.
May202014001_zps8fdb868e.jpg

Here’s the second batch of fur I shipped up for the FHA auction that will be happening next week. I shipped my muskrats back in January. My catch was down a little this year, but it was OK considering the winter we had.
May202014003_zpsaf4e6853.jpg

Towards the middle of April we got out perch fishing a couple of times. This one day we caught almost half as many pickerel as we did perch. Although the pickerel were all good size, they looked pale and beat up, I’m guessing they had just finished spawning. Conall caught this nice one, but was afraid to hold it for a photo.
IMG_3792_zpsf65ed35a.jpg

The last weekend in April was the youth turkey hunt. Ethan and I had a hen lead three toms away from our setup on the edge of a large field. Thinking back I realized that I’ve never called a turkey into the edge of this field despite seeing many out in the middle. So the following week we set up in a ditch out in the field that was located along the turkeys’ usual morning route.
0504140622-00_zps6b39bb0f.jpg

By 6:15 AM that morning Ethan bagged his first turkey!
May202014011_zps98407bb8.jpg

The past two weeks I’ve been getting my garden going. Got the last of my veggies seeded on Wednesday and now I’ve just got to buy a couple of tomato plants. My strawberries are busy flowering right now. Its wild how all these strawberries came from just four plants that I bought two years ago. Last year it was a solid 10’ by 10’ patch that was tough to manage, so in the late summer I transplanted some of them and then roto-tilled two swaths through the patch to make these strips.
May202014023_zps75aa6f0f.jpg

Wishing you all a good Memorial Day weekend!
 
Last edited:
Nice pics, thanks for sharing. Love the truckload of beaver pelts.
 
John, thanks so much for sharing those wonderful photos. Loved them. Please congratulate Ethan on getting his turkey. Looks like you had another great year in trapping. I"m sure it won't be too much longer until you are out in the garden harvesting strawberries that make your mouth water just thinking about.
Al
 
Thanks Al, I will pass the congrats onto Ethan.


I am looking forward to picking the berries. My dad grew strawberries when I was growing up, he would make tasty pies with them. I tried his recipe last year and they came out really good. It had been years since I had the pies, I'm glad I have the recipe.


We've made freezer jam with the berries as well.
 
Thanks RL.


Usually I catch about a third of my beaver in November, half of them between March and April, and the rest come here and there throughout the winter. However this winter kicked in early and went late, plus the gun season for deer started less than a week after beaver season further limiting my trapping spots in the fall (usually I have more time). Therefore most of this year's catch came during the last two weeks of the season. The quality of beaver here always seems to vary, they live longer than some of the smaller furbearers and the environment they live in has a big impact on the fur as well. In the spring the pelts are usually heavier but can have rub marks and bites.


I just saw my grades for the FHA auction and they look better than usual. Only about a third of them graded as "slights" (meaning slight damage). This percentage of slights is lower than what I've received in the past from FHA for November through January pelts. One notable thing though, I had two of these pelts grade as "RR" (red rim) which I believe is due to the belly fur bleaching out a little. Never had an RR before.
 
Thanks Brandon. Spring always gets hectic for us. Lately the boys have been busy with lacrosse, little league, and Scouts. Then there's yard work. Plus last weekend we did work on our leach field, so now we've got lots of raking and seeding to do.
 
I missed this post. All good stuff right there - wow. I had to laugh about the strawberries, we have been there as well :).
 
Thanks Carl. I didn't have the time to hang them up for one of those "Barn Wall" shots, so I just laid them out in the truck. It is nice to get some sort of photo before you send them all off.
 
John - Assuming this is a loaded question but I'm going to ask anyway, what kind of money does a beaver pelt bring? Assuming the grading you mentioned factors into the price but what's an average price and a "very good" one? What would cause something to bring a higher price as I can guess what would devalue one. I've never done any trapping but have recently moved to a location where it might be fun to try sometime.
 
Kyle,
As with the grades I receive, the prices I get are also all over the place. Lately I've averaged between $24 and $29 per pelt, although the auction houses would report that their overall averages were between $30 and $40. My best pelts have sold between $50 and $55.

Generally the larger the skin, the thicker the fur, and with the least imperfections; the better the price. Fall caught beaver usually have much shorter, thinner fur and darker leather. Northern beaver will generally get thicker fur, so some of those high auction house averages may be influenced by an influx of pelts from up north. On beaver they can also inspect the leather side, they do like to see nice light colord leather and any scars on the leather can detract from the value. Fur color is also a factor, darker fur typically gets more money. Our beaver are usually reddish brown, I believe the more northern beaver are generally darker in color and I've seen pictures of Midwestern beaver that are very pale.

As you can see, there are many factors. Although I pay attention to the grades and the prices, I don't sweat it too much. I really enjoy trapping and the checks are like a bonus.
 
Here's another recent fishing photo...last weekend Conall caught his fattest fish to date. We were trying to catch some of those nice pickerel when he hooked into this bass. He was so excited when the fish jumped out of the water and shouted that he had a big one. I reminded him to keep his rod tip up (little kids love to point the rod right at a fish) just as the fish dove under the boat. We eventually landed the fish and took this photo. I told Conall that bass season was closed, so we had to release the fish. He was happy to watch the fish swim away.


IMG_8741_zpsf8f10feb.jpg

 
John,

Thanks for the updates.

Here are a couple of tips on the strawberries. While they will fill in the area you will get nicer, sweeter berries and they will be easier to pick if you make some rows. After harvest your can mow/weedeat all the leaves off. This helps with foliar diseases. Rototill out rows so the actual strawberry beds are 12 inches wide. This allows more light in and provides a place to walk without stepping on plants. The largest and sweetest berries will be along the edges, where the plants go more light and air circulation. Then in late summer rototill again so you beds are 24-30 inches wide.

The first mowing/rortilling helps rejuvenate the plants. The second rotoilling sets the rows, anyy runner that root after Sept. 1 will not get large enough to be productive.

Tom
 
Thanks for the tips Tom. I am noticing more and larger berries along the edges of those rows. I did thin the stand and weedeat off the tops last year, but it was later in the summer (well past the end of the harvest). I will try weedeating and rototilling the rows down to 12" right after harvest this year. From what I've read elsewhere, the real old plants don't produce as well. So rototilling the outer edges of the rows like you say should produce more productive plants along the edges of the row for next year.


How may productive years can I get out of a stand if I continue to manage them like you recommend?
 
John,

Productivity can range widely. As with most things, the better care you take the better odds you have of longer life of a bed of strawberries. I had 2 acres of strawberries back in the '80's. My goal was to get four crops off of them. When I was the Tioga Co. extension Agent I worked with a strawberry grower who had a planting produce 10 crops.

A little fertilizer at renovation time, right after harvest, will help also. Notice I stated a little. It would probably be better to not fertilize than to over fertilize.

Straw mulch after the ground freezes helps reduce frost heaving of the plants, freezing and thawing action pulls stems from roots, plants leaf out and then die because they have no roots. The straw also helps to keep soil bacteria and fungi from getting on the leaves and fruit in the spring with reduces disease pressure.

An intersting note on how strawberries got their name. In old England they were first called strewn berries since the plants grew in a manner that made them appear to be strewn over the ground. As straw mulch became more common the name morphed into strawberries.

My favorite variety is Earliglow. It has great flavor. The fruit size does tend to drop off quickly after the king berries are harvested. It also has a deep red color and makes great jam. Here is where I would order plants from: http://noursefarms.com/category/strawberry-plants/

Tom
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top