Met a local trapper..

[mowin]

So I'm driving past one of the farms I hunt, and I see a truck parked in the field.  I pull in and within a few minutes, a guy walks over. Hes been trapping there for several years, but I have never ran into him until today.  Had a great conversation and he agreed to let me tag along a few mornings when he checks his traps.  

Never trapped before, so I'm looking forward to seeing how things are done.  Maybe I'll catch the bug, and put a few coyote sets out.. 

He said right now, beaver is in demand because of the show Yellowstone. He said the sales of cowboy hats are high, and made from beaver do to the natural water repellents.  Mentioned NYS trooper hats are made from beaver also. 

[nywaw]

Never knew that about cowboy hats or trooper hats. That's pretty neat.

[NYRuthunter]

10 minutes ago, nywaw said:

Never knew that about cowboy hats or trooper hats. That's pretty neat.

In the trapper world we call it the “hatter market”.Thats what’s driving higher prices for beaver right now ,not so much for garments .

Edited January 8, 2024 by NYRuthunter

[NYRuthunter]

 

[mowin]

26 minutes ago, NYRuthunter said:

 

Wow, that's quite a process to make a hat.  

[Splitear]

Very cool video!

[HeavyUser]

On 1/8/2024 at 2:59 PM, mowin said:

Wow, that's quite a process to make a hat.  

Sure is, I recently found out how expensive these hats can get. 

 

Thousands of dollars .... thousands .... for ... a ... hat

[Belo]

I think it's just stetsons iirc and i'm sure other brands do too, but a known staple of the stetson brand.