Coastal Coyotes

[ouchfoss]

I ended up seeing a coyote the other day that was a beautiful, very fluffy silverish light brown and I was wondering if coastal coyotes are ever worth going after for hunting in between trap checks? I remember Bruce mentioning that they are prime for a very short amount of time and seeing that yote got me thinking that maybe the short window is happening now. Are they even worth wasting my time for the fur? I know coastal cats arent worth near the same as eastside cats so Im assuming that same logic goes for dogs too. I believe yotes were one of the good sellers at the last auction though.

[Humptulips]

A good coastal is a nice fur. November to Christmas is the best window for the fur. You will get a mix like everything else. Pups will have poor bellies but adults are good. One of the nicest coyote pelts I ever saw I caught on Boulder Cr. It brought $75 back in the early 70s.
The thing that gets you on coastal coyotes is the damaged ones. They either have matting or rubs, mostly matting. A lot of that is weather dependent. If we get a dry fall and winter they can stay good till after Christmas. In a bad year I have caught matted ones the first week of December.
I would say go for it but be ready to pull the plug by Christmas.

[Axle]

A good coastal is a nice fur. November to Christmas is the best window for the fur. You will get a mix like everything else. Pups will have poor bellies but adults are good. One of the nicest coyote pelts I ever saw I caught on Boulder Cr. It brought $75 back in the early 70s.
The thing that gets you on coastal coyotes is the damaged ones. They either have matting or rubs, mostly matting. A lot of that is weather dependent. If we get a dry fall and winter they can stay good till after Christmas. In a bad year I have caught matted ones the first week of December.
I would say go for it but be ready to pull the plug by Christmas.

Agreed!
Certain areas on the wet side of the old Oregon Territory would bring different prices during the '70s (and they varied greatly). Most of them good but it had to be early in the season as stated. Micro regions play a role but only a good fur-man would know these things. Being a weather watcher and studying weather regions can help.
One of the finest coyotes I've ever shot (before it could kill another one of my chickens) was in mid-June. I could hardly believe the beautiful heavy coat that particular song dog had. I had a hard time lifting it off the ground too. I lost many chickens to that critter before I finally aced him. Too bad I couldn't sell the fur that time of year. Too bad the evil antis have had such a disastrous effect on us.

[ouchfoss]

75$ in the early 70s? Wow! Nice to know! I think I've got some yote hunting trips planned in the next few weeks.