I did a little surgery on the topic for you. Darn phones.
I'll give you my take on Primeness but certainly not the last word. Most of my experience has been with the westside.
Coyote starts things off. I know not much coyote trapping with cages but maybe you might call and shoot. Middle of October they are still a little flat with older dogs furring out first and starting to look good by this time. All of them are as good as they will get by Nov 1. When they start to go bad depends a lot on the weather. Lots of rain and they will start to mat by the middle of Dec. On the west side they are pretty well done by Jan 1. There are outliers though and you can see crappy ones anytime or a nice one in March.
Most other animals you can start around Thanksgiving. They may not be full prime but they haven't had a chance to rub either. Pretty much nothing reaches its full prime until about January but you can't trap just one day a year.
Raccoon and mink are pretty well past by February. Cats and otter are good until the end of the season. Some say you get more singed otter late but I get them early too so I am not going to turn down a late caught otter.
Beaver, Nutria and rats can be good to the last day but there is a higher chance of getting bitten up ones later. Kind of depends on the population. My advice is to watch your catch and if you start getting a lot of bitten up ones it is time to think about quitting that area.
Weather can throw a monkey wrench into your plans and sometimes you might have to jump the gun on primeness to fool mother nature. Good example is I know some guys in OR that trap marten in the OR Cascades in November. Marten are generally considered to prime up in January but the snow keeps those guys out at that time so they hit it before the snow keeps them at lower elevations.
Price also enters into the equation. Back in the early 80s even stuff that was so so brought a good price so we trapped early and late and did well. Now though is not the time to bring in a bunch of blue hides. Buyers want the best and little else right now.
