My rats

[nube]

Just sold my rats!!! Was way surprised. Sold 217 of them and averaged $11.56. Top pile of rats sold for $16 each. I am more than happy. I may not put up the best yote yet but it seems like my rats did just fine.

I got to get someone to teach me what i am doing wrong with my yotes. I don't know why my averages are so much lower than some of you guys. I am not sure if it is my early ones and damaged ones that brought me down so much or if you guys are just catching them when they are prime starting in mid or late November

[pointer]

Same here avg $11.86 for my rats just wish I had more time to trap in the spring may have to go hard this spring

[bullgetter]

Sweet. Think everything but otter seems to be selling well. I averaged $11.25 on my rats. Problem is I only had 2 and they both graded SDG. Probably the bullet holes.

[H380]

Ave $12.50 on my rat.. too bad I only had 1... LOL .. Some how missed dropping him in the box for the last sale .

[PCP_ECOM]

well sent 99 to sale,1/3 of which were xsm which hit my avg hard,best was 12.50,so ended up with 6.00 avg,boo boo,this fall all small ones going into tanning pail,send only large and up,on another note gonna hit these spring ones as hard as time will allow me,glad to hear everyone did alright,5 yote's and 99 rats=1202 CND for me,minus deductions,i'm happy with that.

[nube]

Originally Posted by PCP_ECOM

well sent 99 to sale,1/3 of which were xsm which hit my avg hard,best was 12.50,so ended up with 6.00 avg,boo boo,this fall all small ones going into tanning pail,send only large and up,on another note gonna hit these spring ones as hard as time will allow me,glad to hear everyone did alright,5 yote's and 99 rats=1202 CND for me,minus deductions,i'm happy with that.

WOW PCP, I would start thiking of why youa re just getting small ones. I had very few. I wonder if you have an area that gets winterkilled more often or some reason for the large amount of smlaler ones?

[HunterDave]

According to the manual 75% or more of fall/early winter rats trapped are usually juveniles. If the first 40 rats don't include at least 25 juveniles, it may indicate a poor production year and the need to cease trapping operations earlier than usual.

I've got no real life experience yet so all that I can do to contribute is pass on what's in the manual.

[PCP_ECOM]

Originally Posted by nube

WOW PCP, I would start thiking of why youa re just getting small ones. I had very few. I wonder if you have an area that gets winterkilled more often or some reason for the large amount of smlaler ones?

shallow marsh Nube,wanted to trap it early,thin k your right they may freeze out and alot die,thats why i targeted it early in October to get them before winter did,bullrush marsh,they were tunneling to an alfalfa field to eat,only marsh the little critter's came from,rest of area had much larger rats,so i think you are correct,larger ones dying off,then all that is left is the kits mostly to harvest,i caught 40 in a 200 yd stretch and over half were small,still got largest part to trap,so this spring trapping will tell the whole story i'm sure,glad to see you did well,Peter,these were XSM 24 of them,from $3 too $1 a piece,it was sad

[PCP_ECOM]

So you must of caught juveniles Nube,not all adults,it seemed odd to me as well,got them towards end,only there a few days then pulled out,moving to other end bigger water body

[nube]

Here is what i ended up with for sizes PCP
I did notice soem things this year. I had a couple big lakes that I trapped and it seems like they were deep lakes. out of the deep lakes i would get some jumbo rats. Your theory about your shallow lake makes sense. I will have to pay attention to what type of water source I am trapping more and what kind of sizes I am getting. Not sure if this helps posting the sizes but this is my whole pile so far that I just had at the sale. I didn't get many smaller ones and wonder why

371214 3XL-XXL I-II GD, FAL, 8
371217 3XL-XXL I-II GD, FAL, 7
371218 3XL-XXL I-II AVG, FAL, 3
371221 3XL-XXL *SEL GD, SPR, 22
371222 3XL-XXL *I AVG, SPR, 16
371223 3XL-XXL *I AVG, SPR, 1
371224 3XL-XXL I-II PR, SPR, 2
371226 3XL-XXL SLT GD, SPR, 6
371229 3XL-XXL SLT GD, FAL, 1
371230 3XL-XXL SDG AVG, FAL, 2
371231 3XL-XXL SDG AVG, SPR, 7
371235 XL I-II GD, FAL, 11
371244 XL I-II AVG, FAL, 15
371245 XL I-II AVG, FAL, 2
371250 XL *I AVG, SPR, 9
371253 XL I-II PR, SPR, 2
371254 XL I-II PR, SPR, 5
371256 XL SLT GD, SPR, 3
371259 XL SLT GD, FAL, 9
371261 XL SDG AVG, FAL, 2
371262 XL SDG AVG, SPR, 1
371265 LGE *I AVG, WTR, 7
371267 LGE *I AVG, SPR, 4
371269 LGE I-II GD, FAL, 2
371272 LGE I-II GD, FAL, 18
371275 LGE I-II AVG, FAL, 4
371278 LGE I-II AVG, FAL, 2
371279 LGE *SEL GD, SPR, 1
371282 LGE SLT GD, SPR, 3
371284 LGE SLT GD, SPR, 1
371285 LGE SLT GD, FAL, 3
371286 LGE SLT GD, FAL, 1
371292 MED *I AVG, SPR, 2
371294 MED I-II GD, FAL, 1
371295 MED I-II GD, FAL, 6
371298 MED I-II AVG, FAL, 3
371300 MED I-II AVG, FAL, 3
371302 MED SDG AVG, FAL, 1
371303 MED SDG AVG, FAL, 3
371304 MED SDG AVG, FAL, 11
371309 SML I-II AVG, FAL, 4
371313 SML SDG AVG, SPR, 3

[mark-edmonton]

Jeeze Nube you hac one hell of a pile of fur! I could never come near that number on the line! Sure I get some different species but not the volume!

[PCP_ECOM]

Originally Posted by nube

Here is what i ended up with for sizes PCP
I did notice soem things this year. I had a couple big lakes that I trapped and it seems like they were deep lakes. out of the deep lakes i would get some jumbo rats. Your theory about your shallow lake makes sense. I will have to pay attention to what type of water source I am trapping more and what kind of sizes I am getting. Not sure if this helps posting the sizes but this is my whole pile so far that I just had at the sale. I didn't get many smaller ones and wonder why

371214 3XL-XXL I-II GD, FAL, 8
371217 3XL-XXL I-II GD, FAL, 7
371218 3XL-XXL I-II AVG, FAL, 3
371221 3XL-XXL *SEL GD, SPR, 22
371222 3XL-XXL *I AVG, SPR, 16
371223 3XL-XXL *I AVG, SPR, 1
371224 3XL-XXL I-II PR, SPR, 2
371226 3XL-XXL SLT GD, SPR, 6
371229 3XL-XXL SLT GD, FAL, 1
371230 3XL-XXL SDG AVG, FAL, 2
371231 3XL-XXL SDG AVG, SPR, 7
371235 XL I-II GD, FAL, 11
371244 XL I-II AVG, FAL, 15
371245 XL I-II AVG, FAL, 2
371250 XL *I AVG, SPR, 9
371253 XL I-II PR, SPR, 2
371254 XL I-II PR, SPR, 5
371256 XL SLT GD, SPR, 3
371259 XL SLT GD, FAL, 9
371261 XL SDG AVG, FAL, 2
371262 XL SDG AVG, SPR, 1
371265 LGE *I AVG, WTR, 7
371267 LGE *I AVG, SPR, 4
371269 LGE I-II GD, FAL, 2
371272 LGE I-II GD, FAL, 18
371275 LGE I-II AVG, FAL, 4
371278 LGE I-II AVG, FAL, 2
371279 LGE *SEL GD, SPR, 1
371282 LGE SLT GD, SPR, 3
371284 LGE SLT GD, SPR, 1
371285 LGE SLT GD, FAL, 3
371286 LGE SLT GD, FAL, 1
371292 MED *I AVG, SPR, 2
371294 MED I-II GD, FAL, 1
371295 MED I-II GD, FAL, 6
371298 MED I-II AVG, FAL, 3
371300 MED I-II AVG, FAL, 3
371302 MED SDG AVG, FAL, 1
371303 MED SDG AVG, FAL, 3
371304 MED SDG AVG, FAL, 11
371309 SML I-II AVG, FAL, 4
371313 SML SDG AVG, SPR, 3

more springs and way bigger than the ones i sent,had one 3xxl-xxl,yes i know the size of the water bodies up there,there are some awesome rat lakes and marshes.

[ROAD HAMMER]

I had a few $15 rats and some $2 rats so out of 115 rats it was a $7.91 average . I was hoping to do better but the rats were small and chewed up . The rats all came from a shallow mud lake that is overpopulated I got 115 rats from 250 yards of shore line out of a dozen runs . I don't think much rats will survive the winter

[The Spruce]

Well I only averaged 5.76 on 348 rats (all from this past fall). No biggy though as nearly 90 were XSM, and fetched me $1-3. Top was $15. Spring rats are where it is at, I averaged 12.50 in the June sale from FHA for last years spring rats. When you trap in fall you get a ton of little guys, but it is just a numbers game. If I subract the pip squeeks my average would be pushing $10 on fall rats. Best prices I have seen for them so far. Time to hit the water, not enough fur for the next sale yet!

Spruce

[nube]

Originally Posted by The Spruce

Well I only averaged 5.76 on 348 rats (all from this past fall). No biggy though as nearly 90 were XSM, and fetched me $1-3. Top was $15. Spring rats are where it is at, I averaged 12.50 in the June sale from FHA for last years spring rats. When you trap in fall you get a ton of little guys, but it is just a numbers game. If I subract the pip squeeks my average would be pushing $10 on fall rats. Best prices I have seen for them so far. Time to hit the water, not enough fur for the next sale yet!

Spruce

I am not too sure on that Spruce. If you look at my lotting you will see that they were pretty much the same. I had kept my spring ones from last year for this sale and my last years fall ones went in. Prices were pretty comparable. I may be missing something but to me I am going to go harder in the fall I think. They are so much easier to catch and some places they just die off anyways.

[The Spruce]

Originally Posted by nube

I am not too sure on that Spruce. If you look at my lotting you will see that they were pretty much the same. I had kept my spring ones from last year for this sale and my last years fall ones went in. Prices were pretty comparable. I may be missing something but to me I am going to go harder in the fall I think. They are so much easier to catch and some places they just die off anyways.

I agree, like I said it is a numbers game. Average will just suffer a bit in the fall, as there are a lot of little guys. In spring I find that maybe 1 in 15 is a small rat, XSM are very rare. Not counting little guys my averages throughout the last 2 years differ by $2 from spring to fall. When fall rat trapping, one can put up some impressive numbers in short order. Alot more work in the spring, and less reward (in numbers), but better money per pelt.

[PCP_ECOM]

Originally Posted by The Spruce

I agree, like I said it is a numbers game. Average will just suffer a bit in the fall, as there are a lot of little guys. In spring I find that maybe 1 in 15 is a small rat, XSM are very rare. Not counting little guys my averages throughout the last 2 years differ by $2 from spring to fall. When fall rat trapping, one can put up some impressive numbers in short order. Alot more work in the spring, and less reward (in numbers), but better money per pelt.

i'm in an area that has some shallow marsh and I would sooner harvest them then,then have them die and waste the resourse,but I have some nice lakes that are swarming with them,i'm thinking better and bigger rats,hitting ice tomorrow for some first time ice rats,did course with Gary on weekend,we set 10 sets and caught 9 rats,it was a lot of fun

[nube]

Ya I understand what your saying Spruce and I think your right. Personally to me there are so many around a guy is nuts to not catch what he can in the fall. I was going to start up again on rats today but it calls for cold weather and I don't like taking chances of killing rats by freezing them out if I can help it. I got lots of time left. My goal is another 300 by end of spring. I got to find a few more spots to get permission from but I have some good honey holes to hit still.