Porcupines

HunterDave · #1 01-26-2015, 11:57 AM

Last week I caught a porky in a snare so I looked into what I could do with it. Halford's doesn't buy whole porkies but they do buy the guard hair and quills. The guard hair must be over 7" in length, washed in a bleach/water solution, dried and bundled in 1 ounce bundles. They pay about $16/bundle. There's value in the quills as well but I didn't ask what they paid. Good to know just in case someone has an accidental catch.

bill9044 · #2 01-26-2015, 12:31 PM

Hey Dave how many hairs in one ounce? Could you take a pic of the one ounce bundle with a loonie for size judgement. There was a fellow on this forum with an earlier post looking for porcupines whole or hair from one.

HunterDave · #3 01-26-2015, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill9044

Hey Dave how many hairs in one ounce? Could you take a pic of the one ounce bundle with a loonie for size judgement. There was a fellow on this forum with an earlier post looking for porcupines whole or hair from one.

I haven't done anything with it yet, it's in a NAFA bag in the freezer, I'm too busy putting up coyotes to turn in by Friday. I contacted the individual buying whole porkies and they are paying $10 to $15. I think that I can do better with a little work. There aren't a lot of guard hairs in an once, here's a picture from the Halford's website.

https://www.halfordsmailorder.com/eS...ethod=Contains

The Spruce · #4 01-26-2015, 02:00 PM

Dave look into the archives. I think "lovintheoutdoors" or something like that is always looking for porkys, and pays a lot better than Halfords ever will.

Spruce

HunterDave · #5 01-26-2015, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Spruce

Dave look into the archives. I think "lovintheoutdoors" or something like that is always looking for porkys, and pays a lot better than Halfords ever will.

Spruce

$10 to $15 whole. I'll do better plucking hair and quills for all the time that it takes. I figure that's what they are doing in order to turn a profit anyways.

LuvTheOutdoors · #6 01-28-2015, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HunterDave

$10 to $15 whole. I'll do better plucking hair and quills for all the time that it takes. I figure that's what they are doing in order to turn a profit anyways.

actually, I buy carcasses from trappers and hunters who accidentally trap em, find em on roadkill, or just wanna make supplemental gas money on the hunt lol, whatever the reason, I buy em at 10-15$ a carcass because Halfords only pays 16-18 for plucked, cleaned and bundled guard hair, so I figure ill save you the work and get you 80% of their price. I use the hair in crafting, primarily roaches and headdresses and the quills for quill work. I see it as being better than me paying 50/oz for the same bundle of hair after halford tried to resell it lol

HunterDave · #7 01-28-2015, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuvTheOutdoors

actually, I buy carcasses from trappers and hunters who accidentally trap em, find em on roadkill, or just wanna make supplemental gas money on the hunt lol, whatever the reason, I buy em at 10-15$ a carcass because Halfords only pays 16-18 for plucked, cleaned and bundled guard hair, so I figure ill save you the work and get you 80% of their price. I use the hair in crafting, primarily roaches and headdresses and the quills for quill work. I see it as being better than me paying 50/oz for the same bundle of hair after halford tried to resell it lol

There's nothing wrong with what you are doing/buying the porkies for. Like you, I'm just trying to make a buck and pulling the guard hair and quills would be best for me.

pointer · #8 01-28-2015, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuvTheOutdoors

actually, I buy carcasses from trappers and hunters who accidentally trap em, find em on roadkill, or just wanna make supplemental gas money on the hunt lol, whatever the reason, I buy em at 10-15$ a carcass because Halfords only pays 16-18 for plucked, cleaned and bundled guard hair, so I figure ill save you the work and get you 80% of their price. I use the hair in crafting, primarily roaches and headdresses and the quills for quill work. I see it as being better than me paying 50/oz for the same bundle of hair after halford tried to resell it lol

So how many ounces of hair is on one porky roughly?

Hydro1 · #9 01-28-2015, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pointer

So how many ounces of hair is on one porky roughly?

Not directed towards me but..
Right about an ounce if i remember correctly.

And just under 30,000 quills?

pointer · #10 01-28-2015, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hydro1

Not directed towards me but..
Right about an ounce if i remember correctly.

And just under 30,000 quills?

May as we'll sell them whole if theirs only a oz on a whole porky

Hydro1 · #11 01-28-2015, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pointer

May as we'll sell them whole if theirs only a oz on a whole porky

Mature hairs 6 inches and longer, packed correctly brings me(or used to bring me)50-70 an ounce... Takes all of 10 minutes to do if the porcupine is fresh. Worth it Imo.

pointer · #12 01-28-2015, 10:51 PM

50-70 would be worth it but 16 wouldn't be worth it and if I seen it correct halford a sells them for 67? So I'm sure the buyer could pay a few more dollars and still make his profit as well

HunterDave · #13 01-29-2015, 12:42 PM

It's not big bucks but I think that the best thing to do is to find an end user and sell directly to them at a reduced rate. Sell the guard hair and quills and you still have the carcass to use as bait.

pointer · #14 01-29-2015, 01:21 PM

True

WhiskeyJack · #15 01-29-2015, 06:51 PM

You plucking fresh? Its not to hard after they sat for a week and started slipping. Never did the quills tho.

I got a large ziplock that I'd gladly sell at 30 an ounce

LuvTheOutdoors · #16 01-29-2015, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pointer

So how many ounces of hair is on one porky roughly?

Yup on average a single porky will bring 1oz of hair. And 1000s of quills. What is not known though is that tthere is only a single market for them and that's to FN crafter's, in order to be valuable the hair must be 6" and longer, the quills also need to be 2"+.
There's a lot of work that goes into cleaning a porky then washing and cleaning your hair n quills. Which is why I buy whole carcasses a 10-15. Skips out the overpriced middleman lol

medicmoose · #17 02-20-2015, 06:56 AM

How did you make out with the porcupine Dave? I picked up a decent one yesterday and I am wondering what to do with it. Seems to have allot of gaurd hair. What's the best way for plucking quills?

Matt

HunterDave · #18 02-21-2015, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by medicmoose

How did you make out with the porcupine Dave? I picked up a decent one yesterday and I am wondering what to do with it. Seems to have allot of gaurd hair. What's the best way for plucking quills?

Matt

I haven't done anything with it yet, Matt, other than throw it in the freezer. I'll do something with it while I'm waiting for the lake to thaw and get at those Spring muskrats. I'll just pluck the quills and guard hair my hand.