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  #31  
Old 05-11-2018, 08:36 AM
Big Grey Wolf Big Grey Wolf is offline
 
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APA you may be correct. The enormous volumes means NAFA graders cannot give proper attention to each pelt. My first batch of marten this year were some of my best pelts yet graded low. Last year had Top Lot marten and 2 of this years marten came off same trap box, similar heavy/XL/ dark color, probably were sons of top lot pelt, go figure.
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  #32  
Old 05-11-2018, 10:11 AM
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H380 H380 is offline
 
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Originally Posted by APAShooter View Post
After enough years of dealing with this crap i have now come to the conclusion that NAFA grading is absolute joke. Every auction its the same bullsh*t.. some guys get lucky and are happy some guys get screwed and are ****ed.
I firmly believe that they have way to much volume to deal with in a short amount of time... they open a box and just start tossing them into bins.

Nothing else explains the egregious discrepancies we have all experienced.
Do you remember the box full of muskrat pelts that were at the depot offered by that hutt kid when we dropped off our dogs ?
The box literally stunk , moldy greasy and stretched totally wrong . 2 of them ended up being labelled hides and 4 of them came up as SDG .. a total joke this bunch has for graders .
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  #33  
Old 05-11-2018, 10:35 AM
mntmanpick mntmanpick is offline
 
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I got a dog the graded *I GC 1-2 but Semi instead of Heavy makes no sense as it was thick fur with long guard hairs. What does labeled mean?
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  #34  
Old 05-11-2018, 11:47 AM
APAShooter APAShooter is offline
 
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I got a dog the graded *I GC 1-2 but Semi instead of Heavy makes no sense as it was thick fur with long guard hairs. What does labeled mean?
Labeled just means it is one of the pelts in that lot that will be shown as an example to the bidders. They pull out a few to show so the guys know what's it the lot they are bidding on. Thats the way it was explained to me.
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  #35  
Old 05-11-2018, 11:49 AM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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Originally Posted by mntmanpick View Post
I got a dog the graded *I GC 1-2 but Semi instead of Heavy makes no sense as it was thick fur with long guard hairs. What does labeled mean?
Labeled means it has an asterisk (*) with the grade and it's one of the best pelts in the auction. I had one that graded semi *I DBR 1-2 as well.
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  #36  
Old 05-11-2018, 11:57 AM
APAShooter APAShooter is offline
 
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Originally Posted by H380 View Post
Do you remember the box full of muskrat pelts that were at the depot offered by that hutt kid when we dropped off our dogs ?
The box literally stunk , moldy greasy and stretched totally wrong . 2 of them ended up being labelled hides and 4 of them came up as SDG .. a total joke this bunch has for graders .
I know buddy... its ridiculous how those rats were graded. I would have burned them if they were mine... not even sellable, wish i had taken a picture. It's pretty frustrating when you go to all the work to put up quality fur and the next guy does a job like that and you both get the same grades.

Coyotes are no different.. after talking to our friend who witnessed the grading in person last year it all makes sense now. Coyotes are SUPPOSED to be graded on size / color / clarity / quality / grade ... i dont care if you've been doing it for 50 years you can't determine all that in under 10 seconds. AND THATS WHILE HE WAS WATCHING THE GUY... imagine what goes on when he's not there.
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  #37  
Old 05-11-2018, 12:24 PM
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whiskeywillow whiskeywillow is offline
 
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Originally Posted by HunterDave View Post
Labeled means it has an asterisk (*) with the grade and it's one of the best pelts in the auction. I had one that graded semi *I DBR 1-2 as well.
This I did not know Dave! That's awesome.. I have stars beside a few of mine. (& was wondering what they meant)

One I recall for sure was a DBR & One a DK that have stars beside them, XL *I specifically. I'll have to keep an eye on those when the auction runs, may-be a few of my best ones
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  #38  
Old 05-11-2018, 12:28 PM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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Fellas, before your blood pressure goes through the roof......

Last year in the second auction the grades were low like in this one. The good thing was, for me, that the lower grading fur sold for much more than pelts of the same grade in the first auction. My damaged fur sold for as much as two times more compared to what I got in the first auction. In the end, despite the lower grades, my average was slightly higher in the second auction than the first.

Here's what I'd suggest doing.......Print out your grades and mark down what the same pelts sold for at the last auction. Then divide the sum by the amount of pelts that you have in and it'll give you your potential average for this auction. With mine it was only $6 Canadian less than the first auction, not something that I'll get too worked up over considering that I made off like a bandit in the first auction.

If prices stay the same and my damaged pelts sell for more than what they sold for in the first auction like last year, my average should be better than the $6 difference. Also helping my lower grades was having a lot more grade MED, the preferred pelts in the last auction, where I had almost none last auction.

I guess what I'm saying is look past just the grades and enter dollar amounts to put things into perspective.

Last edited by HunterDave; 05-11-2018 at 12:46 PM.
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  #39  
Old 05-13-2018, 09:47 AM
6tmile 6tmile is offline
 
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Just a few questions to the guys that have low grades. How are you prepping your fur? Do any off you guys wash your pelts? Just asking because I havnt washed any pelts in the last 6 years and my lots have been significally better. Not sure if this has anything to do with it, but something to think about. Do you process your own fur or have a custom skinner do it?
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  #40  
Old 05-13-2018, 11:44 AM
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Originally Posted by 6tmile View Post
Just a few questions to the guys that have low grades. How are you prepping your fur? Do any off you guys wash your pelts? Just asking because I havnt washed any pelts in the last 6 years and my lots have been significally better. Not sure if this has anything to do with it, but something to think about. Do you process your own fur or have a custom skinner do it?
I’m not sure it’s the process as most guys put up good fur on here I think what people are upset about is the inconsistency of grading. For most it seemed good or decent grades last auction but poor grades this auction for similar or better fur.

To answer your question I washed pelts if they were bloody but otherwise didn’t.
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  #41  
Old 05-13-2018, 07:58 PM
norma mag norma mag is offline
 
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Looking at primeness of pelts chart in reg's anything after jan8 is past prime. Last receiving dates for 1st auction was jan8.
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  #42  
Old 05-14-2018, 06:33 AM
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Originally Posted by goose slayer10 View Post
I’m not sure it’s the process as most guys put up good fur on here I think what people are upset about is the inconsistency of grading. For most it seemed good or decent grades last auction but poor grades this auction for similar or better fur.

To answer your question I washed pelts if they were bloody but otherwise didn’t.
HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD .. ITS THE INCONSISTENTCY THAT DRIVES US CRAZY . WE DONT WASH PELTS AND SAME GUY HAS SKINNED FOR ME FOR PAST 4 YEARS . I had a good first sale and now have some damaged III s and a few semis that I just cant believe , I dont even skin that kind . Withe the winter we had I have a hard time believing that any thing would rub or thin out . All were caught pre february just like years past and never seen grades like these .
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  #43  
Old 05-14-2018, 08:58 AM
6tmile 6tmile is offline
 
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What I have found over the 20 plus years of shipping fur to nafa is that if you ship crappy fur, you get crappy grades. I have shipped what I believed to be great fur only to have graded lower than what I thought. It was the leather that was causing the down grade. I had a few bad catches and the leather was burned from the snares. Changed up my snaring equipment and it seemed help. As for overall fur quality in the area that I trap and snare in, it was down compared to other years. We had alot of shoulder mites. Out if all 65 i trapped only 2/3 went to auction due to the grozen being damaged from mites. The rest of the coyote was good but I sold them to others that have a use for the rest of the hide.
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  #44  
Old 05-14-2018, 10:20 AM
HunterDave HunterDave is offline
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My Damaged pelts went way up this auction so I decided to compare the grades from the Feb and May auctions last year to this year's auction grades. My Labeled, II and Damaged pelts went down and my I-II went up. Despite fewer Labeled and a lot more Damaged pelts on this auction, I should still do about 20% better this year compared to last.

Labeled........... -1.825%
I-II................. +8.575%
II................... -8.05%
Damaged........ -5.90%
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  #45  
Old 05-14-2018, 12:52 PM
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H380 H380 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 6tmile View Post
What I have found over the 20 plus years of shipping fur to nafa is that if you ship crappy fur, you get crappy grades. I have shipped what I believed to be great fur only to have graded lower than what I thought. It was the leather that was causing the down grade. I had a few bad catches and the leather was burned from the snares. Changed up my snaring equipment and it seemed help. As for overall fur quality in the area that I trap and snare in, it was down compared to other years. We had alot of shoulder mites. Out if all 65 i trapped only 2/3 went to auction due to the grozen being damaged from mites. The rest of the coyote was good but I sold them to others that have a use for the rest of the hide.
Yes , I understand what you are saying and have also shipped to NAFA for many years , it was interrupted by a brief stint of sending hides to FHA where I received 6 top lots for coyotes .. I was wooed back to NAFA by reports of local trappers receiveing higher prices and that has been the case until this auction and the poor grades . If I had gotten these grades in the first sale this year I may have understood it , as I didnt think those ones were that good compared to this second bunch . I'm not alone in this way of thinking as APA Shooter and I took hides into the depot together and both of us are unimpressed with the showing . I had 4 coyotes show up as Damaged IIIs.. I dont even skin that type and have no idea which of my hides they could be .
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  #46  
Old 05-14-2018, 05:28 PM
kingrat kingrat is offline
 
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Nafa grading reflects the market. When it's hot they loosen up when it starts to slide they tighten up. Just about everyone is experiencing that right now it's not crappy fur or people not knowing what good coyotes are etc.
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  #47  
Old 05-14-2018, 08:10 PM
Marty S Marty S is offline
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Of NAFA grading...

It was recently stated by a true veteran of the fur industry: “When it comes to NAFA grading, DO NOT try to understand it or make sense of it... you will surely go mad trying to do so.”
Gary Schroeder

He might have even made that comment today!
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  #48  
Old 05-14-2018, 10:39 PM
gman1978 gman1978 is offline
 
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My brother and myself have our coyotes skinned by the same person for over five years now. Our coyotes are caught in the same basic area. We don’t skin anything marginal at all. His grades are smokers and mine are just average. I have the same issue with damaged coyotes so I have no clue what the story is there. He didn’t have one coyote grade damaged. I knew he had some real gooders in his bunch but over all the coyotes are similar, the grades are not. I am sure it’s like the grain grading business and there is more than meets the eye lol!!!!
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  #49  
Old 05-15-2018, 06:14 AM
Marty S Marty S is offline
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Yup... you might want to get a third party to split up your coyotes for you. Where are you at? I bet Dave would do it for you guys st no charge!
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