Tracks in the Mud

 I’m always amazed at the perfect storm which brought things together in the seventies for the fur harvesters in America. Obviously lots of kids like me had grown up in rural areas and had learned to trap as youngsters. Some were more than a little intrigued with the concept of professional fur trapping. There were many years when fur prices weren’t great, but that left lots of areas to trap and learn the trade. As prices increased, we were able to build knowledge and equipment, as well as relationships with landowners. The almost unreal coincidence of both long- and short-haired furs becoming popular at the same time opened up the possibility of running multiple species and being profitable during a longer time frame in a given season. Having the common farmland furbearers at good prices gave easy access to the fur industry and encouraged people to cover incredible amounts of land and rack up large catches. The other important factor during these years was the great volume of wild fur the world-wide markets absorbed. Fur was being used a great deal, not only in the United States but also in foreign countries. Fur buyers moved vast quantities of fur. Long-lining and even state-hopping came into its own during the seventies.