Methods for extended season

[bigjohn]

Cable restraint season on coyotes goes out end of Feb ,meaning it wasn't/isn't a approved method to take coyotes during the extended season lasting until Apr 15th. A proposal sent to the MDC by the MTA's rules and regulation committee addresses this and asked for approval for cable restraints to be used along with the request to allow live sale of coyotes using them until the Apr.15th date.

I will keep you all updated on this as soon as I can.

[krank]

Looks like an oversight from extending the season. I am sure they will go for it if they are really after predators.
That business of live coyotes doesnt interest me. The practice has resulted in coyotes in all 48 states where they used to be only West of the Mississippi

[bigjohn]

Agreed krank but if it would provide some use of the resource instead of just throwing in a ditch I think it should be done.

[krank]

My CR instructor was an older man named Terry Smith (?) 99% of his coyote trapping was live sale to dog runners. He told a tale of people shooting his catches if he trapped too close to the road. Lost $.

[bigjohn]

A buddy of mine brought up buyers licenses at the spring meeting and was directed to write his proposal up and give to rules and regulations. His stance was since the MDC decided to wage war on furbearers by extending those seasons that fur wasn't any good that maybe now was the time to do away with the buyers license since they don't have anyway to know what's killed.

He came up with that after attending the Colorado sale and talking to folks at the Idaho sale. There, craft buyers drove up prices on many species , as one doesn't need a license to buy there. To sale bobcat to an individual without a buyers or taxidermy license, one must jump through some hops or do so under the table to do so. His thoughts were this would also help draw more individuals to our fur sale. We'll see how this shakes out.

[krank]

Well good. A lot of people dabble with the idea of buying others fur but the buyers license kills it. Will the State part with that revenue?

[bigbob]

How much could it be?

[bigjohn]

The MDC on several occasions claim license are a very little part of their income. The buyers have to keep records which helps with animal surveys. Since they now don't seem to care by extending the seasons on these furbearers, it doesn't make sense to continue the buyer's license. They are the ones that create this.

[krank]

I guess they are not losing much if there are only a few buyers left. Maybe they can conduct an email survey like they do everything else.

[krank]

Yup, eliminating the furbuyers license would enable individuals to trade freely among themselves. That would be a new market we dont have. We could negotiate our own prices. The fact that the MDC would lose visibility of harvest numbers simply breaks my heart.

The MDC has already lost their harvest numbers by encouraging throwing the unprime egg eaters in the ditch. They know it aint the egg eaters affecting the turkey.

[krank]

What would that be like? It would be interesting to hear the furbuyers side.

[krank]

Maybe the furbuyeres want to keep their monopoly? I think maybe this subject needs to go to the MTA.

[tjm]

Just create a free "Craft Fur Buyers" permit with free online purchase and online reporting, no record keeping. Or take coyotes off the furbearers list an declare them "nuisance animals".
Those reports of numbers taken are more important long term than than they appear. Management isn't a day to day thing, it takes decades to acquire quantities of data sufficient to see trends.

[krank]

I think the furbuyers want to keep it the way it is but the rest of us would benefit from being able to sell our fur to individuals. Deer hides are a good example. You have a choice of selling to a buyer or tanning yourself or throwing away. You can give your hide away but I don't think you can sell it to anyone other than a buyer.

[tjm]

Are there still fur buyers in Mo?! I thought they had all died.

[krank]

It's a short list compared to what it was.

[krank]

I would be real interested to talking to the right people about getting the fur buyer requirement eliminated or hearing the downside of such an action.

[tjm]

Use this form to email MDC and they get it to the right person.
mdc.mo.gov/contact-us

One reason though would be that licensed buyers keep the fur trade to licensed trappers and hunters. Free trading would mean no permits needed. Essentially making poaching legal.

Another factor in permitting of hunters and trappers where funding is involved is not the sales of permits per se but the Federal dollars that are allocated based on permit sales. I was told long ago that the reason for official Landowner Deer Permits rather than the scrap paper tags that we used to write was that the "sales" of free landowner tags generated federal funding. And coupled with that, when I apply for those tags they "sell" me several that I'll likely never use and each counts for the feds money distribution, while the hand written tags only got counted if I actually killed a deer and reported it.

[bigbob]

Good to know.