(State) Trapping season is less than a week away.
The population of fur bearers in the state is setting up for a good trapping season. The Iowa DNR’s Bryan Hayes reports Coyote numbers remain strong and stable, red fox numbers don’t show much movement, the raccoon population is high. “You don’t have to drive very far to find evidence that the raccoon population is high. The Iowa DNR is encouraging fur harvesters to take them even though the fur price is forecast to be low.”
The river otter population has been trending upward and Iowa’s bobcat population continues to increase and expand. Boone and Webster County have been opened up to bobcat harvest. Unfortunately the market outlook is not very favorable. “I’ve heard a lot of talk about the lack of a fur sale mainly due to Canada not having the border open. Hopefully that’ll change before too long and we’ll be able to have a fur auction that moves most of the North American fur.”
The season begins on Saturday, November 7th.
