I just received my fur back from Moyle. I only sent 1 marten, 2 beaver, 3 wolverine.

Back in 2005 I swore I was finished with Moyle when, after a couple previous bad returns, I got back a lynx with no tail and a one wolverine with half a face missing. Well I guess they worked out their problems and everyone was once again pleased with their work.

Today my decision is final. Never again will I use Moyle. The Marten lookes like they ran it through a chicken plucker, the beaver have holes and hairs pulled through to the skin side, and the wolverine are rock hard in the heads and feet. The skins are a different color than the customary Moyle white. These are brownish looking. Maybe they've changed their chemicals.

My final gripe is that they were just wadded up and thrown into a box that wasn't even sealed on one end. I could stick my hand all the way in and help myself to whatever I could grab. The fur will eventually brush and lay straight but for now it ain't pretty. Maybe its unreasonable to expect quality treatment for my money. Guess I'll go back to Hector.

..just sent beaver to 'em on Monday....

Well they may be OK. I think it may depend on who gets ahold of them when they come out of the chemicals.

Going into this season I am planning on setting some fur aside to get tanned. What are some good tanneries that everyone has dealt with?

I was gonna say Moyle....

I just got some fur back from moyles last week.. beaver, coyote, otter, ermine...all were pretty good, although the beavers had fur coming thru the hide in a couple of holes.. I assumed that was errors on my part when skinning, but now that I think about it, I dont think I knicked the hides at all in those areas. White, do you think they shaved them too thin or what would cause that?

The ermine were a little ratty looking, but not too bad with some grooming.

As a side note on fur prep, I stretched the beavers in june and had a hard time getting them to dry without a fan on them (no electricity). I had to wipe mold off of them a couple of times. I sprayed them down with bleach water and wiped off the fuzzy mold. I was worried they would slip, but they did not and although the hide seems a bit weaker in those areas, they seemed to tan up fine.

Dont know how they will hold up for mitts though, so I'll probably use them for something else..

BTW, all of mine had nice white hide so maybe yours when into a different batch??

It's like rolling the dice with tanneries it seems. Sorry to hear they came back like they did White. Pm sent.

Boy, sorry to hear that Ken. I just got back my batch which was 4 fox and 3 otters and I think they are best looking tan jobs I have received to date. One of the fox had the tail off but I have had several over the years with different tanner's that have come back with a tail disconnected. At least this one was in the box with the rest of my fur...

10 wolverine, 14 lynx, 20+ fox, 8 wolves done this year....and all were as good, or better, than I expected.

I've had a few beavers with the hair coming through, and a few paws on wolverine that I couldn't get turned all the way as they were really hard....but I figure that is probably more to do with how I handled them (wolverines that is).

Kind of a crap shoot as no tannery treats the pelts as "their own". And SO MANY factors that can go into a pelt coming out unsatisfactory. For me, I'll stick with Moyles.

pittu if your beaver were caught early or late the hides are thinner and that can cause the hair to come through the back I see it on some fall beaver not all but some. THe tannery shaving them too thin can also be a cause. I just sent Moyle 2 dozen beaver with another two dozen left to stretch that will all go to Moyle. I have noticed the different colors in the leather but it has never affected the quality and since people don't see the leather side of things I have shrugged it off as differences in batches for whatever reason some come out tan rather than white.
Ken sorry to hear you got poor results again. I do know what you mean about them stuffing fur in a box that they do quite often and can be a bit of an irritation but I have never had a box come partially open. I sent them a wolverine last year and it came back perfect head and all. If they screwed up with me on one of my orders I would be calling them that same day and complaining.

I sent them about 15 furs last week, I'll cross my fingers.

Last week I received 14 Lynx that I sent to Moyles in July. All appear to be in great shape. No complaints here. I plan on sending another batch in the near future.

The beavers were january caught and yes I do think they were shaved too close. Maybe just another new employee. The wolverines look fine it's just that I have never encountered this issue with hard feet and heads before. I take pains to make them as good as possible since I always try to sell to the taxi market. The leather color is no biggie it just caused me to question whether something was different and that's why the hardness in the feet etc.

Ken, did you have the wolverines "taxidermy" tanned? That may be a stupid question.

Hmmm, we got ours back this week and will be going through them Sunday. I got 28 beaver to look at plus a few other things. Will be interesting. Sorry to hear about your bad service there Ken.

-TJ

Ken, hard feet and head means they didn't do them Taxi (that's what I've been told). I've asked about how it was a PITA to turn my paws after if sometimes a claw doesn't make it turned, and they told me if it was taxi tanned that wouldn't be an issue.

Interesting. All the claws are there it's just tough to open the foot and look inside. One back foot was split when I got them back. Everything is still there but it looks shoddy.

I got mine back from Hector last month and was thinking of sending the next lot to Moyle's. I wish they were more consistent. I finally did my own bear this year, with lutan f, alot of work but had control of the hide the whole time and had a finished bear hide in three weeks instead of 6 months with no holes or fleshing/shaving problems.

How much does it cost to have your furs tanned? Are you having them tanned to sell later date, keep for you, or what? I have been out of the trapping loop for a long time. So i'm trying to figure things out.

Moyles did a great job on mine this year. Bummer to hear that white.