I used to do an inspection window just like Boco's, but since this guy says "no, don't want that" I'm fine with it.

I dont cut an inspection window,it forms that way from the initial cut and the method of pinning.

Otter leg skins on same side of board as tail = automatic perfect inspection window.

Beaverpeeler,
No, I haven't been sending any South for quite a few years now. Are you talking about American H&F in Burns??
I have a buyer up here that will take 100 raw otter at $100 every season. I tan some too, for local sales, send some to Fur Rondy, etc.... much better options up here than shipping to FHA, so like you, I could care less how they want them
The tanned fur seems to really be the best returns for me, with multiple avenues of sales, and once they are tanned, no pressure to have to sell them as quickly.
I used to sell some fur to Goldberg, years ago. They used to fly through and buy fur in my neck of the woods in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Around the 90's they stopped being very competitive for prices paid though. They did used to be a decent outlet for my bigger coastal otters.

Here are a few from today, with some in the roughly 35-42lb. range......

Musty,
No, I have to use oversized boards. Most of my boards are between 7-8 feet long, and 8 - 9.5" wide. These big coastal otters can exceed 40lbs, so I need much larger boards than standard. If I only use a standard sized board, the tails would sometimes have to be wrapped around the bottom.......

This is an average sized adult coastal otter......

That's a great boatload of otter trapped4ever. Thanks for sharing those pics. Most of us have no idea a river otter can ever be that big. I'm sure part is genetics but also that rich estuary diet of crab and other nutrient dense food has got to play a part. Kind of like otters that make a living near the fish hatcheries.

No, the buyer I was referring to has been buying probably most of the otter at our sales the last 5-10 years and he's based out of Toledo, Oregon. He's tanning them and I believe moving them at muzzleloader events, etc, etc. He used to be in the $80-$90 range but sadly is now down around $60 since he figured out he didn't have much competition with low otter prices nation wide.

That's a load of otter! Thanks for posting, enjoy info from other regions/trappers.

Wow! Those make our Wisconsin otter look like the size of mink!

beaverpeeler,
Yes, these coastal otters consume a LOT of crabs, especially the shallower dwelling Dungeness, but also some Tanner and King crab are consumed. Removing a large volume of otters definitely has a positive influence on the commercial fishery production numbers, in a given region. It has been suggested a few times to have the Dungeness crabbing fleet offer a bounty, to increase otter harvests, but hasn't ever actually happened.

Now THAT is a nice putup!! Boco may be the only other guy on T-man that does as nice a job!

trapped4ever, do you have much competition out there? Any idea of how many otter get harvested in SE Alaska?

beaverpeeler,
Nope, no competition anywhere around here. Back when fur prices were better, like in the 80's fur boom, there were a few more people out trapping. Way earlier, before my time, trapping was pretty commonly the ONLY option for Winter income, so quite a few people did at least some limited trapping. The otter and mink numbers through most of the Southern half of coastal Alaska are unreal, with virtually zero pressure targeting them over 99% of the coast. That is speaking of the total length of beach, including the circumference of every island, small or large, plus the mainland beaches, every bay, cove, Inlet, fjord, etc...... just almost unfathomable populations. However, lack of access and the horrible weather tend to be very limiting and intimidating factors, along with hard work, huge tides, rough seas, high fuel prices, extreme remoteness, etc. Very low human population over most of the region also contributes to the lack of effort. Otter harvest numbers, like most furs, varies pretty drastically, due to the fur markets. Higher prices warrant more effort, and low prices no effort