SmallCaliberCentral

I took some fur to the C.T.A. auction today. All but one of the fox were killed with a 17hmr, one 204'ed. Both coyutes were 204'ed. I also have some fur on the wall in the background. The blond coon is my fave-o-rite...Don

Don: Very, very nice!

Do you do all your own fleshing/tanning too? Those are some very beautiful furs there buddy!

Those should bring a pretty penny at the sale; the very best of luck to you there. (I bet you almost hate to part with them.....)

Very impressive. You are holding there in your arms alot of hard work. Nice work.

NHS

Those are very nice. Good job. I know you could teach me a thing or two that I need to learn how to prepare fur like that!

Awesome furs. The blond raccoon is really interesting. I've never seen one anywhere near that light colored. Very pretty.

WOW would be an understatement!

They look very nice! Hope get good money for them.

Very nice job on the fur Don, There is no reson you shouldn't get top doller for them.

HEY! Get out of the way! Your blocking the elk rack! LOL

what kinda prices did your fur bring?

That is some nice fur! Let us know how the sale goes.

The sale is this weekend. Checks will be mailed out at a later date. I'll let you know how it went. Don

Don; Those are a couple of nicely coloured coyotes. And it looks like the fox population is pretty healthy in your neck of the woods. Fox are just starting to make a comeback here after being nearly decimated by high coyote populations in the 70' snd 80's. They seem to survive now near farmhouses and acreages where the coyotes are more reluctant to go.
What was the pelt damage like on the fox and two coyotes that you took with the 204?

singleshot, The coyotes had a 20 cal entrance hole, no exit damage. The fox that was 204'ed was a MAJOR stitch job. All of the critters this winter from Nov./ Dec. on were my testing ground for the 40 gr. noslers. They are accurate enuff and in my experience on coyotes with the 40 vmax , 39 bk and 40 B-T, all are about the same. In about 30 kills(coyote) I have had only a couple exit wounds. One was purty well rags, (one side completely open with 20 foot of guts dragging)the other was baseball size. The bad one was more angle of hit than anything, as the ribcage on that side was blown thru the hide. I hear lots of guys complain of bullet 'splash' with these frangible offerings, but I have yet to see it, even with shoulder/hip bone shots. Biggest entrance has been maybe nickel size. Ranges from 15 to 500 yds. on 30 dogs have me convinced that I will continue to use these bullets for them. Only one or two made more than a couple yards from impact. Only one needed a follow-up.The bergers may work well, as a lot of fellers are bragging them up, but these are some of the same guys that complain of 'splash'. It makes me wonder just how many have even actually shot a coyote, as 30 is a purty good test. How many of 30 shot with a 22-250 would exhibit these same results? Coming from a 220 swift and 22-250 background, I can attest to a lot higher percentage of damage to fur from these (and that is from several HUNDRED killed). I have not got enuff fox with the .204 to say that it will exit ALL the time on these smaller and thinner skins, but I use the rimfire for them most anyway. No bobcats have been taken, as they are not in my prairie area. Hope this helps, Don

Thanks for the info Don. That is encouraging news about the non-exit of the 39 and 40 grain bullets on coyotes. That is why I switched to the 204 from a 22-250. I got tired of stitching big exit holes up and then getting docked by the fur buyer. I have only shot one coyote with the 204. I was using a 35 grain Berger which went completely through, leaving a 1.5 inch exit hole. I haven't seen a coyote since the 15 of December which is mighty unusual considering we have 2 feet of snow on the ground. They should be really hungry but they don't seem to be moving around much. Maybe with breeding season coming on that will change and I can increase my "sample size" as well.