'Got a beaver or other pelt back

from the tanners and don’t know

how to display it?

The photos shown on this page

are custom hooping for customers

and are not available for sale.

(Hello Charlie! 01/02/18)

One option is to lace it up on a willow hoop,
similar to how the mountain men dried
their plews (/plo͞o/, a beaver skin,
used as a standard unit of value in the fur trade.)
prior to rendezvous.

Good information on how to do this
can be found on the internet.

Another option is to mail your tanned pelt
to us, and we’ll take it from there.
What you’ll have returned to you will
look beautiful on a wall at home
or in that cabin up north.

Susan and I have been hooping furs for
rendezvous sales and online sales,
for over a dozen years now.
Our hooped furs have been used to
decorate new Cabela’s stores,
are hanging in museums and used
in environmental education centers as well as
purchased for stage design props.

We’re also wholesaling
hooped furs to various retail outlets.
With the fur market depressed these
last few years, many trappers are having
some of their own pelts tanned
and are sending them to us.
In the last couple of years,
the interest has grown substantially.

What better way to display your fur!

The willow used in the hoops is
sandbar willow (Salix exigua), and is cut
with permission on private property
on the Wisconsin River.

The bark is peeled or scraped to promote
rapid drying, then given a diluted coat
of linseed oil to preserve the wood
and bring out its natural, beautiful colors.

The two ends of the hoop are joined
together and tied with artificial sinew.

To finish the hoop, the ends of the willow
are carved to look as if a beaver had
chewed them off. The continuous rawhide
lacing is tanned steer hide of the same
dimension throughout. Your pelt will have
leather “grommets” hide-glued to the
backside through which the lacing passes
so the possibility of a pelt tearing
at a stress point is greatly reduced.

SHIPPING VIA UPS:
(Outside SpeeDee Delivery Zones)
Shipping rates are more expensive when using UPS.
Call or email us with the stretched pelt size,
your city and zip code for an
estimate of shipping cost.

INTERESTED?
Call for more info: 608/356-3621,
or email at riverine_traders@yahoo.com.

FEES:
Your beaver pelt will be blocked and
stretched to remove
any wrinkles and/or sagging that
occured in the tanning process.
While on the board, the pelt will be
measured for length plus width for a
total size that corresponds with
the following fees:
XS (under 42") is $60
SM (42"-47") is $65
MD (47"-51") is $70
LM (51"-55") is $75
LG (55"-60") is $80
1X (60"-65") is $85
2X (65"-70") is $90
3X (over 70") is $100

OTHER PELTS:
Muskrat & Weasel-$40; Mink-$60;
Badger, 'Coon & Skunk-$70;
Fox & Fisher-$75; Otter-$80;
Bobcat & Coyote-$85;
Wolf-$125.

SHIPPING VIA SPEEDEE DELIVERY:
WI, MN, IA, IL, and most of ND, SD, & NE
residents pay $30.00 maximum for
an order of 1-5 hooped pelts,
providing the beaver measures 64 inches
or less, and are not coyote or wolves.
Beaver over 65 inches, coyote and
wolves will have a surcharge added.
Call Mike at 608-356-3621

HOW TO SEND YOUR PELT:
Fold tanned pelt and place in a box. Include a
sheet of paper with your name, address, phone
number and email address. Mail to us at Riverine
Traders, 108 Mary St. Boscobel, WI 53805 via
USPS. We will invoice you via email or USPS.

TURN AROUND TIME:
Depends on when we receive your pelt.
10 to 12 weeks is an average
turnaround time.

WOOD BURNING LETTERS:
We use the PERMANENT MARKER font
in caps and it looks good
on the willow. We're charging
$2 a character. If you want letters
and/or numbers woodburned
onto the hoop, make a sketch
showing where on the hoop you
want these.
Questions: call 608-356-3621.