Pelt Handling Contests 2025
The Pelt Handling Contest was held at the winter meeting on January 11. We had 12 competitors and 56 pelts to judge. We had new participants this year as well as previous Master Fur Handlers. It was great to have a few that were new to pelt handling. They enjoyed talking with us after the contest and getting guidance and answers to questions on their pelt handling.
This year’s Master Fur Handler is Bert Highland, with second place going to Brian Fischer, and third place was Tim Alsleben. Congratulations to all of you! You can all be proud of your hard work and time you put in on your pelts. The Master Fur Handler Award was given to Bert for his accomplishment.
I would like to thank Cumberland’s for sponsoring all the prizes for the contest. They are very generous with helping the MTA.
I would also like to thank Jeremy & Lori Cumberland, Reed Cumberland & Rose Kuhlmann from Cumberland’s Trapping Supply for helping judge the contest. I appreciate the time and effort they put in to help with the pelt handling contest.
We would like to see more people enter the pelt handling contest next year. A reminder that you can enter one to nine pelts out of the list of fifteen species. You may only enter one pelt per species. Whether you want to try for the Master Fur Handler or if you want to have an individual accomplishment of one or two species. Each first-place pelt will receive a prize. You just need to be a member to enter.
Thank you to all the competitors and I hope to see you all back again next year with your pelts in hand. It is great to see all ages come together to learn from each other. That is what this contest is all about. Just remember, you are never too old to learn.
Leon Windschitl
FINAL RESULTS
