Winter 2026 Pelt Handling Contest

Pelt Handling Contests 2026

The Pelt Handling Contest was held at the winter meeting on January 17. We had 10 competitors and 48 pelts to judge. We had new participants this year as well as previous. It is great to see the ones that brought a few pelts last year and even more this year. The new participants and anyone new to pelt handling always enjoy talking with us after the contest and getting guidance and answers to questions on their pelt handling.

This year’s Master Fur Handler is Tim Alsleben, with second place going to Dan Collins, and third place was Brian Fischer. 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 Tim 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 Jade Cumberland 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.

Also, I would like to bring a little history into this report. I have been the chairman of the Pelt Handling Contest since 2009. I thought it would be a good idea to have a list of all the Master Fur Handlers since 1993. That is as far back as I have the records for.

MASTER PELT HANDLERS OF THE MTA

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