Fur, Hounds, And Idaho Grit

Wild stories pair with careful hands as we sit down with Amber Farrall, a houndswoman, mother, and fur craftswoman living outside Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Amber takes us from spring bear bait sites to fast lion trees, explaining how she reads tracks, protects her dogs when wolves prowl, and brings her kids into the work with patience and care. The field notes are vivid—an ancient, toothless lion ethically tagged, a sow bear seen injured in spring and healed by fall—and they anchor a conversation about what real wildlife management looks like when you’re the one following the snow and sign.

We also dive into Amber’s fur business, Patriot Leather and Fur, born from family training and fueled by a love of durable, renewable materials. She breaks down the craft with a maker’s eye: how beaver can be delicate as tissue, why fox finishes beautifully, and what it takes to stitch clean seams on a century-old fur machine. From coyote trapper hats and beaver mittens to waist muffs for trappers, Amber keeps it local—legally harvested, Idaho-tanned hides turned into gear meant to be used hard and handed down. Along the way we talk ethics, ecology, and the full-use mindset that turns a harvest into meals and heirlooms—lion loins roasted like lean pork, breakfast sausage sizzling, jerky that disappears in a day.

If you’ve ever wondered how hounds, conservation, and craft can coexist, this conversation offers a grounded, first-hand look. We grapple with predator pressure on elk and deer, the reality of wolves in thick country, and the misconception that banning trapping ends the practice. Amber’s approach is steady: respect the animals, use what you take, and keep the work honest. Subscribe for more stories from the backcountry and the bench, share this with a friend who loves real gear, and leave a review to help others find the show. What part surprised you most—the hunt or the craft?

Check us out on Facebook Hunts On Outfitting, or myself Ken Marr. Reach out and Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!

Transcript

Welcome And Amber’s World

SPEAKER_01 0:16

I love everything. 1550 of doors and all things. Stories to have to you'll find it here. Welcome to the podcast. All right. Thanks for tuning in. I couldn't be more thrilled to have you listening. So thank you. Exceptional war. Durability and natural properties. This is what makes up fur. Fur is still great. And why has it gone away? Well, I don't know, but I can tell you who's going to bring it back because this person here has lions, bears, and a sewing machine that may sound like an odd combination to most of us, but to Amber, that's just all part of her everyday life. Amber's going to talk to us about that and more. She has uh a gift of the sewing machine that she's going to tell us about turning uh beautiful furs into works of art and uh and all that kind of raising kids, she's running hounds. She's an interesting gal, and uh I can't wait to talk to her. So let's go meet her. Oh, and if you are looking to get a hold of us to maybe come on the podcast or suggest somebody for it or just reach out to me, you can email me at hunts on outfitting at gmail.com or you can find us on Facebook, HuntsOnoutfitting. Or find myself on there, Kenmeyer. Feel free to reach out. Some of you guys have been. It's been great talking with you from all over. Yeah, so I mean, Amber, you're uh you're a houndswoman, you're a fur seam tr seamstress, uh a mother, a huntress, and and more, I'm sure. You seem really busy from uh from online. You wear a lot of hats and you make a lot of them uh yourself. Is there anything else I'm missing that would kind of describe you, I guess?

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Um, I I guess you covered all the bases there, yeah. Um I sew a lot, I run dogs a lot, I'm in the garden a lot, I'm just as busy as I possibly can be.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Yeah, and and enjoying the land too while you're at it.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

Oh yeah. Uh we I my family forages too. We look for mushrooms, barrels, chatrels.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yeah, and then so so you live in in the mountains of Idaho, do you?

Getting Into Hounds And First Bear Trees

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Yes. Uh outside of Court Lane.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Okay, yep. Yep. Um what uh so um you you're you hunt how how did you get into hunting? I mean, is it just is everyone just kind of seemed to do it that lives out in the country out there?

SPEAKER_02 2:46

My family is hunted. Um we had meal deer growing up, elk. I was raised in Colorado. Okay. I learned how to hound hunt here in Idaho by a man from Maine. And that was about uh twelve years ago. How did you only been running dogs for 10, 12 years?

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Okay, yep. Um, so yeah, how did that come out? I I go down, I'm lucky to go down to Maine uh every fall. I've got hounds here, but we can't run bears, so I go down to Maine in the fall and go with a friend of mine to run uh run bears there with hounds. So how did um yeah, how did you come about uh having a guy show you from Maine how to run hounds out there?

SPEAKER_02 3:28

So this man from Maine actually moved over here to Court d'Alene. He actually moved to Santa, which is like two and a half hours away from Cordelaine, and we just met up on the weekends. I had been posting pictures of my bait doing really, really well. Like eight bears a day were hitting it, and he's like, I've got the dogs, you've got the bait, let's go run my dogs on your bait and teach you how to hound hunting.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. So what did you think of it, you know, the first time doing it? Were you uh did you so you didn't really go looking for it, I guess? It kind of found you with the hounds.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

Oh yeah. It was a rush though, because the first bear that I ever saw on a tree did not stay in the tree.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

It was No, it came running out and came running down at the bottom and the dogs were all tied up, so we were trying to let a dog loose, and because we didn't it wasn't big enough to shoot. We just wanted to take pictures of it, but we had to let the dogs loose again to get it away from us.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Yeah. It was quite the experience. Yeah, yeah, it is. It's you know, it's it's so much fun and just just being with the hounds, you know, it's it's it's the it's the whole hunt in and of itself, really, I find.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Oh yeah. It was fun. Well, even the dogs that just take off and end up nowhere, that's even fun too. Just going to go find the spare.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Yeah, sometimes they do get uh uh spread out and sidetracked. It can't happen.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

And then so I see so you do you have your own you have your own hounds now?

SPEAKER_02 5:06

Yes, I have my own hounds.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Yeah, so how long after running hounds for the first time with that guy, did you like, you know what, I'm getting my own hounds and get my own skin of the game?

SPEAKER_02 5:16

It wasn't until about six years after because I ran with two other guys and I really learned how to read the tracker and read the dog. So I took a a good amount of time to learn how to run dogs before I actually went and got my own.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Okay, yeah, well that's that's smart. So you could hit the ground running, I guess you could say, with yours. Oh yeah. Uh what breeds did you you end up going with?

SPEAKER_02 5:41

My first two dogs I bought from a friend of mine in southern Idaho, and they were blue tick um walker crosses, and they were cousins. Yep. And not long after I got them, one of them, the lead dog, she ended up passing away on a hunt. Yeah, so that kind of put a huge pause on me.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

And I took a year off, and then I I started looking at the hound pages, and I found me a little red bone puppy. And she turned out fantastic. Her name is Ruby. You'll see her on my page. I run her a lot.

From Bears To Lions And Bobcats

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Yeah, so you well, besides bears, you also run Mountain Lion. Mountain Lions and Bobcat. And Bobcat, right, that's really cool. So tell me about um so you I'm guessing you you were running with these guys from Odaho on the mountain lion. I mean, what uh what was that like going from the bear to then you're you know, after these huge 150-pound cats?

SPEAKER_02 6:42

It was crazy because I was expecting a longer hunt.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

But you just let the dog out, and it's like 15, 20 minutes later, and you have a lion in the tree.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Really?

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Yeah. Wow. In super, super quick. And when I got my own dogs, the first thing I treated was a huge female lion, and she had no teeth.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Okay, really? Wow.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Yeah, she was really old, and she had absolutely no teeth. They were all busted off. Her tiny little front teeth were missing.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

Yep, I tagged that lion.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

That was my first lion with my own dog. Did the um did you ever get find out from like biologists or anything how old she was, roughly?

SPEAKER_02 7:25

I didn't. I did send the teeth and stuff in when they put the tag to the hide and checked her in and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

I n you never hear back from that.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

I I haven't really checked. Well, it sounds like it kind of put her out of her misery because I mean imagine she had a hard time uh eating and being able to get a big thing.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Oh yeah, I bet she did too.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

That's the thing. I mean, people see these beautiful cats. I mean, but they like anything, they they need to be managed. And especially that one was a perfect one to take because she was old and it was, you know, it was time.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

Oh yeah, yeah. She wouldn't have made it through the winter with no teeth like that.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

No, I I wouldn't say. Um, so yeah, that's really cool. So then you, you know, you got into doing the hounds thing after Bobcat, lion, and bear. I'm sure you're busy doing that. What are the seasons and stuff like there in Idaho for them?

SPEAKER_02 8:17

We have a spring bear. Um, we run off bait. I like to do that because you know exactly what you're running the dogs on. You're not dumping them on moose or whatever. I don't like to call the dogs off the top of the box.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

I like to put the bait down, keep my barrel filled, have a good time. My kids help me run my bait. They have been for a long, long time. Even before I met that houndsman from Maine. My kids as little kids were helping me stuff barrels and pack bait out into the wood and checking cameras.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Yeah, yeah, that's great. Just getting the mode in it, and you know, it's it's it's fun too, really.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

Yeah, that was a fantastic fun time. So many good memories.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Yeah, yeah. And then uh I see too, so your kids have been to uh bear and lion trees as well.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Yeah, what an experience. Yeah, yeah, it'd be so cool. I know, um, yeah, it's but I've never done it with lion, but with the bears just getting in there and seeing them up in a tree, it's just uh it's it's a neat way to see the animals.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Yeah, you get to identify it, look at the sex, see if there's anything wrong with it. We had a bear on our bait this spring, and she actually came out of her den while we were setting the bait up, and she had a huge scar on her side, like a huge open wound.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Really?

SPEAKER_02 9:36

We couldn't really tell because she was coming into the bait at night and it looked like a huge scar.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

So she finally came in during the daytime and we saw that it was a huge wound. We tend to name the bears, we named her bear niece.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Yeah, so we saw her in the spring and we treated her. No, we didn't treat her in the spring, but we did treat her in the fall, and her wound had healed.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

But we were talking to a trapper, and he's thinking that wolves got in her den and killed her cub and tore her open. Really?

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Yeah. Jeez. So, yeah, okay. So, how is that running hounds in Idaho with wolves? What's the wolf situation there?

SPEAKER_02 10:18

We have had wolves come in on the bear bait. We did see one this fall. If we do see wolf tracks in the road, in the snow, stuff like that, we just relocate. You make friends with other houndsmen. We've got a kid that we're teaching how to run hounds, and he's got bait set in another area. So sometimes we'll run our bait, sometimes we'll go run his bait. If our bait doesn't look right, or if the wolves have been in, we'll just ditch it and go to his.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Okay. Yeah. Cause I mean, the wolves, yeah, I've heard that I've it's terrible. You know, they do hunt down hounds and stuff purposely, just you know, territorial, I guess, or Yeah. Yeah. Uh yeah, it's awful. I I'm not a big fan of them. Um it's Idaho though, you you guys have quite a bounty on wolves, do you?

SPEAKER_02 11:12

I think it's like a thousand dollars.

Kids, Bait Sites, And Field Ethics

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Yeah, yeah. Okay, that's what I thought I'd heard. Yeah. So do peop many people take advantage of that, or they're just they're they're I'm sure they're very hard and difficult to hunt. I know even the eastern coyotes here are.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

Oh, yeah, they're pretty difficult to hunt. It's not something that you just throw a trap out and drop some scent on the ground, they're gonna be in the trap. No. The wolf hunters around here, they basically prepare for wolf season all your ground. Oh, that much. Yep. Keep an eye on tracks on the ground and where they're coming in and out. It's a lot of work.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

So the Foundation for Wildlife Management is a big group here, and I think they're the ones who pay out for the wolves.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

For every filled tag.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

They're the ones. I didn't know, so it's not a it's not a really government program.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

No, I don't think so. Not quite sure. Oh, okay. Um I don't really have a chance to read up on things. I'm kind of stuck with a lot of kids. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Uh but they are they are a bit of an issue. Like, have you noticed the deer and elk herds declining because of it?

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Um, yes. Elk herds, yeah. Deer herds I think more of the deer problem is an overpopulation in the area. Like the lions are probably killing more deer than the wolves, is what I'm thinking, because we've got a lot of lions behind our property. Like I'm saying seven to plus.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Okay. And they what did they kill? They kill about one deer a week, roughly.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

Yeah, yeah. And the lions that we've got on camera on the back of our property usually have like two kittens with them.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

We had two mothers, one with one kitten and then another with two kittens. So you know for a fact that that was a lot of the deer population going down right there.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Yeah, yeah. Plus the wolves uh uh is it the way the wolves work, like they just kind of go through areas, they cycle through?

SPEAKER_02 13:21

I'm not quite sure because they're completely random. For the whole 21 years that I've lived in Idaho, I have only seen three wolves with the naked eye.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

So it's so brushy here that you can like not use glass.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

Like vinos are completely pointless here, so is a spotting scope. Because all you're gonna see is brush.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

There's no way you're gonna see anything. But I was going all the way to the rocky top of a mountain, and two wolves came running through, and we just saw them take off. There was like a black one and a gray one. And then way before that, when my kids were little, there was um Forest Service slash piles, and there was a wolf behind that, and I think it was going after rabbits.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Oh, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

But that that's not something you see.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Yeah. How how often do you think you'd see uh mountain line without hounds?

SPEAKER_02 14:19

Um in the spring. We saw one walking right down the middle of the road when we were going to go up to go check mushrooms, just go for a drive, look for antlers, things like that. And they they run through the campgrounds where people are camping because if people take little dogs and things like that with them camping.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Oh, jeez.

SPEAKER_02 14:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

So it's like a fast food forum so they can just run through there and grab somebody's chihuahua.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

Away they go, yeah. Jeez.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Yeah, that's something.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

So it's pretty common to see those.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Really? Okay. Huh. That's interesting. Um, so you've got all that on the go, which is very busy. It's a lot. And then also you've got uh, is it Patriot Leather and Fur?

SPEAKER_02 15:07

Yes, Patriot Leather and Fur is my fur business. Um, I started doing my own thing this year. Um I started out with Christmas stockings and everything just kind of blew up.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Yeah, well, you seem really busy with it, like lots of orders.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

Yes, and I also started working for another man, uh J and M. Burrs out of Montana to keep myself completely busy. Yep. So when orders get low, I can fill things for him and keep myself working and busy and keep up with my goals.

Wolves, Predators, And Herd Impacts

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Yeah, well, I mean, there's a there's an art to it, obviously. It's it's it's not just anyone can do it without having to take some serious time to learn the craft and the trade. So, how how did you get going to start? How did you start, I guess, you know, working with the fur and built making what you make?

SPEAKER_02 16:06

So my mother owns a fur business and she taught me, her and her husband taught me how to sew fur. I was having a hard time and I needed a job, and I had a new baby girl, and she needed somebody to help fill orders. So I stepped up and said, Hey, I'm home, I can sew. I went to school for upholstery, so I can sew. I can sew pretty much anything. So they came out, they set up my sewing machine, taught me how to stretch, cut, pattern, make sure seams are right. And I've been doing this for about four years working for her, and this year I decided to do it on my own.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Okay, that's that's that's neat. Um so you're a lot of sewing. So do all furs kind of work the same as you know when you're sewing them? Like, or is a beaver quite different than say a skunk?

SPEAKER_02 17:00

The skin of a skunk is really, really thin. The skin of a beaver is like Kleenex. It's very, very delicate. Um, all furs have a different texture on the back, is like buffalo bear. Those are super, super thick on the back. Cow hide. Um it depends on how thin the leather's been shaved on the back. It's all about keeping your seam straight. Um that's basically it. Patience. A lot of patience.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Yeah, it wouldn't be my thing. Um, so uh what's your what's your favorite fur to work with if you had to pick?

SPEAKER_02 17:44

You have to say fox.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Fox? Okay, yeah. How come?

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Yeah, it turns out so beautifully because of how thick it is.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

How dense it is. Um anything you make out of it just turns out beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Okay, that's that's nice. And is is you said it's quite easy to work with?

SPEAKER_02 18:04

Yes. Yes and no. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Um, yeah, so uh what are you know, you work you guys have a lot of orders come in. What are some of your more common items to make?

SPEAKER_02 18:17

Uh coyote trapper hats. I have a local man who buys a lot of hats and he gives them away to kids at church.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

And I have come up with a an we call it the Idaho special. It's a coon hat with the ratcoon tail. It's a mountain man trapper hat with the coon tail connected on the back.

unknown 18:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:38

And we also do it, he suggested a coyote one too, so now that's our second Idaho special.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Okay, perfect. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

Those are super, super popular.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

So could you describe hats? Oh, and beaver mittens, yep. Yes. Uh yeah, so those hats, like could you describe those hats to people listening, not being able to quite picture what it looks like?

SPEAKER_02 19:01

It is a fur hat um with a flap on the front, and there's flaps that go over your ears that you can either tie onto your chin or tie the flaps on the top of your head. Um I guess you could describe it as a mountain man trepper hat.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Right. And then with real fur, it's I'm sure it's super warm.

SPEAKER_02 19:21

Oh yes, and I put fur on the inside of the flaps. So there's fur up against your face and cotton lining and leather behind the flap, so it's all all really nice.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Yeah, and um, yeah, I've I've seen I've never had I've never had an actual fur one on, but just like, you know, the the other ones there, the what do you synthetic fur, I guess. Those have been really nice and warm. Because you don't I mean, I don't know anyone around that makes those. And uh I think it's great that you're doing it and just kind of uh bringing fur back because it's such a great and renewable resource.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

Oh yeah. It's eco-friendly too. Like there's no burning plastics. There's at the end of the day when your hat needs to retire, you can really retire it. You can donate it to a dog chew. You can go bury it in the yard and it's not going to affect anything.

unknown 20:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

Very eco-friendly.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Well, I don't think people realize uh the synthetic stuff. I mean, it's not great for the environment how those are made. They're not made yeah, as clean or as eco eco as fur.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Yes. Yes. A lot of chemicals.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Yeah. And uh I mean with fur too, people don't realize just because we don't eat everything that's trapped, I mean, I like to do a bit of trapping myself, it they've got to be managed. I mean, the prices of fur around here have gone way down as they have everywhere in North America, and you're seeing a pile of uh nuisance beaver dams pop up everywhere in my area.

Launching Patriot Leather And Fur

SPEAKER_02 20:57

Oh, yeah, we saw one the other day. Um, the thing about trapping is people don't realize there's a lot of anti-people. Don't trap, don't do this, you're killing innocent animals. If you take trapping away from the people, then the government's gonna step in and hire a a federal federally funded trapper to take care of what the people don't want the other people to do.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

Yeah, yeah, that's exactly so at the end of the day, there's gonna be trapping whether you like it or not.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Yes. Yes, because that's the most effective way to manage, you know, the fur bears. Like said Beaver's a great example of them putting dams up everywhere and wrecking roads and things like that. Yeah, if we don't trap them, the government's gonna hire a contractor to do it. Regardless.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Yeah, and and like a coyote can have two litters a year.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

That could be up to six puppies. Uh two dogs with uh six extra dogs. You got eight coyotes all of a sudden? Yeah, they have to be taken care of.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Yeah, and then I you post some of it and uh I mean it it it amazes me that people have enough free time in their day to inner hate their life enough, I think it seems, to be able to take time out of their day and message you. You you get a hell a lot of hate mail.

SPEAKER_02 22:20

I do, but I don't take it the wrong way.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

No.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Like I'm not mean to 'em. I'm gonna be nice. I'm gonna try to put the nicest comment out there as I possibly can.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Yeah. Turn the other cheek.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Yeah, it doesn't help anything to be mean right back to 'em.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

No, it's it's just people they're just uh they're ignorant, they're just so uneducated on what's going on and why. But is it because the fur thing? Is that why, or the hound hunting, or it could be a combination of the both, or I think it's kind of the both.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Like people don't realize you can eat a bear. They don't realize you can eat a cat. We do. Bear meat is by far my most favorite meat.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

Mm-hmm. Yes, it's great. I've never had cat. I've heard it's good. I've heard of people uh that have eaten bobcat too and actually really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

I haven't eaten bobcat, but I have heard that too. I don't know that I'm I don't know that I could. They don't smell like the greatest.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Yeah, well, what's uh what's wine like?

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Um it's a white meat like a pork. Um the special cut is the loins, just like on any other animal. Um you can cook it up like a roast, you can grind it up into breakfast sausage. That is my favorite way to do it. Our oldest son absolutely loves mountain lion jerky, and I can tell you I know this because I pulled six trays of it out of the smoker and it all disappeared that very day.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Well, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Um, yeah, so uh is it is it lean? Like would there be much fat on those cats?

SPEAKER_02 24:04

No, there's not. Um, and it doesn't depend it doesn't matter if you catch a lion in March or if you catch one in December, still super, super lean.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Okay, yeah, yeah. That's kind of what I figured be almost like uh like a rabbit, I guess. Would it be? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's what I figured saying, like because they're all you know, they're always running and going just like a rabbit, so I thought it would be similar. And the rabbit is white meat as well.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

Um, so with your with your fur and fur making and all that hats, like are you getting orders from just all over?

SPEAKER_02 24:40

I am. Um I get orders from Maine all the way to I've had people in Canada ask me, but I have not sold anything to Canada because I'm kind of iffy on the sh the shipping situation there.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

Right. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

Yeah.

Learning The Craft And Favorite Furs

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Yeah, no, I I could see that. Yeah, there's been there's been some issues. Um, yeah, well, that's great. Do people find it cool and unique when they do come across you? Like, oh, that's cool. You're making, you know, using real fur, which you don't see enough, I find, these days.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

Yes, I do. I get the good people, I get the bad people. I do get a lot of good, good people. A lot of trappers message me and tell me good job and thank you, that they're working hard, they're trapping, and they really appreciate me taking their product and turning it into something beautiful. And I do take trappers' hides, and I will make them into hats and mittens, whatever they request, and send it right back to them, and they really, really appreciate that too.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

Yeah, yeah. So I I saw that you do that. Does that happen often that people from all over the country there do send you some of their prized furs to make into garments?

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Yes. It I get a lot of that for Christmas. I actually did a lot. Um I actually had a federally funded government trapper send me a whole box of fur, and I made him hats and mittens, and he send me a pair of his wife's mittens that I can work on, and that is really, really awesome to see all the fur from the different areas too. Because our coyotes are completely different than like a South Dakota coyote.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

Okay. Yeah. Just uh better fur.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

Oh, yeah. Ours are more yellow, and theirs are more like wolfy and white and way bigger.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

Okay. I was gonna say, do you find that the ones in uh like say if you've ever gotten any from Maine, do you find those are bigger?

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

That part of the country? Yeah. Yep. What fur would you most commonly work with?

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Uh beaver and coyote and coon. Those are the three most common that I use.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

Yeah, and then how how do you how would you compare, say, a set of beaver mittens to a pair of store-bought synthetic ones when it comes to actually being out in cold climates?

SPEAKER_02 27:00

Um, I feel like they're warmer. Um, they're most definitely more bulkier, um, easier to clean because all you have to do is just pick up some snow and rub it all over your mitten.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Right. Yeah. Yeah. It dries too.

SPEAKER_02 27:16

But they're fantastic for snowmobiling or hiking, checking your traps. I have a lot of requests for muffs.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:23

It snaps around your waist and you just stick your hand in it. That way people don't have to wear mittens. A lot of trappers are asking for muffs here lately.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Uh do you find a lot more people are coming across your page and just, you know, word of mouth and finding like, oh, she actually does stuff with furs, and one trapper tells another trapper, and then you've got a lot more business that way.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

Oh, yes, and the new followers, I have noticed that they have been tagging me and posts on other trappers' forums and stuff like that and groups. So I get tons and tons more group invites, and I try to accept them all because they followed my page. I should follow them, right? It's the right thing to do. So I am finding a lot of people just word of mouth just spreading.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

Yeah, that's great. And too, I mean, so people send you stuff to work on and all that, but how uh easy is it for you to source in your area uh furs there to work with?

SPEAKER_02 28:30

So I found a trapper that traps and tans in on his own property, and I buy harvested fur, uh, tagged harvested legal fur from him. So most of my items from my fur that I buy are trapped, tanned, and sewn here in Idaho. So it's a hundred percent Idaho product.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

That's awesome. Yeah, that's that's great. And I'm sure people from there even appreciate just seeing that and knowing that they're supporting something that came completely from your area, the area that they live in.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

I've I sold a lot of mittens like the week before Christmas, and they all went to Idaho.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Trapper Hats, Mittens, And Design

SPEAKER_02 29:18

Yeah, it was like word of mouth hit that my trapper tanned and everything was made here in Idaho, and they're like, we want mittens, I want mittens for my son, I want mittens for my daughter, my wife, my grandma. I was heavy in the mittens the week before Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

Yeah, of course. Well, no one wants to be left out when you know someone gets a pair for Christmas. Like, oh, I'd like set it up.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Yep. It goes from there. So uh where do you see the business going and then say, you know, the next five years, you just keep growing and taking more and more?

SPEAKER_02 29:50

And I had an online store and I got shut down and then I got banned from PayPal.

SPEAKER_00 29:57

Really?

SPEAKER_02 29:59

Yeah. So that's where I'm at right now. I'm just taking orders on my Facebook page through Messenger, but this new coming year, I want to try and get us an online store up and going again. I just want to keep some things on my store. I want to keep working for my new boss there in Montana. I just want to have a slow and steady pace because I want to enjoy my girls, I want to go run my dogs. I don't want to be chained to my sewing machine, but I I do love sewing.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 30:34

I do enjoy making hats. I made two hats in between our conversation. You tell me in a couple hours I went in there and made two hats.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Oh, really? You can do it that quickly.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Wow. I thought it it took well. I mean, you're an expert at it. I'm sure it's that helped a lot. I mean, if it was me doing it, it'd probably be in a couple days. But um, so yeah, what do you what do you use for the sewing machines? I mean, do you have you must have it's not like your run-of-the-mill one that you can just pick up at any Walmart, I'm guessing.

SPEAKER_02 31:05

No, my sewing machine is a hundred-year-old Osan.

SPEAKER_00 31:09

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

Uh fur sewing machine, and it's got two geared wheels, and you stick the fur in between the two geared gears, and the sewing machine runs the needle through the edge of the leather. You have the fur facing the hair side in, and you're basically stitching the hide back together.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 31:34

That way, when you lay it flat, your seam is flat and it looks like it was never cut. Yep, that's the machine that I use. And this week I actually bought a brand new Texo that should be here the second week of January.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

So that'll that'll be your primary one?

SPEAKER_02 31:54

Yes. I'm gonna slowly step away from the hundred-year-old one because it's kind of a headache.

unknown 32:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

I go through a lot of needles.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

Yeah. So it's a hundred years old, really, though. And it's it's still being used. You've still been making all of your garments and stuff thus far with it.

SPEAKER_02 32:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:13

Wow. Yes. That's uh yeah, that's interesting. I imagine it's it's quite rugged looking.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

It just looks like uh a black metal box.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Oh, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:27

Yeah. It's nothing fancy. It's not it's nothing pretty to look at.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

This this new one will be quite the uh quite the Cadillac compared to it.

SPEAKER_02 32:37

Yeah, it'll be quite bulky and it'll I hope it works out good.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, it sounds like you're gonna be able to make it work regardless, I'm sure. Um, Amber, if there's anything else uh that you think we didn't cover that you'd like to say?

SPEAKER_02 32:53

Um, not that I can think of.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Um best place to find you?

Fur As Renewable, Not Plastic

SPEAKER_02 32:59

The best place to find me is on my Facebook page, Amber Rose Farrell. Um I'm on Instagram. I don't check that very often, so probably don't go there. Um I answer messages whether they hit the other folder or spam folder. I check religiously because a lot of trappers that aren't followers end up in there. I love my trappers, I love my houndsmen, um, I love any type of hunters. If you've got Hyde, you want something made, um contact me. I'd love to make something for you. Something that you caught. Um other than that, I I can't think of anything else.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Well, Amber, we we had a little rough go with the phone with the uh the phones there in the reception, but you know, we made it work. And uh I want to really uh thank you for taking your time out of the busy day that you do have. Uh I know you're hunting lines earlier and uh sewing, you know, doing some sewing today, making the hats. Uh but thank you for coming on the podcast. This has been really interesting. And uh for those that aren't already following you, I think they would quite enjoy it because I know I do just seeing all the hand stuff and then the different things that you've sewn up, the hats and the mittens and the little uh toys, everything. It's been uh it's it's it's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Great. Yeah, thanks any time. So if you're still listening and you made it this far, uh rating or review on Apple and Spotify would be much uh appreciated from you.