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Post by spiderclawz on Dec 16, 2004 11:43:15 GMT -6
More Mink Discussion Please...if youins' don't mind. I'm giving an honest effort to catch my first mink. I've been learning a lot, and I know I have made mistakes. Seems a lot of trappers catch mink without much difficulty. There are other mink threads but I didn't want to steal the thunder, I'll start my own storm. I have this stream that is pretty wide (maybe 20 feet) that I see some mink sign at. I set a conibear on each side of the stream were he is walking the waters edge most of the time on either side. I also set a couple of pocket sets. My elaborate set up failed! He went out around my conibear... see the tracks. He was headed for it where his tracks went previously but about two feet before he got to my conibear, he either hit the water or climbed the brush and sticks and these tracks are where he got back on the "trail". It has been pointed out to me that the mink may be wary of the trigger, so this morning I spread the trigger fingers generously apart in a circular fashion like sullivans conibear triggers. What can I do here? Any suggestions? He avoided my pocket sets... went right by them, but it looks like he broke stride to look it over. I have fresh muskrat meat as bait and some lure. The temps here in PA are into the 20's at night for the past couple of nights, and new tracks will not be seen now as the damp sand at the edge freezes. This has been a problem with my pocket sets getting a little icy and the water level has dropped a couple of inches each night so I keep rebedding my traps. I am not a long liner and only have a couple of streams I'm trapping so I will concentrate heavy here. It is hard to find a spot I'm happy with to set a bottom edge and the water is pretty swift at the spots I like and would trip a conibear off. Any discussion would greatly be appreciated.
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Post by dj88ryr on Dec 16, 2004 13:25:19 GMT -6
Mink do not like anything hitting their faces, straighten the wires and move the trigger to one side, that way the minks head will go through and he will trip it with his shoulders or his body. Also, camoflage the square trap outline, that should take care of the conibear. Keep your pocket sets fresh and going, the cold temps will make him hungry, you also can set blind, where you have pinch points along his path of travel.
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Post by jsevering on Dec 16, 2004 13:55:06 GMT -6
in regard to your trap freezing down in the sand, two small pencil sized sticks on each side of the bottom of your conibear, enough stick to keep the bottom of your trap just out of the sand and in working order...jim
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Post by trappnman on Dec 16, 2004 14:36:40 GMT -6
Your bodygripper set looks fine to me.
I'd set in on ther last trigger setting rather than the first like you have...then take a stick and start the trigger a little...so it is loose....the point it is at right before it fires...
Thats why mink trappers gang set.... you never know what mink are going to do.
Only suggestion I have is to make a few more blind sets
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Post by BK on Dec 16, 2004 14:51:28 GMT -6
You have some good advice here in regard to keeping your trap working,....... DJ and I see things eye to eye about the trigger wires. As far as the outline of the trap ,...........you have more than enough sticks there to break the outline well enough, rember mink don't have a clue as to what a Conibear is. I gotta confess here I'm not shure I'm looking at mink tracks in the pic. About your BE sets, that creek must slow down somewhere, or have a pool to work with.
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Post by FivePointsJohn on Dec 16, 2004 15:18:29 GMT -6
Instead of hunting up sticks the spider that Gappa sell works great for keeping your conibears from freezeing down. John
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Post by lumberjack on Dec 16, 2004 15:30:53 GMT -6
It must be a PA thing or something,I cant begin to tell you how many sets I have made just like the one pictured and never scored.Same deal,nice hole in a trail where the 110 sits,and he goes around,over,beside,everywhere but through the triggers. I started making the same sets with 160s and trip wires and started catching them with way more consistency,and also coon. We all know how small of a hole a mink can fit,but when guarded with a 110,(at least on my line) the mink seems to get turned off. In my opinion,the only thing a 110 is good for is rat holes,bottom edge sets,and channels,and 160s will fit in most of them in a pinch. Try a 160 (trip wired) or foot trap instead and see if that helps.
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Post by woody on Dec 16, 2004 15:49:00 GMT -6
What about flipping the trap over and putting the dog on the bottom that would give him a hole to go thru, and you would still have to raise the trap a little to keep it from freezing down. I set a lot of coni's with the dog down. I am just different I guess One other thing you migh want to try is to bend the wires out at a 45 degree angle that way the mink will think it's a stem or small stick it can push out of the way. just a thought. woody
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Post by NittanyLion on Dec 16, 2004 16:17:16 GMT -6
I too am not sure we are looking at mink tracks. For the past couple of days baited pocket sets have been doing well on my trapline, I use muskrat and mink, I cut the suckers in half, and use a half per set, I also remove the guts.
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Post by spiderclawz on Dec 16, 2004 16:22:39 GMT -6
Wow, that is some great advise. Thanks.
tman, I will be gang setting then. The only reason I used the first setting is I thought the trap had less distance to close thus making it a faster grab.
I can get some close ups of the tracks.. I'm pretty sure though.
woody, turning the trap over is worth a try, but wouldn't the dog be slow to take off with the weight of the trap above it? If you catch them this way then I will certainly try to utilize that method somewhere.
I'll look at the slow water and see if I can get some underwater conis in there.
I have a few of those spider conibear holders, I like them but the legs break off after using them a season, so I have three and two legged ones now.
You guys really encouraged me with the info. thnx.
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lobo
Skinner...
Feet so tuff I never wear boots!
Posts: 49
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Post by lobo on Dec 16, 2004 18:49:24 GMT -6
"sure look like coon tracks to me"
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Post by BK on Dec 16, 2004 18:51:01 GMT -6
Spiderclawz, if we get a little tracking snow here over Christmas I'll set up a few of the ponds here with 120's. If that plan comes together I'll take a few pics of sets and dead mink in them,that should help you. Prehaps I can get someone to post them.
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Post by dj88ryr on Dec 16, 2004 19:36:31 GMT -6
Send them over BK, if you send the rest of the pics you have of Ninny checking mink traps, I will post them too
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Post by spiderclawz on Dec 17, 2004 6:28:18 GMT -6
bk, that would be awesome! Thanks. If you want to email pics to me, a can post them as well. I have a bunch of rat traps out and the rats are thinning, I keep hope a mink will come along.
The tracks are mink tracks! There are times I see tracks that are questionable of squirrel, muskrat, or mink. No coon I ever meet has small feet like that. A minks track has four even come to a sharpe point fingers. In the day light I'll get some pictures of what I am seeing. In some places there is a stampeade of coon - mink - dog(red fox maybe) - deer tracks, it is really neat!
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Post by JLDakota on Dec 17, 2004 8:44:19 GMT -6
The advice you have received gives you several things to consider and I will throw in my 2 cents. First, I have caught lots of mink in sets similar to what you show. Having said that, I have seen many times by tracks in the mud or on snow where a mink was reluctant to go through a 110. I'm not saying they saw the trap as being a trap but something told them it was not in their best interests to take the next step which would put them on a stretcher. I feel they felt "crowded" by the size of the restriction and chose to go around. I personally often attempt to place the trap farther into the maze of sticks or "stuff" vs having the trap being the first thing they encounter. This can mean a couple inches or a foot into the restricted area.
I "camo" my coni's in grass and light brown colors which I feel takes care of the square look and in my mind eliminates identification of the trap as something to be concerned with.
I personally set 95% of my land coni's in the last notch (notch nearest the tip) as it is the most sensitive. I also, as has been mentioned by others, "start" all my triggers. When the mink encounters a restricted area, I feel he slows down and picks his way through. You want the trigger to have a little movement to it -vs- solid. You want it to be a "hair" trigger. 75% of my mink trigger arrangements on land have the wires shaped in the form of a circle as I feel a circle has an "inviting hole" look to it -vs- a couple wires hanging down representing "obstacles" that have to be dealt with.
I would advise that if you are going to use a 110 on land, make sure it has a strong spring. Weak single springs will often result in a less then quick kill and a large "flop" circle. My choice is the BMI mag with the bell trigger. It can be used in the bell configuration or with the longer wires be made into a nice circle. ;D I use them on land for two seasons and then they go to water as the springs weaken some. In the water, any 110 works fine as the water finishes the job for you.
Lastly, your set looks fine. Just have the patience to let it do its job. If the tracks are that of a mink, chances are good you will "connect" with it sooner or later. JL
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Post by BK on Dec 17, 2004 19:18:37 GMT -6
JL,........."having the trap being the first thing they encounter" I confess I wasen't ready to give that part up just yet. How many do you think will comprehend this?
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Post by dj88ryr on Dec 17, 2004 19:37:44 GMT -6
;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by JLDakota on Dec 17, 2004 23:45:37 GMT -6
BK, I think most mink trappers will if they think about it and probably already do it. I included it because the young man wants to catch that first mink bad and his lack of experience with catching them has him "worrying" about lots of things he's heard or read. Hopefully something he reads in the replys to his post on this forum will help him "score" One of the best trail sets for me is when I find a grass tunnel they are using and drop a coni in the middle of it disturbing as little as possible in the process with no attempt to guide. Next mink through is history. This past week I had a 110 in a trail set that I had put in about a month ago finally connect. I knew that in addition to the mink that historically use the trail that the otter were also using the trail. A couple of weeks ago I was checking a set about 10 feet away when an otter knocked the coni down. I heard it go off and watched him launch himself about 6 feet and hit the water like a torpedo. A few minutes later I was rebuilding that set and I heard either the mate or a sibling of the first one coming down the trail jabbering in otter talk. I saw him before he saw me but when he realized I was there instead of stopping he charged and jumped right over me and hit the water. Scared the hell out of both of us and we both screamed like little girls. I have had otter in mink traps with 3 foot of chain try to get me when I got too careless and this one brought flash backs. This time I just happened to be between the otter and where the otter wanted to go. On my knees I was an easy hurdle for him but if he had wanted a piece of me he'd have gotten it cause stuff happened real fast. Any how the reason I bring this 110 setup in this thread is that when I put it in I thought I might have been overdoing the guiding etc. When I had to remake it, I got rid of some of the guiding and "opened it up" some. The following check I had big horse buck in the coni. Don't know if he was just passing through and I got lucky or previously he figured the trail was a little tight for his liking. Bottom line is sometimes when nothing is happening at a set, I try to tweak things some to change my luck and usually it means taking some guiding away. JL
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Post by trappnman on Dec 18, 2004 6:11:45 GMT -6
tweaking sets..once my mink mline is out, its time to fine tune. Maybe its digging a blinf pocket a little deeper, maybe is adding or removing guides....and many yimes its just moving a trap a few feet one way or the other. This maintance is to me a key in keeping a mink line productive....trappnman
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Post by JLDakota on Dec 18, 2004 7:28:03 GMT -6
You are correct Steve, once the line is in, the maintenance (fine tuning and tweaking) continues on most sets til they are pulled. "keeping them productive" as you say is what its all about. JL
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