Mink----Male/female ratio

[NittanyLion]

Most minkers I've talked to claim to catch from 75 to a little over 90 % male mink. My % is usually 67-70% however, this year it is close to 80%. Why is this, in most other furbears I've trapped over the years the ratio would be much closer to 50-60% males.

[Steve Gappa]

I think its because the males travel more. Unless you are setting pretty much right on the females- you know what I mean ..... you aren't going to catch them. But on males- if you set up good habitat- they are going to be by sooner or later.

Whereas with canines, coon, etc- the males/females travel/feed about the same patterns. Of the furbearers I trap- only mink have different areas, different patterns to any great extent.

Having said that- winter coon is close to 100% males. I trapped 20 some coon last couple of days and 1 was a female- and a big female. Why the male ratio? Like mink- I'm setting up key points- not habitat but points I know attract wandering coon- and the males simply travel farther.

The warm spell for coon means less mink though- I spiked good numbers during that 10 below spell- now that its melting- numbers down.

[dj88ryr]

I experienced about 80% males this year as well, take out the one night I got lucky and hit a family unit, the male % would be a little higher.

[Rick]

100% males. I'm THE MAN eh Mr. Lion?

Season's catch....4 mink.....I know, I suck.....I love you mink trappers.

Rick.

[psb1011]

Male minks for me=near 80%

[Gerald Schmitt]

Hey Nittany, my season collections of mink would consistently run 2/3 male and 1/3 female. At least within a few percentage points either way. Daily runs would be different, some days I would have almost all males other times mostly females and juvenile males. It seems that it would be more of an even mix earlier in the season and then trend towards more males as the season progressed.

Of course, I've never been smart enough to keep female mink out of my sets, I ran into another trapper once who laughed at my bait (bullhead heads), and told me "lure X" that he used only attracts male mink. I just told him he was probably right and went on my way. I guess I am just happy to see a mink in my set, male or female

[fishadict]

I have read and heard that males move more/farther. They should then have more exposure to one's traps. I'll try to do a search and see if I can come up with any movement studies. 86% for 2005 so far.

S

[BK]

My % of males verses females is off this year and I don't have it figured out yet. I usually run close to 75-80 % males, and 20-25 % females.
This year I think it's closer to 65% males and 35% females.
The best I can come up with right now is perhaps higher gas prices kept some short term culvert trappers home that would have taken females with a smaller home range? ( I know that's kinda lame but it's my best guess today) LOL
Here's a little more trivia, my first BE efforts caught 3 muskrats to every mink, now it's 2 mink to every muskrat.

[Rick]

Here's a little more trivia, my first BE efforts caught 3 muskrats to every mink, now it's 2 mink to every muskrat.

BK, you mean due to a lower rat population? Or something you did to hone your BE skills?

Rick.

[fishadict]

BK - Is that because you already harv'ed the rats, or because the mink are moving more now?

fa

[bankrunner]

My % of males is 100% over the last 3 years, 20 out of 20. Caught 5 off of one creek (10 feet wide, knee deep) all males. I don't catch alot of mink each year, but I like the males prices any day. The one I caught today was interesting. Yesterday my trap along box culvert was missing, no other traps missing so I began to think I forgot to wire my trap to the concrete block. The answer was waiting today, twisted into a ball of grass, but I checked yesterday and didn't see any drag marks or anything.

[BK]

Guys it's because I don't have the rats to work with plain and simple.
For example,.......... the place I posted about before in the warm weather mink thread I gang set 4 traps in a row,........ the first down stream trap took a mink, the rest sat there good to go. Many years I would have had two rats along with the mink. I've set this place up since like 92' when I first read about the BE set and take about 3 mink a year off this 40 yd. strech,......(35) to date.
Every year the rat catch drops.

[NittanyLion]

To date 73% of my mink are males (I checked the fur shed tonight) I am sure that is the highest percentage of males I ever caught. I noticed, as others have mentioned, that later in the season males really pick up.

I realize they travel further than females but I think there has to be more to it than that. I think females being much smaller are more vulnerable to prey has as much to do with it as the travel bit.

[jim]

Mine usually run twice as many males as females but this year out of 34 caught they were almost 1 to 1 and another guy here said he had more females than males and that was out of a total of 55. Anybody here raise mink, what is the sex ratio in pen raised mink? Jim

[psb1011]

Caught another male today,in a dryland foot trap.

[BK]

Caught 2 BIG males in BE sets today ;D,........ one had ticks between his shoulders yet there were no dark spots when I put him on the board.