Mink trappers shortcomings ?

[conibear]

Great post guys. when it come to mink trapping you have to be right on target. I'm getting more into the blind sets for mink and love them used to be a die hard pocket man . I love looking under the overhanging grass along steams It's a whole diffrent world under there.

[fishadict]

Here, most streams have mink. I chose set location as being the most important - or as BK worded it, poor set location as being the biggest shortcoming.

It's easy - put it where he will step and you have him, right?

fa

[trappnman]

I agree 100%. Good post Seldom.

And many, many times- its a matter of a few inches that makes a set a sure thing, or a hit or miss. Last year, Lori had a tuff time learning mink locations. This year, on opening day for us- I tore a major hole in my waders at the knee with 4 creeks to go. So I walked the bank carrying traps, and Lori set all the locations. In those 4 creeks, I know she took at least 15 mink. Thinking and learning paid off.

One thing that often amuses me- is the old saying "follow mink tracks in snow and they will show you where to set". I find that so seldom (no pun indended Mr Seldom...LOL) true, that I seldom bother. What mink tracks in snow show you- is how eractic mink are on land. They very seldom take the same path twice. But what the tracks do show you- is what areas they take to the water.

In water- and they are in water for 1 reason only in my opinion- they are hunting, moving, travelling and can be predicted.....trappnman

[NEPISIGUIT]

Is there much activity by mink in tidal marshes?on average are they worthwhile setting for mink on?

[dj88ryr]

Back in my early years I trapped a lot of south jersey, all tidal creeks, did gangbusters on rats, and some mink, so why not you will most likely catch them in your rats sets anyways.

[fishadict]

Steve - On the water in streams that don't jump around they are predictable. However, on streams that jump (flood) I have a lot to learn. Next year, I plan to practice with high pockets or BE - or be out of luck when high water hits. Are any of your streams jumpy? How do you react to that?

fa

[BK]

;D

[NEPISIGUIT]

Need to learn how their travel patterns change and whether their food sources change from fall to late winter and where to set in large beaver flowages that i have in my area.

[NEPISIGUIT]

A real shortcomming this year was where i placed my boxes with body grippers. Too much in the open. On one stream out of four mink caught i had three partially eaten by birds of prey, one beyond recovery. The fourth was well caught but when taken from the box i noticed that it had been chewed by mice or shrews and a fair amount of hair was shortened in the middle of the back.
not too profitable. Lessons learned- use only traps that kill quickly so the animal can not escape the box. Pick better locations. Check more often.

[NittanyLion]

If you know mink, you will know location. If you know location, you will know mink. Like OldMink stated, longliners should go up and down the stream a ways to find a better location, problem is, if one does that at every location he will not be able to cover as much territory because he is now spending more time at one location. A trade off may have to occur, a good minker might be able to improvise closer to the road and cover more ground. This may enable the trapper to harvest more mink. When I retire and have more time to spend on the trapline I plan to investigate and explore my locations more. As it is now, I try to stay close to my pull off so I can cover more ground, I do have some locations where I am wearing the tread off my waders but for the most part I try to stay close to the road. To me, a good location has a good food source, and good cover. There is a fairly large mountain in the opposite direction I run my line, I go across that mountain several times a year, I do not think it has the qualities I look for in a location. Maybe I am spoiled with my farmland trapping, I do have a number of locations in a wooded area but they for sure would not be classified mountains. My farmland locations have abundant food supplies and good cover. The streams I am trapping would be considered slow moving (except when we get 3 or 4 inches of rain in a night). This type of habitat is also good for muskrats and coon.

[BK]

;)Do you feel this holds true above or below the water,....... or both?

[trappnman]

interesting NL....

I probably do more walking than most for 2 reasons. 1) to get off public right of way 2) its where the better locations are for the most past. I set traps under 5-6 bridges- all the rest of my sets are from a short to a several block long walk.

I used to set up from the bridge on. But over the years- with exceptions- the bridges didn't begin to pay off as well as the interior sections.

So- I've eliminated the lesser locations, usually setting up on a piece of prime habitat that nets me rats and mink. and I don't mind the walk.

Now- if I would have eliminated the best locations, and just continued setting up the briedge sts- would my catch remain the same?

I'm convinced that it would not.

I have several locations that I trapped for years and considered poor mink areas. Eventually, I explored the streams, and found locations back in (Im not talking mile,s but a block or 2) where the catch increased to the point it was now a GOOD location.

changing 500 feet can be a big difference.

so...interesting. Don't really know the asnwer. If all habitat equal- that would be different- but here- habitat goes from grasses covered banks to bare short pasture, dee pholes to inches deep. All limestone creeks, lots of clay. On the same farm. Which part of the stream you pick, makes a difference.

[NittanyLion]

Adapt, adapt is a key word here. The locations I set up where I am parking the truck and jumping out produce mink, the locations where I am wearing the tread off my waders produce mink. I guess I've learned over the years the bridge locations that produce and the one's that don't. I take a long way to say things sometimes and this is a classic example now. When I can devote much more time to a trapline (2007-08 season) I want to check those streams where I am now nailing the mink at the bridge. Would I catch more if I went up and downstream? Hell for all I know I might catch less, then again I might increase my catch. Every year I feel I learn more, and every year things happen that I can't figure out. I have one location on my trapline that has produced a mink or two every single year that I targeted mink (about 15 years). That is, until this past season. At this location I used to make 4 sets, and the 4 sets were basically the same every year. I recall the first 4 years I set this location up I caught one mink at each location, that is, 4 mink in 4 years. Over the past 4 or 5 years all the mink that were caught at this location were caught at the same spot. This year when I set that location up there was a white tail deer carcass on the ground close by to where I made the pocket set. This was a case where I guess I did not adapt because my set went untouched the two weeks I had it there. I surmise that the mink traveling that stream may have been drawn to the carcass and avoided my sets. I did not make any dry sets and perhaps that was my downfall. I am sure other critters were feeding on the carcass but perhaps the mink were checking it out too. At this location I had tunnel vision this past year and it cost me.

[BK]

For years I caught mink in underwater sets,.....feeder streams, muskrat and beaver runs and dens and so on.
I was never able to capitalize on their underwater travels until I read Ken Smythe's book.