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Post by frenchman on Apr 19, 2007 9:04:49 GMT -6
What is the best way?
Rich Faler recommends coni-boards Jim Spencer says lath against and slightly elevated bodygripper
I always considered these location as high risk for theft, but this year I am decided to try them.
On my line, they range in width from 6 inches to 15 inches, and from just above water to 4-5 feet high. I assume the lower one are better, and the narrower ones easier to set.
Advice welcome!
ps. I see this as a low-maintenance set that can be set in large numbers with no work and few incidentals.
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Post by coonhangman1 on Apr 19, 2007 9:29:02 GMT -6
Are you referring to a location such as this?:
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Post by frenchman on Apr 19, 2007 11:03:36 GMT -6
awesome - yes! Nice pic, it is my desktop background at work now!
talk about daydreaming!
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Post by thebeav2 on Apr 19, 2007 11:19:19 GMT -6
The best way Is to stay out of the culvert, you can catch the mink way before they get to It and It will be a a lot easier and you will have less theft. Don't make this any harder then it needs to be. I bet there are all kinds of under cut banks under that grass and that's where the mink will be hunting.
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Post by frenchman on Apr 19, 2007 11:27:37 GMT -6
But isn't setting a 110 on each ledge a good set?
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Post by thebeav2 on Apr 19, 2007 11:59:47 GMT -6
I know some have luck setting these ledges but I have had little or no luck. I just seem to get lots of avoidance In exposed body grips set for mink and rats. But you should try some and see how It works for you. Tie plates work pretty good to hold that 110 on the ledge. thebeav.topcities.com/GaryPics/tieplate.jpg
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Post by lumberjack on Apr 19, 2007 12:41:28 GMT -6
When I have to set up concrete with a 110, the easiest way I have found to do it is with sod. One sod dirt up, another with the dirt down, with the spring sandwiched in between, jaws towards the cement. Sod with long grass helps camo the trap and makes a nice tunnel effect.
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K-zoo
Demoman...
Posts: 163
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Post by K-zoo on Apr 19, 2007 14:55:42 GMT -6
Great place for a 110 bottom edge set. The bridges where I've used this set have mud bottoms not cement bottoms. Stake 110 tight to edge of wall on both sides of bridge.
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Post by trappnman on Apr 19, 2007 18:35:53 GMT -6
I'm with the beav- there must be dozs of good blind set locationsa...
but assume there weren't- I've just not had good luck with ledge sets- sure, I've caught mink- but....
one of those mysteries- some take a fair amount of mink at such sets.
also- we have few of those type bridges- most of ours, have 30 yards of rip rap on both sides-all those quaint old bridges are no more.
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Post by mountainman on Apr 19, 2007 20:34:23 GMT -6
I deal with some narrow dry ledges that mink run by setting a rock on the ledge that is both tall and wide enough to block the mink into dropping down to run the waters edge, then set with a foothold.
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Post by SteveCraig on Apr 19, 2007 21:44:16 GMT -6
"What is the best way?"
S-N-A-R-E!!!!!!!!
Simple,Fast. Effective, and best of all, no one can find them to steal them.
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Post by rk660 on Apr 19, 2007 22:45:14 GMT -6
Ive had about the same luck as Beav and Tman, I saw wet mink tracks every morning on an adbutment, and then when he ran right under me when looking off top culvert at my coon set it was too much. I made up what I thought a great little holder on a 3' piece of 1/4 plywood painted grey to match the concrete, even feathered the ends of the plywood.....and nuthun...for a week...took it out and put in a blindset in water with leghold...had him the next day.
I think snaring like Steve Craig said would be the thing to do and would prolly work in right spots. But think I'd take a leghold first.
I seem to catch mink pretty easy in underwater conis, by accedent, and by choice if right spot shows up, a dry coni for mink seems to be a waste of time for me though, blindsets, boxes both
Maybe a 160-220 with a pan.......
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Post by mountainman on Apr 19, 2007 22:51:31 GMT -6
Sounds like a capital idea to me Steve. I wish mink snares were legal here. The voice of reason still gets overridden by hound hunter drivel to a certain extent here in NC. I am going to look into mink snaring since that might get changed and Im not going to wind up in a rocking chair rubbing all the hair off of a cat and wishing I had got to do something anyway. I have been trying to figure out how to come up with an easy inexpensive way to anchor into concrete. I believe I can drill some washers, bend an angle in them so they are easy to tie to and use case hard nails. A hilti gun or something like that would be handy to shoot nails in. I usually keep a 3lb hammer handy. How could a mink snare be stabilized on a ledge?
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Post by markymark on Apr 20, 2007 1:15:53 GMT -6
A snare wired to a brick. 2-3 per ledge. Go out and buy a mirror on a pull out handle, check right from the road.
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Post by mountainman on Apr 20, 2007 7:22:22 GMT -6
I sometimes wear a hardhat and dress like a bridge inspector. A pull out mirror would help on that and there have been lots of blind spots I couldnt see from above. Other days I carried a trash bag and a few cans or sometimes put the hood up when working out of a bucket.
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Post by 17HMR on Apr 20, 2007 7:46:15 GMT -6
You put your hood up round here and every body that comes by stops to see if you need help. LOL
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Post by mountainman on Apr 20, 2007 8:41:24 GMT -6
That is one thing to consider. They sometimes still do here if its the law or out in the more friendly countryside. I only do that in some places and dont stay long. Nobody has ever had time to stop to help me on a mink line except for one time where the state graded a red clay roadbank before it rained. Thanks to those idiots I slid a brand new 87 Dakota down to within inches of the guardrail. I used the tile spade to dig gravel out of the creek and carried sacks of it up to the truck. I was halfway out before a guy stopped to help. I insisted that he let me buy him a 12 pack for pulling me back on the road.
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Post by lumberjack on Apr 20, 2007 14:03:41 GMT -6
How do you explain the hip boots when making it look like your picking cans? I coulda used a hardhat the few times I racked my head off a bridge girder, Them hurt Im more worried about getting hit by a car than loosing a trap near heavy traffic areas. Around here it seems like the heavy traffic areas never get a trap stolen and the desolate places get wiped out. I think most people dont have a clue what you are doing and the ones that do know are to lazy to bother your traps.
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Post by mountainman on Apr 20, 2007 21:35:59 GMT -6
The hardhat did help on bumping my already mostly bald head. Them thangs do hurt! Dodging cars and parking safely are major things. I about got killed wrecking on ice one night and lost a very good truck while running mink lines and working all day setting up machines. Some trappers have been killed crossing the road on or off the lines. I either wore a long London Fog coat over the waders taking it off at the creek or had them rolled down so not to be seen as easily. I sometimes carry a fishing pole and actually fish for trout when I have time. Some things are tougher to hide and arent always seen or recognised by passing motorists anyway or they might think I cleaning up the creek bank along with the roadside. I dont know how much I really did save there but an educated guess would be that I did avoid some problems and just wanted whatever percentage I could get on being covert without losing time with it. A lot of that type of road and creek cleanup gets done by volunteers here. I know what is accepted as normal for people to be doing in any area Im in like fishing, gold panning or arrowhead hunting. Depending on the areas here there are a percentage of people including state road workers that still know what a trapper is and will not hesitate to steal traps or be a good samaritan and call the warden. There are a lot of trap thieving rogues and other types here including sad to say still some trappers that are johnie sneakums. I dont mind seeing the warden, but it does get aggravating to occasionally have them get calls on me just for trapping or having a coyote that apparently looks like a fox to some stupid idiot like happened to me on the mountain a couple seasons back. I got 2 surprise warden visits while I was sick with the flu because of that. (one warden wasnt local. His last name is Fox) Some things like what I deal with arent a problem for other trappers or not as much. I have seen some of the same tactics used by other minkers that run long road lines including interstates. Those type methods of hiding the operation can be effective to varying degrees. I lost enough steel on the right of ways here not to mention other places to have to get smarter with it. I didnt run the roads every year for the 29 years I have trapped in 26 counties here. Even so I would say I have lost around 600-700 traps to thieves. I had an entire 5 mile line stolen where I was working a big river between two SR bridges. Its sometimes tough to load an entire lines worth of gear into a boat close to the road without someone seeing it. That time it cost me traps, catches (I was getting at least 5 mink a day and lot of rats while turning loose around 130 incidental coons on the first run) and a day in court on a minor technicality because of a jealous, greedy trapper that has a history of doing that anywhere in a very large area he thinks is his including any nearby state land and permissions I had for over 20 years. I see his flags from the bridges now while traveling through the area where i had permission. It has been a while now so he thinks its all ok. I have took some time to rejoin the NCTA and get ready to roll again instead of worrying about some old problems, but I dont forget what I learn. Maybe I havent bumped my head on the bridge too many times or got too braindead from plant jobs.
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Post by rk660 on Apr 20, 2007 21:51:11 GMT -6
Once you make the fenceline and blend in next to vertical cover, stand perfectly still when a car goes by, and watch how many actually even look off road while driving, not too many lots of times. I stopped trying to hide while pulling over to take a leak any more, cause no one even looks.
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