mink glands

[trappnman]

I'm just shocked to read a thread on another forum, where the concensous is that mink glands spook small mink and females.

I've never, ever seen where this is a problem- usually, the best mink sets are the ones year after year, that produce multiple mink- and I fele that oncve a mink is taken, the set becomes better.

I LOVE to smell mink smell at a set, I feel it makes it better.

but even more so- when men like Gerald and Fossil- 2 men that took a total of over 1700 mink (on separte lines) during the same year, state empahtically that musk does not spook other mink- I listen.

Gland smells are ANIMAL smells-

now- a large male mink that releases all his "stink" MIGHT spook a young male AT THAT PRECISE time, and even then I doubt it- but after an hour or two?

If you are missing mink because you use glands- I suggest you find better locations.

[trappnman]

I think of this, the more puzzled I become. I find that conclusion to be so far off from what I know after 45+ years of mink trapping.

Where did this start from, that mink glands spook females? because of catch ratios? tracks turning 50 feet from the set? lack of mink? I'm curious- how does one come to the conclusion, that mink musk spooks other mink?

How do I "know" that the musk DOESN'T spook mink? hard to tell- but I find that a good set often takes 4-8 mink- and its big males, small females and in between.

Plus- I use mostly blind sets. I know what my ratios are in those sets- and find that my rations (males/females) is exactly the same as in sets lured with mink musk.

One of the best mink baits- is a chunk of minky smelly mink.

Every good mink trapper knows, that you can pile on the mink that first week of season. You have family groups together, and you can take a lot of mink quick.

In fact, my cousin who is a very good mink trapper, argues with me that he can take all the mink off a creek in a week, and any further time is a waste. Hes correct to a degree- and thats that early, this is true. You take the family groups. But your male to female ratio is about the same- and YOY males are darn near if not full sized- so all that mink gland should shut things down, but it only adds to it.

Later in the year, when it gets cold and people say- "I use glands and get 80-90% males".... boys, its because thats whats out there that time of year.

[furman]

/I have tried gland lure many times with out good success the best I have found is fresh bait (fish) this would be early season. Is it to strong to week or something other that just the glands in the lure? When do mink release there musk naturally other than when stressed?

I am always experimenting with lure and mink are the hardest to nail down with a lure.

Bobcat trappers always talk about bobcats and how they are a take or leave it kind of animal I look at mink the same way.

[Drew]

If there not in my sets and I'm using glad lure, I figure i'm way off in my location more than anything. A fresh snow or muddy bank usually tells the story.

I do love getting a whiff of mink when checking muskrat traps.

[mountainman]

I once took 3 mink in something like 18 hours in a blind set. One (a female) was caught within minutes of making the set. The smell of mink musk was very strong at the set after the first catch. One of the repeat catches was a female, the other a yearling male.

[trappnman]

the claim that refusals occur- I wonder how that was arrived at. I trap almost 100% snow, and I seldom see tracks either way.

[furman]

If I went out this season and lure my pockets with straight mink gland lure my catch would be ½ compared to baiting with fresh carp.

Two year ago I caught 60 mink the first week and last year I was short on fish so I decided in my mink pockets I would use just a gland lure and I was very disappointed in the results that I got.

This is early season trapping, I seldom trap mink in the snow.

But I also have hot mink pockets where I catch mutable mink in a short time frame with lots of mink smell at the set. So I don’t know what to say why glands work for some and don’t for others.

Maybe early season late season thing has something to do with it.

[furman]

Maybe they don’t have to commit to a pocket in early season lure with glands, meaning that they can just pass by with whiff and don’t commit to get caught. And with a food lure-bait they have to go in for a closer look.

Maybe looking to get ready for winter in the early season and later they are more into to breeding and territory.

[braveheart]

Most mink glands and lure you can buy is junk.I always if think about it snap the mink over my set good or bad I have not gave it much thought.I talked to Gerald he had unusual open water warm weather and short catch ayear before.With high mink numbers and alot a ambition it makes for a mink line in made in heaven.It is hard to beat a good chunk of bait mink are very gready.

[trappnman]

braveheart- I KNOW Geralds success with baited pockets- BUT I find them to be somewhat unproducted for me here, early. I feel that is becasue we have good strip habitat along most creeks, and I feel a lot of the mink are working away from the water until a good solid freeze/deeper snow..

[k9]

I was looking at that thread too Steve. I don't trap enough mink to dive into that conversation, but come on, none of those guys are going to take on Asa I am guessing.

Interesting talk about the weasel glands though. I just wonder where these guys get enough weasel glands to put out the quantity of lure that they do. They have to be stretching them somehow or are using something else that is just "pseudoweasel". Also interesting comment about the skunk meat working for mink. Don't know how much weight to lend it, but it is interesting. Most over there will not challenge Asa if he is wrong. I am not enough of a minker to do so. I do know I have made repeat catches at the same sets, that smelled minky from the last one, but just don't hit them that hard.

[k9]

By the way, anybody have any weasel glands for sale?

[braveheart]

I seen the other day you can buy imatation weasel gland.Ron Hansen made a mink gland lure it worked but fish 'rat and mink meat work just as well.I alway make my set for mink 18 in. deep unless alot of hard clay or rock.I talked to a guy in International Falls Min. with hardly any open water the first day said the pockets work there but very limited use.Just got the last of 500 traps put back on sliders tody and all this mink talk has me all jacked up.Get some bait and I am ready to roll.

[PAskinner]

Well, I said my peice, but I'm no bigtime minker, either. The only reason I want any lure/bait for mink is to make him take a couple extra steps--mostly trapping small streams here.
If weasel glands work, why not fisher or marten glands?

[trappnman]

Paskinner- I agree o nthel ure/bait- I use little of either- but I don't feel that gland lure spooks mink in the vast majority of cases, if not all cases.

[k9]

Check it out Steve, Asa is now saying that mink and weasel glands are not good attractors for canines.

[trappnman]

makes you bite your tongue, doesn't it?

I still wonder how trappers determine they are spooking mink, or in the wider sense, spooking canines. I use far more mink glands at canine sets- toss one down the hole- then I do for mink.

a little lap dog will piss right after a monster of one on the same bush within seconds. Scared? or doing what comes natural.

[k9]

I am not biting my tongue for long. I am about to write such threads off because the guys that lap that type of info up without ever questioning it deserve that type of info.

It flies in the face of reality, especially where canines are concerned. I wonder what someone like Russ Carman thinks of mink glands in lure formulations? All I have to do is open a bottle of his lure to find out.

The Nelson bait formula is in my opinion inferior, without the addition of mink glands than it is if they are skipped.

It is a good example of how the close mindedness of the observer, or maybe in this case lack of observation, can lead to some pretty skewed conclusions.

[furman]

Trapperman are you saying mink glands are good a lure for mink or simply saying that don’t spook mink.

[trappnman]

Both. I don't know if there is really any mink lure, that isn't made up of glands.

It isn't that I don't think lure/bait attracts mink, I think it most certainly does. But its hard enough keeping coon out of blind sets, in coon weather I just don't use lure/bait at pure mink sets.

its sure hard to pinpoint and prove negatives. I've bene asked "how do I know glands don't spook mink?" Al I can say, is that I see no difference at all in males/females at pure blind sets during the season, vs the % when I spice up the blind sets with lure in cold weather (10 and below). And I do see a bump in using lure/bait in very cold weather.

k9- agreed!