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Post by trappnman on Aug 7, 2007 18:47:23 GMT -6
right where the bank meets the water. Any natural placing log, might well have such already- if not, just make a little indentation, about as big as your clenched hand.
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Post by mountainman on Aug 7, 2007 20:14:54 GMT -6
Thats a good tip Trappnman. It never occured to me that mink were using those places. I thought it was old rat sign. The mink feeding places I have set and caught mink seemed to always have some kind of overhead cover. I love to find those piles of shelled out crawdads.
I hope I'm getting the point here and can pick up on those resting locations in different types of terrain where other type blind sets can be scarce. I believe they should have resting places similar to those log locations in the farm country where there arent very many logs, mostly various other kinds of overhead cover. In some places there the mink and rats have trails that are really more like tunnels behind the thick overhanging bushes. A mink still needs to make a stop there somewhere to rest, clean his fur or whatever they do. All this is making me want to forget the summer stuff and go trapping. I've just been out getting permissions on 2.5 miles of some of the best mink, beaver and rat water this area has. Some nice red fox in there too. Had one get into a #4 B&L on a creek intersection point there one time. From a distance I thought it was the reddest beaver I had ever seen.
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Post by trappnman on Aug 8, 2007 6:48:04 GMT -6
I personally think that it can be hard to pinpoint a hunting mink (with blind sets), esp on bare ground. I think its far easier to determine where that mink is going to stop to feed. I also believe, based on the mink observations I've had, that that a travelling mink doesn't travell very darn far before he pauses. Another tip- is I've never watched a wild mink CROSS the stream. While of course they do- I think that when they are travelling a creek, they are travelling on what they consider the best side, and won't cross over unless there is a reason to. So I don't think, that even on a smaller creek, that 1 set will cover both sides. If 1 side is obviously better, then I gang set that side only. If both sides are equal or nearly so, I'll set both.
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Post by mustelameister on Aug 8, 2007 7:28:20 GMT -6
Good point on setting both sides of a stream, Steve. IMO, same goes for any running body of water.
My favorite mink set: #110 BE under overhanging grass on a somewhat vertical bank.
It's got everything you could want: cover from predators, cover from 2-legged critters, current can be blocked upstream to keep drifting/floating debris out of the set, takes a rise/drop in water level with no adjustment, no bait to change, no lure necessary, and quick and easy to set.
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Post by mountainman on Aug 8, 2007 16:55:07 GMT -6
I just can't really keep from looking for good blind sets whenever I'm on the water. Its the same as when someone gets into hunting arrowheads they tend to look at the ground anytime while walking through a field. I really look to set the traveling areas at bridges and culverts, creek/river intersections and often while concentrating on other fur or while heading into a good mink feeding area. Those feeding areas - concentrated mink sign and multiple catch opportunities = much better percentage than hard to set traveling areas.
That is a good point on setting both sides. Sometimes its not easy to tell which side is the best. One summer I saw a mink cross a deep creek where both banks looked equal to me. Apparently they werent to the mink. Later in the winter I set above the place he crossed to and he hit a 120 in a undercut on a narrow sandbar - consistent crossing place and your point proven. To try to determine the best side, or what is the best side for a ways I first look for the terrain features where a mink likes to hunt or run through and sometimes the tracks, then if that isnt conclusive or both banks look the same I keep an eye out for high bank holes and dry trails in caved off banks (good 110 set) that have been used recently enough to not have weathered all that much. If both sides are the same then I set equally on both sides.
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Post by trappnman on Aug 8, 2007 17:20:14 GMT -6
sometimes mt- its the side that stays open more consistently- usually the sunny side.
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Post by mountainman on Aug 8, 2007 17:25:57 GMT -6
Agreed, I get a lot of open water here, but that is what I see when it isn't. I have seen them run the inside wall of some culverts on the thin skim ice. That pointed out some locations I would have skipped otherwise.
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Post by mountainman on Aug 8, 2007 19:47:36 GMT -6
I havent tried the BE sets yet. Those vertical banks and rock edges need a 110. That will be next season. Dry set overhangs w/110s are one of my best sets. 110s do well on the flat open banks of some of the big rivers here. I'm well past the point of wanting quick and easy sets so that is what I'm concentrating on the most. The huge coon population here has about driven me nuts by sometimes wrecking 40% or more good mink sets in a day. There is still no coon season in all areas of WNC to the west of me and rabies is real bad. I added overhead fencing to blind foothold water sets and that helped.
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Post by trappnman on Aug 8, 2007 20:21:52 GMT -6
heres a tip you haven't read elsewhere- on locations that you know have skim ice periodically- place a rebar with a 110 holder on it at that location about 4-6 inches from the bank. That way, you can turn the 110 as you need - in or out. When the ice forms- add a 110 to the set up- without touching the fragile ice.
trying to put it a 110 without this, more times than not screws up the shelf.
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Post by mountainman on Aug 8, 2007 22:47:55 GMT -6
Excellent trappnman. A 110 anywhere along the wall that can be staked including water too deep to build a shelf, Stake to the outside and the rebar is fencing where needed, gang sets a snap, easy adjustment, ledge sets no problem, shelf ice no problem. I LOVE IT !!!!!
Im sure there is a way to set that stake on the concrete floor of a culvert. Maybe weld a piece of flat iron to set a rock on. Unbelievable versatility with 1 rig. I already knew where my first supply order is going. Thanks trappnman.
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Post by Danny Clifton on Aug 11, 2007 19:00:34 GMT -6
What I know about mink trapping can be wrote on a postage stamp with room left over. Never been really been in any good mink areas. Reread what k9 wrote though. Good stuff is mink gland when fooling with cats or coyotes.
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