Drier than a popcorn fart!

[Deleted]

What's going on with this board?  I've been hanging around pretty much from conception and have never/seldom seen it this dead so close to trapping!  What, doesn't this board talk/discuss coyotes or mink anymore?

Let me help a little with by trying to start a discussion on mink water.  We've all seen photos of Steve's water and you've seen some of my ditches ans small, slow-water creeks but I have to do a mink study on this river this winter so I thought maybe folks would like to see what one of my local rivers looks like.

I trapped this particular river on a different project back in the mid-2000's and during open water. Here's a few general scouting-type photos of several different bridge locations but as I have already stated, I'll be trapping this river with 4"-10" of ice on it and about 8"-10" more water depth.

[aaroncurtis]

Ice? I forgot that study was this winter. Can I change my previous answers for the blind sets? Lol. After seeing the last forecast for this winter it might be open water. How deep is the water around the grass island in first picture?

[Deleted]

Ah ha! she was heard to cry as she threw her leg on the kitchen table, pegged-legged girls can have fun to!! Ah ha! someone has asked a question on this thread!!! The water if 6"-18" deep around the island but will be somewhat deeper later in the winter. What you can't see in the photo is the far side of the island where there's two "resting spot" set location sandwiching a projection which is in all reality a BE set location. If I was trapping this area during open water I'd be setting all three but I'll be trapping hard water so I'll set the BE. Thre soft mud of the resting spot locations from my experiences serves double duty when froze over because prey will be tucked into the mud in them.

[aaroncurtis]

Is that broken concrete undercut at all? Your water is considerably different than mine but the 2nd pic at the tail end Of that run where you can start to see the slack water starting, it looks deep.....looks like a good spot for minnows/frogs/ etc to seek refuge in. How you gonna mark the x location when you come back this winter?

[Deleted]

No, the concrete chunks are not undercut.

The three photos in my fthread starter were only used as a macro look at one of my rivers to give the readers a snapshot of what my rivers can look like. On a micro scale and to give me visual reference when I have ice and snow is to use photos such as follow. It's not a perfect system as a trapper would have with open watwr BUT I've learned to key on the above waterline structure inorder to locate my BE set locations. I used a simialr reference yearas ago when I trapped for MSU BUT I was trapping open water except the water depth changed every 24hrs by 2.5'-3' when it didn't rain. Basicaly, I used above waterline visual landmarks inorder to locate my set locations AND find my traps since the water in the "river of concern" was muddy..

[braveheart]

I would just pile some rocks up and make a rock pocket for mink and slap and goes for coon on the rocks.Would have to take some sod to bed the trap in.And use a drag looks like all the rock goes way out in the water.

[Deleted]

Those are good ideas if a person trapped during open water. I'm trapping this river when it'll have between 4"-10" of ice.

Back to your thoughts. I know it's difficult to get to definitive trying to detemine set locations with a 2-dimensional photo but since I was there I will give the readers some insight to what I saw. First and foremost I'm a true blind-setter and when I look at any structure or habityat I'm seeing all facets of different sets. The photo of this particular location is a good case-in-point. I know I will NOT be trapping this location before ice-up BUT I could quickly acertain two very specific open-water sets. In the photo the X to your left is a no-brainer blind set, very simple. The X to the right side of the photo is of the same set quality except I would use the term "resting spot" set. So, if I were trapping open water time I'd set those two locations bingo-bango and than I would add a BE at the obvious location. With ice-on, I would only set the one BE and be on my way because it should kill every mink that's hunting wet.

[trappnman]

good discussion- I've got a wedding to attend, but i'll add my thoughts later

[braveheart]

Bud Hall use to have some drain tile and but it up against the bank cover it with mud and leaves and set a trap in front.I still keep my drain pipe around for that special place.He blocked the one end.

[trappnman]

I think the key to blind sets, is in itself very simole- why is the mink there?

And that can be further broke down into 1) moving on through or 2) hunting.

the first case, moving on through, is a little more hit and miss simply because despite common myth, a travelling mink is not as singular as some indicate.

the second case, could also be hit and miss except for 1 thing, and that is that a mink is like any other predator, and he is going to hunt where his chances of success increase. That's the only reason mink concentrate along water in deep winter, because the prey is more abundant and more readily accessable.

so logic tells us is we can combine both the travelling (go through sets) and the hunting aspects of a mink, our chances of success increase.

One thing that always puzzles me, is when you continually read about something as if it was fact, yet your practical experience shows you, that it is not. Why that occurs puzzles me, and I often think its a case of a little knowledge is dangerous category. For example if I've read it once I've read it a 1000 times- find mink tracks in the snow and follow them to the water, set trap where mink enters the water. and while I've caught mink doing so (esp in obvious pinch points of land/water) for every mink I've caught like that I've had a 100 times where the next time a mink visits he enters water at a different point, and a different point the next time, and a different point the next and so on.

But there is some truth in that advice in the broader sense, and that is that a mink IS coming back to that "spot" again and again..... and without fail that spot is a good hunting spot and that's why the mink returns. So that is why following mink tracks is important in gaining knowledge, one just has to not micro manage the tracks.

and once you understand that am ink is in the water for a reason, anticipating what he will do, becomes far easier.

for example- you know that mink are hunting a particular area- the answer lays in either 1) catching him while he is hunting or 2) catching him after he has been successful.

I'll leave it here for now, we will see if any interest in going further, before I do.

[Deleted]

Great reply! As you stated, the simplicity of blind-setting is to understand WHY the mink is there!! Absolutely well expressed!

Inregards to the "track" scenerio. I'm not so sure it's the "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" or they're "micro managing tracks", I sort of look at it as folks get their head deeply involved with the tracks and literally forget or overlook WHY the tracks are there, they're only seeing and thinking tracks. I really don't think the fact of WHY the mink went into the water is able to punch through their thought process at that point of time. They see tracks ending at the water so that becomes "the Spot" to set never thinking beyond to WHY the mink is in the water and WHY the water becomes "the Spot" to set.

I've actually wondered what those folk's thought process is if they trap the same area WITHOUT tracks. Maybe without the tracks to confuse their thoughts of "the Spot" to set (where tracks in snow enter water) their mind would/should go straight to the water as being the "Spot" that in reality, always has been!

and once you understand that am ink is in the water for a reason, anticipating what he will do, becomes far easier.

for example- you know that mink are hunting a particular area- the answer lays in either 1) catching him while he is hunting or 2) catching him after he has been successful.


Hardly a truer statement can be made concerning mink trapping!

[aaroncurtis]

I completely agree with the "see tracks enter water" theory. When I first started mink trapping they frustrated the living hell out of me........I was reading the books, magazines and watching videos and it seemed like all I was doing was chasing tracks......did it for a whole winter and had very little success. Keep in mind I had no experiences in the well in which I could draw from......and in that case too much information was confusing me. Over time I started connecting the dots and it all started to make more sense. I am fortunate to have a lot of water and some good mink ground so I get to see a lot of mink activity and they become quite predictable even though their tracks may not seem predictable at all. There is some great footage on YouTube of mink hunting and its obvious why the hunting mink is easier to catch. They spend a lot of time working over their hunting area and if your setup where their hunting your odds are good you will stretch them out. When watching the video the mink reminded me of someone drawing a continuous curly q because the mink was constantly in and out of every nook and cranny in the hunting ground. The traveling mink won't spend near the amount of time in the kill zone the hunting mink does if that makes any sense.

[trappnman]

They spend a lot of time working over their hunting area

the mink was constantly in and out of every nook and cranny in the hunting ground

I agree-

and the key word is "hunting"

If you know what the mink is primarily feeding on in that watershed, then it should be a simple matter to be where that food source is prevalent.

let me bring up some statements I often hear:

1) I don't want to walk up and down the creek looking for blind sets
2) mink investigate every hole they come to.
3) The best blind set, is a pocket set.

all three are related, so lets look at how they are relevant to blind setting.

1) You shouldn't have to walk up and down a creek looking for blind sets. In blind setting, you want to be where the mink has a reason to be (hunting) as this pin points the general location. If you have a "dead" section of the creek- my definition meaning uniform (sandy or mud) bottoms, shallow water, and little streamside habitat then its not a good blind set area EVEN THOUGH MINK MIGHT BE PASSING THROUGH. You need to be in the prey habitat area.

Why? Because you know the mink is going to mill around, and spend a disproportionate period of time there (sounds similar to coyotes does it not?).

2) yes and no. Mink do not, in any shape or form, investigate every hole they come to, nor even a high % of holes they encounter. In fact, based on following quite a few mink tracks in snow over the years, they actually investigate a very low % of holes they encounter. BUT- give them a hole that did, or does contain food or the possibility of food, and you bet, they will investigate it.

for example, I find 3-4 muskrat bank dens each year, that are at stream level (meaning visible and dry in back) that I damn near salivate at when found. Because I know I got both a rat hotspot (both locals and every nomad that comes along) and will take every mink that comes by. and the reason for the mink is self evident- food.

3) some truth to this, but I contend that in hunting areas, the pocket itself is the attractant- make it well worn, small (rat size)behind grasses etc and the mink will investigate it, because he is in hunting mode. Now take this concept further......as Aaron points out, "They spend a lot of time working over their hunting area and if your setup where their hunting your odds are good you will stretch them out" and thus a ledge, or shelf, or depression also serves the same purpose. I do believe that in areas with mega continuous habitat, or in areas void of good habitat, baited sets will outproduce non baited sets- but at the same time I believe blind sets that were chosen based on using the minks habits while hunting, will be the equal of, and perhaps superior to baited sets.