now, i know theres probaly been tons upon tons of posts about mink and coni's and the best trigger set up and such but i also know alot of people have amazing results with many set ups with coni's. i had mine about 15-20 off of a culvert where the crick gets a bit narrow bwcause of weeds an place it there last night. today i get there and find this. it stopped 5 foot from my 110 i had placed there scooted on the ice a little and turned tail and went up the oppisite of the way it came down. now is there any way to avoid this or is there some that are just going to do this? any suggestions. it was just from last night becasue there wasnt any snow bwfore than. i could have easliy used a foot hold there perfectly but i was afraid that when i checked it (after i get ready from off the bus from school at 3:20) it wouldnt be there because of a twist out or something, am i to worried about it. i have long chains with multple swivels but id rather not set than find out other wise since the waters froze there to drown. just thought id share this.

when I blind set I like to place grass over the trap to break it up a bit

I did that to, i placed grasses over the whole thing and let some drape inside the trap to blend the wires in to. it was already very heavaly blocked so that wasn't nessesarry to do any more than add some blending. oh well it is a learning sport.

It seems odd to me that the mink stopped five feet from your trap. If he was afraid of the trap dont you think he would have gone closer. Maybe its just one of those things, maybe he smelled food at that location.? Most of my mink refusals in dry land trapping the mink refused right at the trap itself. One thing I have found, is if you leave your own foot prints in snow or mud near a set that alot of mink will not go near. Alot of old minkers found this too.

i was very confused to, no tracks of me and it went down the side of the culvert that i did and have made so it didnt have a problem with that.

It could be something unrelated to your trap.A hawk overhead or some other predator may have shown itself and caused the mink to reverse course.It could have smelled something it did not like.With coni's in trail sets they usually avoid right at the trap(as someone stated).Try putting the trap where it has already left tracks.I like my trigger on the bottom for mink,I saw a mink once go through a 110 with the trigger on top,it flattened out and slid right through under the trigger.A little fish oil on both sides of the trap or lure smeared on the grass on both sides is good insurance.

thanks for the replies very much aprreiated. i might have to try dipping some of the ends of grass in the mink lure sounds like it might help some.

Snare that sucker!

I've had them stop 1 foot away from a dark brown 110 on ice camoed in with grass, and other times have had them dive in a black 110 set in a all snow tunnel.

i would LOVE to but i dont have any snares for mink to my dismay. i have tons of awesome spots that im shure would be perfect for a few of em especialy same smaller drain culverts and plenty of blind set, mabry next year i can look into making some but i have a feeling im going to suck at loading, haha.

X2, leave the area as natural as possible

well bugger did it again only this time it stoped just short of the trap and went around it so im going to have to ajust. (i could tell it was fresh because of the snow)
now heres the question today. What are these tracks of( and im not talking about the bird, haha)? they came out of a culvet at this point and crossed the crick and dont know from there but probaly to hunt the hundreds of MICE(i accidentaly put mink) i see everyday walking grass waterway beside it.they cant be if a the size of a dime, this cant be mink tracks but not shure what else. i see them all up and down the crick crossing and running ice and set up one trail that gose in and out of some thick grass right before a 15 foot sectio of cattails. the only thing i could think of would be weasle but didnt think any were around, your thoght, your guys thoughts about this?

Yes, looks like weasel.

you said it came out of a culvert well try setting something in the culvert or just under the culvert lip as like a step down ive got lots of mink and other critters like this or guard bother endes with traps and put bait in the middle of the culvert this also works weel for me hope this helps

That looks pretty small for mink.

i could put a #2 square jaw cs there and it would act like a body grip on them i beilve but what if i got a mink? like i said at the very first post, im not shure if it would still be there when i got back due to drowning conditions, aka the ice. Or could i put in a #1 long stopless, mabey i'd work a bit better under my circumstances? mabey i should make a wealse box or 2 and see how that might work. thanks for the replies.

Squirrel?

Find a place to blend in a foothold.

i guess i will use the #1 stopless and hope i dont have any problems, ill figure it out in a little bit when i head out.

this is what i did to ajust my setup. it is now elevated about 1.5-2" off the ground and as you can see the trigger VERY loosly started on the bottom. now as i see from the pic i should have done a little bit better on about all the sides but i might add some more blending in tomorrow. he has made a definite path right around my coni so i did a little attempt at blocking off where it go's throught the weeds(no definite trail that can be seen,heck it might be going yp the bank for a foot or 2 for all i know) and reapears on the other side. any improvments or anything, id be happy to hear from you guys and or girls. thanks for looking