For those who have used a few different mink lures, which brand do you like best? I'm thinking of adding a new one to my line to try this year as I'm always trying learn something new. I have used all of Lenon's, High Quality Brand, and a couple others. What do you like best?

~ADC~

What do you like best?

Lenon's, LOL! Ace

Fresh Fish !

ADC how have lures treated ya on mink ?? i myself never use it anymore ... used to ... when i was a kid id always have a few bottles to try every season .... have weaned myself from it .... im sure i shouldnt post this as im SURE a load of people are gonna flip out and attack me ... lmao .... but i believe that a musky mink smellin lure tends to shy away females and young bucks for the most part ... and before yall go off the deep end ... lol ... i have talked to quite a few BIG number mink guys that feel the same way .... anyhow ... just curious on what ya think Jayme

I also have not used lure for mink for years now.But then again I mostly use blind sets as well for mink.

Gary writes...
but i believe that a musky mink smellin lure tends to shy away females and young bucks for the most part

I agree 100%. An effective mink lure must be based on something other than loud smelling mink musk. Everytime i've seen a lure makers add over the years stating their lure was the "minkiest smelling lure available" I knew they were not experienced mink trappers and making lures off the top of their heads rather than from experience and testing.
From my experience and testing over the years, a well formulated mink lure used correctly can add 30% to one's harvest over non-lured sets. Ace

To me Lenons Mink Super Range Super All Call is like Ameican Express when I trap late season mink, "Don't leave home without it!"

That being said, I use it only at pocket type sets with fresh fish or better yet fresh muskrat! I try to keep my sets 50/50 pockets and blind sets.

Last week of the season last year with 18+ inches of snow I got 3 Big buck mink out of 15 sets in 7 Days. Two of these ere taken in lured pocket sets, the other in a blind trail set.

(I am no big # mink trapper just FYI, these are just my personal experiences,)

I'm with Gary on this one too. It seems like you will attract more coon to a set then mink. Fresh fish and the appeal of a newly dug hole is enough to investigate for the mink. I have just had problems with coon getting to the set before the mink maybe. I suppose I haven't had enough trial and error as well, but from my experiences no lure has produced a lot more mink than lured sets.

I use asa's stuff and will never stray!!!

The mink I catch will come mostly from blind sets...I am targeting nothing but mink this fall and winter!!!

Do you believe a mink set gets better after making a catch (I’m mainly talking about pockets here)?

just to add my .02..I have done well with muskrat musk also..Asa has a muskrat lure..taken alot of mink with it also

Actually Gerald says for Mink trapping I use primarily bait and use very little lure ! He does comment that he has mixed Mink Gland lure in Proylene Glycol and dumped it over his 5 gal. pail of bait in cold weather.

As you know I use several different type sets... IMO people who only use blind sets are missing as many mink as people who only use pockets... so I mix it up and do some of each.

Two sets in the past make me keep lure a part of my arsenal...

One time there was pool of water with a metal tube exteding out into it like 6 feet. The tube was rusty, galvinized stuff about 6" in diameter. The tubes end was in 2 foot of water and about 3/4 of it was under water. (The banks all around were very flat with no funneling points and no place for a pocket.) I'd seen a mink on the ice there last year so, rigged a 110 to a pole and put it over the tubes end, then dipped a small wad of grass in lure and poked it down through the top of the tube where a small hole was rusted. I then stood back and laughed cause it looked so stupid. lol The next day Mr.Buck Mink was waiting in that 110. No saying for sure the lure made go there but I think it did.

The second was a pocket set I made one morning with just some mink lure. It snowed all afternoon, like 4-6" but quit shortly after dark. When I checked the trap the next day you could clearly see where the mink was traveling in the snow on the high bank and went just a little past the pocket before turning and diving straight down the bank into the pocket. There was no way he could see the pocket, he had to smell something. Unless of course he was just happended to be going to turn around and go back down there on his own.

Don't know for sure in either case but I don't think it hurts my chances of a big buck so I'll keep using it sometimes. If it scares off the females and they are left to breed, I don't care about that either I guess. I know I have caught females in lured pockets lots of times.

~ADC~

Silly rabbit, fish isn't lure.

Silly rabbit, fish isn't lure.

Dont tell the Mink !

Right on info, Just the way i see it also

cool .... thanx for the response ...was just curious ... ya know me ...always askin questions !! lol .... i spose i have just gotten used to blind settin .... and to me there is no better set for mink in my book ...as long as ya know where to set .... its all about location .... i had caught mink when i was younger with lure but seen on many occasions where mink would approach a set and stop....turn around and leave ... pace back and forth at a distance from the set .... approach the set stop ...pace a bit and then veer off ... etc ....etc ..... maybe it was the lures i was usin ... maybe it wasnt ... i dunno .... but like i said i weaned myself off the lure .... granted ... i will punch in multi-species pockets and dirtholes .... but rely mainly on blind sets ... like i said ... location is key ... findin an area where ya can force that mink over ya trap and he is gonna be there waitin for ya when it comes back thru

No doubt, nearly triple the catch percentage in a blind set compared to pocket sets for me

I want to clarify what I said in an above posting. Some mink musk in a mink lure can be an asset, it when one adds too much that it many times scares off females and young males. Also, too much mink musk overpowers other great mink calling ingredients that might be in the formulation such as muskrat and weasel musk. Some moderate amount of mink musk added to ones bait will enhance that bait in my opinion. Ace

Dont worry i already read it LOL

As was stated, mink release their musk as a fear response. Not too many mink want to get close to where a fellow mink may have been killed. The lure I developed utilizes weasel glands as a base. Mink will not tolerate a weasel in the vacinity and will readily investigate where a weasel has been. Very similar to an otters response to a mink in its territory.

Good mink lure formula Dave! Weasel musk has been one of the secrets to success of Lenon mink lure formulas for about 83 years now. Much better and more effective than loud mink odors. Ace

Thats a great post, that never crossed my mind. But it defently makes sense. Great post Dave!

I used mink lure once last year. I had a 110 in a trail and had a lathe stabilizing it, so I poured a little mink lure on the top of that. After a few days of nothing, one afternoon the lathe wasn't sticking up anymore so I figured I had a mink. Only to find a snapped 110 and lathe about 10 feet from the set location. I noticed the lathe was all bitten up where the lure was. It looked like a fox pulled it out and starting chewing on the lathe like a chew toy.
I think I'm gonna put a dirthole there this year.

I like rat glands.

never been a fan of mink musk , a faint odor of it is good but a strong smell of it , i've always believed spooked alot of mink . and when i say a faint odor of it , i mean faint.

want to catch coon , they love mink musk.

fresh rat glands are good, better if ever so slightly tainted.

weasel musk is a killer on them , straight or mixed with other stuff.

mink urine late in season has done well for me .

crawfish oil is a real good lure for mink .

matrix lures , i spent a lot of years working on a female in heat mink matrix lure . it has no musk , just reproductive tracts and urine bladders from late season female mink .

worked great, only problem is getting enough female mink in heat parts to make mass quanitys . going to look into having a chemist synthetize it and see how that turns out .

another lure that has worked well for me is made from weasel musk, slightly tainted rat glands, crawfish oil and several other things . its a food/curiosity smell . that same lure only made with mink musk instead of weasel musk did not work well on mink but is a good canine and coon lure .

as far as store bought lures, lenons come first to my mind , years ago L.A. smith's adirondack animal lures made a mink lure i beleive was called adirondack special #15 and it was good stuff. i've caught some on blackies mink lure and j.r.& sons mink lure , and i've used v.e. tingleys black magic mink lure with some results.

i mostly use fresh fish , muskrat meat for bait and mink urine late season.

mark

Thanks for the replies thus far, they are very enlightning... however lol, I'm still going to use a little mink lure in some sets... SO... besides Lenon's which I know is good but I already have, I'd like to try a new one or two. I'm leaving for Goshen in the morning... any reccomendations on a BRAND NAME mink lure to try?

~ADC~

Asa, while I was trapping in Alaska in sub freezing temps I used small cubbies baited with a chunk of fish (sometimes), and a tiny smear of pure ground mink glands in the back of the cubbie. My idea was to EXCLUDE females and just target mature males. Worked like a charm! 90% male catch for the entire winter. I was only trapping about 4-5 miles of river and took several dozen mink off that short stretch. I felt that by excluding females I could trap all the mink I could catch and not worry about hurting the population for the following winter.

For those that want to try something different that I have had great success with here in Oregon.....fresh skunk meat!! I started using skunk carcasses for otter bait and slayed the mink in my otter sets, so I've started targeting mink with skunk meat for bait.
Chuck

Cavens Terminator

Interesting info Newhouse, thanks! Ace

I have used pure weasel glands ground into a paste to take a number of mink. I have some about 5 years old...works great.

Coming up with numbers of weasel glands can be a chore.

Interesting. I wonder if Gusto or another "skunky" type lure would work instead of chunked skunk.

Man I love this forum!!

Must've cut my learning curve by 30 or more years :~)

In my opinion mink lure is not needed. I have had too many refusals and my confidence is nil when it comes to using lure. I have caught several mink in my time and never had any more success on lure than just using straight out fish in pockets or blind sets. Refusals are not a concern with fish in pockets or good blind sets. I set 70% pockets and 30% blind. If you have the right kind of place, a blind set can't be beat, but finding the right place sometimes is time consuming. Some trappers will make a place for a blind set that will work on occasion by placing logs, rocks etc. Too me its just too time consuming when your settin a lot of sets, and you have a chance of a refusal if not made right. Punching in a pocket is much faster and will work very well.

ky i tend to not agree .... but this has alot to do with the areas i trap here .... many are clay, root ridden, rocky, etc .... would take alot of time to construct pockets if possible at all minus dynamite .... i have seen areas where to punch pockets would be a snap and if i trapped in those areas i would have more than likely grown up makin more pockets and agree with ya .... but with what i have dealt with growin up in the areas i trap/trapped i learned to adapt and have gotten to be a better than average bind set trapper .... i had this discussion in chat one night with a few people ..... told me many stops there just arent any blind set locations .... most of the stops i hit ill have a blind set put in in lil time at all ... even if i have to construct the "blind" set myself ... a lil bit of movin things around can up the odds of makin a catch ALOT .... the structure in and along waterways are always changin due to weather and water fluctuation and i have yet to see where movin a few things around to force the mink over the trap has caused refusals ..... ill try to take pix this comin season to show ya what i mean ... or sum video footage .... thanx for ya input !!! i love hearin yalls ideas and views !!

KYminker,
My brother took on a partner one year,.. late in the season, They had little bait.
They both made pockets, My brother didnt use bait, the other fellow did.
Two checks, exactly 100 traps each. My brother caught 22 mink, his partner 21.
Do I think it was refusal?,... No.. I think and still belive bait will pull extra mink into the set. My brother beds his traps better, and limits the minks foot possibilities better than most trappers.

Start paying attention: "refusals" often are not refusals at all, ..the mink didnt put its foot on the pan. And often that is the trappers fault.
Check out the picture in the mink post a couple days ago. There is way too much room around the trap in the picture of the blind set

Just a note for the trappers that are not old veteran minkers, the purpose, value and added response of weasel musk in mink lure formulation is known as an 'enrager'. Mink and weasel are natural enemies and when a mink smells the odor of weasel emitting from a pocket he thinks there is a weasel inside, becomes 'enraged' and dives right into a pocket. Anyone who who baits pocket sets for mink will find a noticeable increase in harvest if they use a lure containing weasel musk in its formulation. Ace

Guys I appreciate your objections. I am a very experienced minker and Gary I really appreciate your reply. I understand trapping conditions are different and if I had grown up with the kind of terrain you trap, I am sure I would feel the same way. This is just the way I trap around here and my experiences with mink trapping. As for Salt telling me to pay attention, I beg to differ with ya. I didn't get to trap much last season and only caught 16 mink in three weeks but the season before I caught 102 mink, so I think I do have some experience with mink. As far as learning more about mink trapping, I can always learn and willing. I just simply stated my methods and experiences. There are refusals and that you can't convince me otherwise.lol I have seen it and know what I am talking about. Many things I may not know but I feel very confident in talkin mink trappin with anyone.

Hey, Asa if I used some weasel musk/glands in a pocket where there weren't any weasels around would the mink still be "enraged" or would it turn into a curiosity smell. Just curious.

Netrapper asked...Hey, Asa if I used some weasel musk/glands in a pocket where there weren't any weasels around would the mink still be "enraged" or would it turn into a curiosity smell. Just curious.

Never thought about it before but i'm sure it would still work the same way as the mink would still likely inherently recognize the odor as a natural enemy. I have scores of customers everywhere who use my mink lures containing weasel musk and weasel gland lure at mink sets year after year with added success. Ace

Asa, are you going to Evart to the MTA?

Adc, Great topic! I dont use any mink lure, However I use the mink I catch for bait & allways cut the glands open on them when I use them. Sometimes Just use the fresh glands in my pocket sets. They have a place on my trapline

Have you got all your traps ready for opening day?

Minnow

Freepop asked...
Asa, are you going to Evart to the MTA?

No, I only go to the U.P. conventions at Escanaba and Kinross.

Good post salt hunter. Sure many mink have been taken with blind sets but I would venture to say many more have been taken in baited or lured pockets. When a mink comes through a blind set you have one chance to have its foot find the pan. If your off a little or the mink happens to bounce differently this time through you miss him. When using a bait or lure or both that a mink is readily interested in and you have confined the area in which it can place its feet on the approach to the pocket your odds are greatly increased for a catch. Mink have much better noses than people give them credit for. I see absolutely no advantage to the use of mink musk in any amount in a mink lure. They do not mark their territory with it any more than a skunk does with its musk. Both are in the weasel family and both use it as a defence and fear response. lures are only valuable when they provoke a strong response in the target animal to investigate the odor. Every bottle of "Maquoketa River Lure" that I formulate does just that.

I agree with Dave P! Ace

What are ground and aged mink glands good for?

I think there is a place for mink glands in mink lure formulation so long as its not too strong and overpowering so as to scare off females and timid male mink as well as overpowering milder ingredients in the formulation.
I have experimented with mink glands in canine lure formulation and they are a good attractor to bring fox and coyote up to the set. However, I have seen many times where fox and coyote seemed hesitant to stick their nose into a hole that smelled like mink. I concluded from the number of times this happened (tracks in sand and snow)that some canines are reluctant to take a chance on getting bit on the nose by a mink in the hole. I noted tracks many times attempting to look into the hole from the side and back of a set, way more often than when lures without mink glands were tested. Ace

i agree with ya on that one asa ..... "conditioning" .... those ones that refuse to work those holes have had run ins with mink in their lifetimes and dont want that tender nose bitten ... but there was a reason they were bitten to begin with .... before the nose bites they had gained food either from stealin it from a mink or findin a mink cache ... this post keeps gettin better and better

In my opinion their best aplication is when used in a canine formulation and to a lesser degree for otter. I prefer to use them fresh with a few other enhancing ingredients for coyotes. Mink musk is quite volitale and requires the use of a few other ingredients to hold it down and keep it in the animals scent zone. I would highly value Aces input on the subject

I understand what Gary is saying about how a Coyote's past experiences with a mink might play a roll in if he investigates a set with mink musk or not. But, what about the young Coyote/Fox/Bobcat that has never had a run in with a mink before. Now, any furbearer must smell numerous scents on a daily basis, but I'm sure they do not go around investigating all of those scents. So my question is what would pull a furbearer to a set with mink musk if that furbearere has never had an experience with that scent?

K-9 I got plenty of 3 and 4 year old weseal gland ground up.

That's what I wondered, is how a guy can get any quantity of weasel gland. Is it straight up gland or is anything done to them to stretch them out a bit?

I mean we are atlking some pretty tiny little pods and there just can't be THAT many weasels killed every year can there? I'm guessing some of you guys got an in with some pretty good weasel trappers.

They work good on fox, great on coyotes.
I was messing with bobcats in Washington state, but not enought to say it was as good as castor

k9...

forieghn glands your reccon?

i mean, from over seas to?

Okay, I was curious as I wanted to purchase some lure. I can order from F & T though. It would've been nice to meet you and talk for a bit also.

Netrapper writes...
So my question is what would pull a furbearer to a set with mink musk if that furbearere has never had an experience with that scent?

Canines are curious about scent gland of most all other animal species and recognize them as animal even though they have never had experience with them. For example, a desert animal never smelled castor but it attracts animals attention wherever its placed. Also, I think some canines when smelling mink musk recognize mink as being potentially dangerous to stick their nose in a hole even if they have never had any experience with mink. Just an example of danger recognition, I once had an Airedal that would shiver and shake when it smelled bear poop even though he had never had a confrontation with a bear. Ace

Mac:
How could an Airedale dog be afraid of bear poop when he never ever seen a bear? I believe its inherent in animals nature to recognize possible danger.

Mac also wrote....
I personally think more prospective mink trappers have been caught by mink lure than actual mink. Just my thoughts.

Fox and mink lures were the first two lures offered for sale by my Dad in 1924 and those same mink lures are still being sold today. These were lures developed and used by a master mink trapper in the big money mink trapping era. Dad made most of his living off trapping fox and mink in those times. Scores of trappers order Lenon mink lures year after year, many for 10...20...30...40...and more consecutive years. Like you say, being as respectful as possible, why would anyone order year after year if mink lures had no merit??? Dad figured that good mink lures used correctly would add a 30% increase to one's total harvest over using blind or baited sets. From my years of experience trapping mink I concur with that assertion. Ace

Animals smell fear, we can too if we recognize it.
An example in humans;a new mailman came to my inlaws twice one day, was pleseant, My father-in-law recognized something was wrong, called the sherriff and post office. The fellow was an ATF agent' my fatherinlaw had purchased a gun in Spain, and the sent him the wrong gun it was ment to be a bust.

Ever see a cow or horse turn wild when down wind



The first part may be true,
Lure do work better in the north than in the south,.... something to do with snakes and holes

Thank you for your responses Asa.

i am more open on my thoughts and respect ALL trappers on here .... but when i read certain things i have to question em ... if this is true of canines fearing mink musk for no apparent reason and they refuse sets just on this smell .... with no prior bad incidents ..... what is to say that mink wont do the same with the weasel scent that yall talk bout earlier ?? i REALLY believe an animal has to have a bad incident and assosiate these with a smell before they "realize" that they are connected .... this pretty much falls into the trap-wise critters associating certain things to danger .... this is a vast subject and i may just be stupid ... but ill throw it out there for everyone to read and reflect on .... but keep in mind ... how many times have you seen a yearling animal approach you with no fear ... until a warning sound of the mother has it scampering back ?? after that first encounter that animal will know (from its mother's warnings) that this "smell" is danger and will remember it from then on out ... unless it "learns" otherwise .... all bout conditioning if ya ask me .... and this includes all their senses ... just not smell ..... just my opinion

I can see you point of view Gary, but I can also see Asa's. I have been around animals all my life. And I can tell you that dog's are born to be interested in cat's. That Horses can smell danger, not sure if it's through experience like you mentioned gary.

Maybe young mink learn from their mothers that weasels are the enemy, kind like coyote and fox? Or are the just natural enimies and have the urge to fight?

It's all good stuff. Neither answer is right or wrong but I think are just one more peice of the puzzle.

are dogs born to be interested in cats ?? or when they are pups they are curious by the smell (scent) of the cat and when approaching the source ... the source runs and the chase instinct kicks in ... and the dog learns at a very early age that this is sumthin they can chase ?? and on that note ... how many times have ya been to a farm with an old tom cat and a dog that has learned its lesson many of times that this cat is not to be messed with ... and when it comes upon the smell of the cat the dog will drop its head and tuck its tail ??

Can't argue that!

90% of my mink sets are blind sets.
IF I use bait ,its usually fresh -fresh water clams, some times I also use trout heads & guts that I keep from fishing. I take the clams and smash the shells and place in the freezer in plastic containers. I use a whole clam (shell and all). The shine of the shell helps attack them. Its better than just the clam meat, plus it keeps it from floating away. I place them in cracks in ledges or between rocks that funnel in the mink. I trap mountain streams that are nothing but rocky. I never use lure.

Many times over the years some top Western trappers have sent me some lures to test for them in my locality. Some of those lures were rattlesnake based lures which worked great for those trappers. Coyotes in my locality where there are no rattlesnakes generally avoided these scents like the plague even though they never smelled or saw a rattlesnake or any poisonous snake in this country. Coyotes definitely didn't want to get close to a hole emitting this odor so it seems to me that it is in their inherent nature or something in the make-up of the odor for them recognize potential danger.
Many trappers from specific areas always tell me that dirthole sets don't work well in those localities. Holes in the ground probably represent danger in areas with poisonous snakes and wasp nests made in holes in the ground. To a lesser extent but still noticible to me is the reluctance of fox and coyote in my area to stick their noses in holes emitting the odor of mink musk or weasel musk which are both abundant in this region. Again, I believe they many times inherently associate these animals with being fiesty and agressive and to be cautious of them. I have experimented with many canine lure formulas containing mink musk and/or weasel musk always with the same results, a certain percentage of canines appearing to be wary about stepping right up to the set. Then I would apply the same formula minus the mink or weasel musk and the wary actions would always cease. Whether this displayed caution is inherent in their nature, a learned response or a combination of both I don't know. I don't add either of those musks to any of my lures. Don't get me wrong here, I caught a truckload of canines with the lures containing mink or weasel musk, its just that I received too many near misses by canines trying to look or dig into the hole from the side or back appearing reluctant to square away directly in front of the hole. This also reminds me of a Samoyed I once had, cornered a woodchuck in a crevice in a rock pile and the woodchuck slashed the Samoyed on the nose. That dog would never go near a woodchuck or rockpile again. I used to laugh, everytime we drove past that rock pile the Samoyed would look the other way, she didn't even want to see that place again let alone visit it. Ace

Thats funny Asa, i have a lab/newfie mix and we had a monster blue racer snake come across our yard. well the dog never played with a big snake before, so he went over and started to sniff the snake and it grabbed hold of his nose till the blood poured out. that snake went into a hole, and to this day that dog wont stick his head anywhere near a hole that has snake smell near it. i did laugh my but off he got beat bye a snake, and he weights 140 lbs.

I have been staying out of the mink thread for the most part because I just do not trap many mink. However I spent much of my life raising them and have seen them interact. Some ranch mink are very aggressive and will take on ANYTHING, some are a bit more passive by mink standards, but still have a weasel's bad attitude. Oddly enough, the darker color mink, or those closer to the "wild" coloration, tended to be the more aggressive, while the white mink, or "pearls" were a bit easier to get along with. I always assumed this had to do with the breeding out of certain things while trying to achieve the pelt color.

I will qualify this by saying those responding to this thread have tons more trapped mink under thier belt than I. However I have probably observed more live mink (ranch mink) than many people, not just in pens, but also many times while they are running loose and interacting with dogs, other mink, etc. We had some people let a whole lot of them loose one time, and it was just a flat out free for all mink fight, and was pretty nasty. The A/R types that do this do not do the ranch animals a favor at all.

I have just found them to not be afraid of much of anything. I tend to think that mink musk improves a set as I have trapped a few, and have found repeat catches to be normal. Maybe that speaks to the location, however it also speaks to the fact that mink musk does not act as a repellant.

I also believe that mink/weasel glands are an improvement to a canine bait or set. I do not have much access to weasel glands but would consider them to be an improvement to any set, lure, or bait.

I haven’t seen where canines are spooked from mink glands actually I have had good luck with them.

When I was growing up our family had a mixed dog had had a run in with a woodchuck one day and had his butt kick buy it from that day on he hated chucks with a passion. His one goal in life after that was kill them. No different than training a coon hound and having the dog get into a fight with a coon and it turns them on to hunting them.

On mink glands and trapping mink it’s my experience that fresh fish beats lure hands down. Now on the weasel glands that’s something that I will have to give a try thins coming fall.

I think that everyone has there now point of view on how thing work and if they work you and don’t for others so what, it’s how things work in trapping. One thing that I watch for is when some one says that this lure or urine is junk and there total catch is 2 coon and an opossum. To really know about a lure you have to use more that a oz.

asa this is not an attack on you or anything of the sort ..... im just tryin to pick at ya mind and dig deeper into ya thoughts ..... but .... why in the world would such a bait work so well out west (where there are MANY more venomous snakes) and not work where you are located?? i would think it would have to be sumthin else at work there ..... i have noticed that sum lures and baits work better in different situations and how it is presented ... i have also watched footage of yotes killin and eatin rattlers .... ALSO ... one would think that unless a yote had a bad encounter with a venomous snake that they wouldnt feared of em .... AND ... how can they tell if the snake is a venomous snake and not a harmless one ??? ill also add that from what i have seen here .... snakes are a BIG food source for pups as well as adults ... as far as ya dog.... CONDITIONING .... what ive been tryin to push here for awhile .... again ... please dont take this in a wrong manner ... im just tryin to throw out things and learn .... thanx for ya time .... Gary

I understand what your saying Gary and I don't have any affirmative answers to your questions, I can only guess at the reasons for the outcome of my testing and experiences. When a topic like this is thrown out it sometimes starts to unravel the mystery and put a new perspective on things. I've learned as much as I have offered in my years on this forum. Ace

well dang .... figured id get more out of ya than that .... lol ... i know what ya mean ....all we can do is take educated guesses as what is goin on in their minds .... thats why i love this forum so much ... get a buncha minds together and can come up with ALOT of insight and GUESSES ..... sift thru them all and figure out what may best fit the needs on a particular trapline .... thanx again

Interesting thread. Read a little bit of it before I went to Goshen.

I'll offer my 2 cents.

Most mink will not shy from mink musk that has been let loose by a captured mink. Seen it too many times on my line to believe differently. On many occasions I will catch a mink 2 or 3 days in a row in a set that smells very minky. Females, young bucks, big bucks. Doesn't seem to matter. I think they are curious as to what happened and have to investigate.

But, I'll top that. Eric Space uses snares only on his New Jersey mink line. Those mink stir up quite a mess and you can smell the sets a good ways off. The number of repeat catches he gets in the same sets are quite high. 10 to 15 at times over a 3 or 4 week period. Unless those mink have severe allergies they can smell the musk.

I don't use lure much. Occasionally someone gives me a bottle to try and I will experiment with so so results. If I'm making pockets I'll bait with muskrat, fish, or mink carcasses. I will also take the fresh glands and use them on occasion at a pocket set.

I definitely agree that weasel is very attractive to mink. I don't catch many weasels but when I do I usually catch a mink in the same spot.

I've been trapping mink hard for close to 20 years now and I see a lot of thoughts and theories in books etc. I've found some to be true and others not so true at least on my lines. Thought I would offer this counter opinion to Asa.

Asa I would appreciate if you would respond, especially to the numbers that Eric space takes in his sets. I've ridden with Eric and he knows his stuff.

Computer Hater writes...
Asa I would appreciate if you would respond, especially to the numbers that Eric space takes in his sets. I've ridden with Eric and he knows his stuff.

With all due respect, being that I don't know you or Eric I would have to ask not how many mink one caught or how many years they trapped but how many more mink they might have taken with the same number of traps, sets and time expended had they used lesser amounts of mink musk at the sets. In all honesty did Eric ever do any testing of varying amounts of musk???? Ace

Eric and his family used to raise mink. He has a lot of knowledge and thoughts on mink habits and mink musk. I don't know if he ever did any testing. I'll ask him at the OSTA convention in Sept.

I will add this. Eric does most of his mink trapping in Feb. and March when the rut is on. I would imagine that because of the rut, at least in Eric's case, that the mink are more attracted to the scent of others. But, with that said I can defer back to my own line which is ran in early November until anywhere from mid December to mid January. I have similar results.

You ask how many more mink might I take if less mink musk was used at the my sets. THAT IS MY POINT. (caps. for emphasis) I have no control over how much mink smell is left at the sets by the preceding captured mink. I don't use mink lure except occasionally as I stated above. I have other sets up and down the creeks but a lot of the mink continue to get caught in the set that the previous mink got caught in. That tells me that even if they are somewhat afraid their curiousity overrides that fear in a lot of cases and causes them to investigate what happened and then they get caught. Hey, maybe it is like what we humans do when there is a fire or accident. We just have to look.

With all of that said, I'll offer a little background since you don't know Eric or myself. Eric makes the Qwikdrop snares and has a couple good videos out about mink snaring. He snares 125 to 150 mink or so every year in New Jersey. Me, I'm a nobody from Ohio that catches some mink on occasion occasionally.

I haven't even gotten started getting my traps and snares ready, but as soon as it cools off I will. Hope to meet you at the ITA in Sept.
~ADC~

I'm glad Randy that maximum mink musk usage works for you and Eric, whatever works well be sure to keep on doing.
Mink musk has a value in a mink lure or I wouldn't have it in all three of my mink lure formulas.
However, it is quite possible that so many trappers say no mink lure has ever produced for them because perhaps the lures they tried were laced to the max with mink musk in the lure makers quest to produce a strong smelling lure. Also, perhaps natural mink odors from a catch are viewed differently than prepared mink musk lures by some mink.
As I said in above postings, a well formulated lure used correctly has the possibility of adding 30% to ones total harvest. This 30% figure is estimated from my testing and experience. 70% of mink can be taken quite nicely by usage of unlured blind sets. That leaves 30% to do the testing on. Now as already stated, big buck mink don't mind any amount of musk odor for they fear nothing. More timid smaller male mink sometimes fear exagerated musk odors so a few will back off from loud musk odors. Some females are bolder than others so loud musk odors won't back off every female but there are a considerable number that will shy away. (read Newhouse's post in this thread as an example) So what we are talking about here is perhaps a total difference in harvest of possibly 10% because of too much mink musk being applied at sets. That is a hard number for one to draw affirmative opinions about without years of exensive testing, observation and experience. If one is doing well on the mink line and is not a lure maker always striving to produce a better lure there would be no reason for one to make test after test in season and out of season with mock sets. On the other hand, the addition of weasel musk to the formula always sees a quick result in increased harvesting and mink's commitment to a pocket. This incresed catch shows me that many mink of both sexes were passing sets lured with mink musk formulated lures, that it took an additional enrager to get their attention. There isn't anything scientific about any of this, just an opinion from taking a hard look at the subject for a long time. Ace

I'm not a mink trapper but this is a interesting thread..you brought your "A" game tonight Ace.

Well Asa, which of your mink lures has weasel musk in it? I need to pick some up at the MTA in a week.

Asa,

I agree with a lot of what has been said on this thread. The weasel musk being an enrager is one of them. The only reason I posted was because of the amount of mink that I catch in sets that have already caught mink and the fact that these sets smelled very minky because the mink let off some musk in his struggles. Remember, I'm not using this mink musk at the beginning. The first mink that gets caught is leaving it. All I'm doing is resetting the trap. And as stated earlier, I have other sets there but a lot of the mink get caught in that same trap. Don't get me wrong, I catch mink in the other sets at times but once that first mink is caught it seems that set gets a lot more attention.

I had a set last year that was in the edge of a small beaver swamp. An uprooted tree was at the edge and I was able to fashion a small pocket back under the roots. The first mink was a big old male and I caught him by the back foot. Needless to say when I stepped out of the truck, I knew I had caught a mink. He was still alive and very unhappy to see me. Over the next couple weeks I caught 3 more male mink there and two were juveniles. I caught one other male mink about 30 feet away and he was a juvenile also but he was the only mink caught in that set.

No disrespect to you nor am I trying to be argumentative. I understand your reasoning behind your lure formulas and your thoughts that too much mink musk can possibly scare some mink off. I even agree that possibly some mink may shy away occasionally. I just wanted to offer the fact that a lot of mink are caught by trappers in sets that smell of mink musk because another mink has been caught there previously. And again, I really don't use mink lure except as stated above.

You may have hit on something there when you say, "Perhaps natural mink odors from a catch are viewed differently than prepared mink musk lures by some mink." I don't know how to prove that theory but it could sure explain a lot of things.

I think Randy that we can "theorize" all day long, what counts is dead mink in the back of the truck.

If you are running around with Eric Space, then you boys are flat out killing some mink.

Actually on the subject of females, when handling ranch mink the females, especially the old ones, are down right mean and nasty. I don't think they are afraid of much of anything.

It is impossible to assess these things any other way than the end result, dead mink in my opinion. Unless snow tracking, it is surely impossible to completely assess misses at a mink set. To me the only reasonable assessment could be the fact that you have several sets side by side, with varying attractors or in this case, one musked up and the others not. The you have to consider the direction the mink came from, in relationship to which set took him. Most of the mink I catch, with no snow, it is just impossible to do that as there are no or very slight tracks to work with.

Madtrapper asked...Well Asa, which of your mink lures has weasel musk in it? I need to pick some up at the MTA in a week.

Mink Super All Call and Mink Super Range All Call both have weasel musk in the formula but the Super Range All Call has a larger amount. Ace

learn where and how to set traps for them and there is no need for lure or bait ..... had this discussion with a guy in chat ..... like the idea of the pocket due to the shifting of feet at the set and more chances of connecting ..... my response was ..... mink have 4 feet .... many time they use these 4 feet as 2 ..... but ya only need 1 to make a catch lmao

It is interesting to me that some of the top minkers consider the carcass of a female mink the best mink bait.

You guys like mink carcasses for mink bait or not?

Works as well as muskrat in my opinion. I remove the glands on mine though!

Never used a Mink carcass as Mink bait but the Fisher are sure fond of them.

I have used skinned Weasel carcasses stuffed in the back of a pocket with great results. Most often the glands have been removed but the smell still lingers.

On the subject of repeat catches. Yes they smell super minky to us poor nosed humans but, there is also urine dropped or sprayed, scat, saliva, anger and fear phermones and who knows what other gland or scents that we can't smell in that catch area. Once we figure all that out then the commercial super minky all call lure can be made but until then, do what works for ya and listen to people that can catch them in numbers.

Ok thats my 2cents worth and all I have to say on the subject.

pnwmtnmn writes...
there is also urine dropped or sprayed, scat, saliva, anger and fear phermones and who knows what other gland or scents that we can't smell in that catch area

Good point pnwmtnmn! All of these odors combined could present a whole different scenario to a mink than just a loud minky smelling mink lure formula. Thanks for your input! Ace

So how do you guys know when a mink has refused a set or shyed away? I would think that to be highly improbable to know or prove unless always working with ice/snow conditions for perfect tracking. Then you have to assess all the other variables that would possibly constitute a refusal or lack of interest.

ttt

Instigator!

Hey I was asked where the post went via. PM I was only helping out.

i think mink LOVE mink musk ... alot of times ill add skunk essence to my mink lure to further enhance the reaction to it .... punch in pockets and go heavy with the lure !!! i got so many PM's that i had to just let it all out ... i was holdin out on yall ...sorry .... Gary

My question is probably a stupid one but I have been waiting for others to ask it and no one did. I am hearing all about this mink behavior and I am just wondering how people know. Stands to reason that often a person can assess a coyote's response to a set by the tracks if conditions allow. A light footed mink is a different story.

I can read sign and usually can see a mink track here and there. However, a water set can leave a lot to the imagination in many cases unless completely still water with a shallow silt bottom. Moving water there will just be no way to read the bottom of the creek. A little too deep and the mink's feet are not touching bottom. Rocky stream beds no way you are seeing tracks.

Soooo. I would go out on a limb here and say it is only with some very select circumstances that a person could be able to tell that a mink came by without getting caught. The "norm" would be poor to no tracking conditions. Snow and perfect mud would be the only sure fire way to see much at all. So how are we breaking down all these numbers and mink avoidances?

Then you have to factor in the thoughts and beliefs of the person viewing the behavior. Just cause a mink went by a set without getting caught, does not mean he avoided the smell of musk. Did he veer well out of his way? That could spell avoidance unless you track him far enough in the snow to see that he was after a rabbit or whatever. If he just walked by...it's about that simple, he just walked by. Why would we read anything into that about mink musk?

I would like to know how we are drawing the conclusion that mink avoid musked up mink sets on ANY occasion, other than just pure assumption on the trappers part.

Also the notion that some canines will avoid mink or weasel smells, well if you guys think that, then good luck to you cause you are missing a good attractor. If you believe that it deters any percentage of canines then you deserve to believe that and carry it onto your line with you. Skunk, badger, mink, weasels are all the same family and all highly attractive to canines. Use the Nelson forumla with mink glands, and then without mink glands and see the difference. Smell some Carmen's Canine Call and see if Russ Carman believes in mink musk.

k9. yopu bring up a good point, perhaps they are basing their feelings that mink avoid lure the same way I'm basing my feelings that they don't... but a few instances (that I already mentioned above) where I could see sign that the mink liked the lures.

Sad thing is with all the people jumping on the band wagon... I think folks that have used certain lures with some success are afraid to say so out of fear of bieng called wrong. That leaves me still wondering what good choice of lure would be for me to experiment with that I haven't already tried. I guess if no one steps up to say, I'll just smell a few at the ITA and take a shot at it.

I know I risk offending some people with that line of thinking, and was just going to let it lay until the post got brought back up.

Historically trappers have made assumptions and complicated very simple issues, keeping themselves from successfully using good methods or attractors. Something as simple as "coyote urine scares away fox" was beleived and quoted for years until people started questioning it. I know the majority on this forum do not believe that, but we have all heard it said. It came from a logical assumption that if coyotes kill fox, then foxes must avoid them at all costs. Just cause a human assumes it, does not make it true.

Another would be that coyotes are afraid of the smell of steel traps. Makes sense to a person who puts coyotes on an intellectual pedestal, and gives a trapper who is having trouble on his line a built in excuse for the problems he is having. Until you start digging holes and seeing how many buried peices of steel are in the ground, and you see where coyotes are going through steel fences and gates, or you have a snapped trap in a trail and the coyote steps right beside it. The assumption seems reasonable, but it's not.

The notion that any percentage of mink are deterred by the smell of musk is purely an assumption. The only real test of a mink attractor is dead mink in the truck, unless you have perfect snow tracking conditions. If you have those conditions, and are seeing mink approach set after set, veering away from the musked up set or turning back and going the other way, then you might have something.

Then, how many of us truly get around enough mink to draw such conclusions? I don't but my common sense is kicking in here. I am waiting for the 100+ mink per season guys to tell me that mink musk deters some mink, then I will still ask them how they are reading the sign.

For what it's worth ADC, when these guys tell you that weasel is an enrager I believe them. I know that ranch mink at least will not pass up a chance to throw down and fight each other, size is irrelevant to them. I have no experience using weasel for mink, but "enraged" accurately describes a mink's response to many things.

k9,

You can't catch a fox where you caught a possum. You can't catch reds and grays in the same field let alone the same trap. You can't catch a fox after you catch a dog. Mink won't work bait early in the season. Mink won't work bait unless it's good and cold. You can't catch big mink on the water until late in the year when the deep snow forces them to the water. Mink musk scares off other mink. The only thing I can say is I must have been catching a lot of illiterate mink and fox over the years because they obviously haven't read all these method books and internet forums.

I didn't set out to prove any of the above wrong. The animals have proven it to me time and time again. I remember my first fox after possum catch. Thought he must have been the dumbest fox ever born. After all I had heard or read this wasn't possible many times. Then it happened again and again and well that dim light in my head came on and I realized that just maybe that was an old wives tale.

As far as reading sign at mink sets, I try to make my sets so that I can read what happens within three or four feet on either side of the trap. Can't always do it but can a fair bit of time. I use a tile spade and shave the banks perpendicular near the set and then set in the shallow water. I wash all sign off the banks leading to the set area. A lot of times if I have deep water near the set I can see how the mink approached the set because he drowns before he has a chance to tear things up. Most of this bank shaving is done preseason because it takes too much time during season. I've always liked to know whats going on out there and have learned a lot over the years from the mink that I missed. I do similar with conibears on dry land if its near enough to the water to wash the old tracks out. Used to see a lot of avoidance of the bodygrippers and then as I made changes to things that avoidance went to almost zero. Still see an occasional smarty that refuses the bodygrippers but just catch them with a foothold or they are next year's seed.

I just told you how I read mink sign near my sets but this hundred plus mink trapper pretty much agrees with you on the mink musk theory.

"The only thing I can say is I must have been catching a lot of illiterate mink and fox over the years because they obviously haven't read all these method books and internet forums."

You summed it up right there. Animals don't read books and lot's of people don't read the signs that animals leave. I see how you are checking for mink sign and that makes sense. However, you and I know not many guys will go to that much work, nor do they get in front of enough mink to be making such assessments.

The oil glands located in the tails of waterfowl have worked great for me. Whether its Mink, coyotes, fox, coon, ect.. they all seem to go crazy over it. I have also had good success using pure Muskrat glands.

i skipped a bunch of crap cuzz i can .... but what i have seen .... its from seein reaction in the snow/silt .... i believe that small mink ..... reason i say young males and females .... tend to shy away from strong mink musk .... and like i said i set to catch em minus lure these days ..... learn mink and ya gonna catch em no need for lure ..... as far as the canine thing i try to put 2 and 2 together ..... im just a semi-retarded person that acts like he knows a lil bit bout sumthin ..... as far as what i know and what ill from now on post .... refer back to my butterfly post im done

Sooo, anyone want to tell me a brand of mink lure to try besides Lenon's which I already use... ????

yeah ........ NONE ....... catch em where they are gonna go

LOL!

A lot of good lures have mink musk formulated in them, and have produced Thousands of animals for me.

Are you talking mink lures or lures in general like k9 and cat lures?

~ADC~

blackies blend brown buck

j.r.&sons , i think its midnight mink .

dave edwards , certified mink seed .

o'gormans , iowa longliner ( a j.curtis grigg mink lure )

clam oil

alligator oil

muskrat blood

i beleive there is a difference in the way a mink reacts to a minky lure and a set thats caught a mink . as has been mentioned , a set thats made a catch has odors other than mink musk , urine, feces , pheromones , other glandular secretions , stomach fluids and bile, etc.

stuff that we can't really smell within the mink musk but a mink sure can.

i also beleive a mink can tell the difference between mink musk from wild caught mink and mink musk bought from lure ingredient suppliers ( that being from ranch raised mink ) .

asa and or others who make lure , where does your mink glands you use come from ? wild caught or ranch mink ? or do you really know . i would have to guess that the vast majority of mink glands sold comes from ranch raised mink .


as far as knowing if a mink spooks , i've done what randy does but not to the extent i know that he does . i have based it on knowing where i caught a mink and knowing that it had to pass, go around , avoid , other sets in order to be caught where it was.not exact science but by using educated guess's based on this , things pay off for me.

as i mentioned before a faint odor of mink i think is good , a set thats made a catch and aged a day or 2 .

pure mink musk in a set , too strong for mink in my book but coons love it. bank walking fox and yotes will too.

when it all comes down to it , i prefer to catch them in bottom edge sets, conibears in trails and blind sets/pocket sets with footholds and no bait or lure.

mark

ttt