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