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