Was wondering what everyone uses for mink boxes. I thought about making some of the angled ones so I could have the option of using a 160 for a coon box. I also saw some people use the newspaper tubes and was wondering where you get them?

Wooden box cubbie...with a wire mesh on the back....and a plywood front door with a 2 1/2 inch hole cut in it...keeps the coons out,and other critters...with a 110 coni....pan or triggers with a trip wire. Use a weasel lure inside...a mink hates a weasel !

In my experience mink boxes are poor mink set. Yes you will catch SOME mink but It's a low percentage set.

I have experienced alot of work with little return on Mink Boxes. You won't get skunked but there are much more easier ways to catch Mink.

First cut lumber slabs cut 3 equal pieces and nail together to make a fake hollow log, put a 1X2 across the bottom to hold it steady. You can use foot traps or cut coni slots for 110s or 120s.

I have newspaper tubes for sale

making some to try this year

[quote=I also saw some people use the newspaper tubes and was wondering where you get them? [/quote]

If you have a newspaper that uses the tubes contact them and sometimes they have a bunch of old ones stacked up to give away.

I had about 50 of them given to me just for the taking.

Coon Man Dan Pa has a 7 inch trigger set back law on connis.

This is what I ended up with
I think the secret to the mink box is a 11/2 cs at each end of the box.

I thought the 7 inch thing only applies to 6 inch traps. Pretty sure you can use 110s with a mail box tube. I tried a few wooden mink boxes. Haven't caught a mink in them yet. I would have more confidence in them as a tunnel with a foothold inside than a one way box.

IMHO when using baited box cubbies the key to reasonable success IMO is to consider all the following when setting them:

---Whether using footholds or body grip traps, the main things to remember about the boxes are to set on location where mink travel, have the back of the box screened for air movement, camouflage the box well with surrounding vegetation/snow or whatever and hide the bait with dry grass so the mink will enter the box searching for it and keep the bait fresh.

---The best location for boxes is at beaver pond outlets, overhanging banks, small stream entrances with larger water courses and alongside open water areas of frozen streams.

---Use a box entrance cover with a 2 ½ inch hole. Mink explore holes all the time and thus it's my opinion, and experience, that the hole is an attraction to them. Another advantage of the restrictive entrance hole is that when trapping farm area it restricts barn cats from entering.

---Use a pan trigger set up. Although mink are accustomed to tunnelling through vegetation, it is my understanding and experience that, many will often balk at the cold, hard and stiff wires in their face at the box entrance and shy away from entering. Whereas with a pan trigger trap set CLOSE to the bait at back of the box, and nothing in their face, they will proceed to enter and investigate further thus stepping on the pan and getting caught. (see "wetdog" pic above)
_________________________
The only constant in trapping is change so keep learning

It's my opinion that if both ends of the box aren't open the mink will hesitate to enter.
The only luck I have ever had with boxes or tunnels Is when I laid 3 feet of drainage pipe tight to the edge of the bank. I cut out the bottoms on both ends so I could place a foot hold. I caught a few mink this way but It wasn't worth the effort.

I made a dozen one year and set out. You'll laugh, but the best was to set a foothold at the corner and catch them when they check it out but don't enter. lol.

They just don't work real well here or i was to dumb to set them right.

Good info here

That's why you set your trap outside the pocket set hole. There Is no back door to a pocket set and the mink knows It. So why would It enter.

Build a box or 2 and give them a try. Then you be the judge.

Mink cut through brushy snags all of the time I always used the log cubbies on a cut bank or in a snag along the creeks, even a spot narrowed down by the tag alders along the banks.

Yes. After reading it in the digest a few times I do believe that the 7 inch thing only applies to traps larger than 5 1/2” so 110 could go right at the front of your box.

The 7 inch rule refers to the artificial cubby which a mink box is
And only applies to the artificial cubby(mink box)

This was my experience years ago
.

I will be watching this thread for good ideas. I will tell you of some of my experiences with coniboxes. First use pan triggers, I only like to set them after freezup. Then you may have snow and set on sign. use a screen in front of your bait th prevent mice and shrews from stealing your bait. With a screen you can just check them from a distance and not wory about bait being gone. Con ceal with grass. best concealment is an inch or two of fresh powder snow. Then check them from farther away .Can salt your bait. use 220's they will stabilize better in the box. In skunk country you will catch a few skunks, thus set after freezup. Stake them securely in case of an otter or fisher catch.

I have boxes I made but like to use 6 or 8 inch pipe. Set at both ends or block one end off.

Well, I was wrong about that! Don't listen to some guy on the internet, check your regulation book, lol. Since I don't use artificial cubbies with body grippers, I haven't paid attention to the updated rules.

Ditto on what Beav said, been there done that, very low percentage and have tried alot differant mink box variations. Alot of easier methods to put mink on boards and that is alot of hard work, alot of traps, alot of energy, alot of miles traveled !

Mink boxes work best in good rat sloughs, right after ice up, but in the event of little or now snow. You can pile up mink quickly in that situation.

There, now the secret is out , so have at it.

I think what I’m going to do is make a box that is 9x9 in the front and 4x4 in the back and 24 inches long. This way a 160 will sit 7 inches deep in the box to comply with the PA 7 inch law. The only thing is the 120 will set about 7 inches from the back of the box. Do guys think 7 inches is to close to the back of the box?

Try it, with the coni pan facing out.

Coon man Dan you will have to close that entrance hole down a little bit.
Pa law no bigger than 50 sq inch opening. Don't mean to be a downer,but that's the rules we have to work with.
I don't hide my boxes. I set high bank with a 11/2 at each end.
You would be surprised how much fur they can catch. Not counting the mink.

I agree with the poor catch percentage. I have made my own boxes also in different ways to experiment. The best one I like is the entrance to the box has no bottom, just the ground (grass, leaves) Screen across the back for good air flow. I have had better luck with 220 size boxes and using coni pans of some sort so you are not restricting the entrance. I have caught a few but not many. These are usually set on my snare line for coyotes after freeze up.

So to be in the 50 square inch I will basically frame in the front of the box with 1x1. And I definitely agree that I probably won’t catch as many with boxes vs pocket but I’m look for something to set when there is 4 inches of ice on creeks.

A good quick way to pick up mink if you are trapping open water beaver in the fall is to carry a bunch of 1.5ls traps with your beaver gear,a few cans of sardines for lure (and lunch),and a 5 gallon bucket of grouse scraps for bait.When you set up your beaver traps at the house,drop a box or kick a couple of holes with your boot at the water line on each side of the house for a pocket set.If you use a box you can make the set with a 120 after freeze up.This set only works early season,before Christmas(20c below weather).After the real cold kicks in,mink stay subnivean.

Beaver houses and dams are mink magnets.

Pa rules don't allow you to set either of those places. Just another hoop to jump through here.

You cant set a mink trap at a beaver dam?Thats just retarded.

[quote=Boco]You cant set a mink trap at a beaver dam?Thats just retarded. [/quote
15 feet away from dam or lodge
Just how it is here

I wonder how many places in the states have that restriction?No restrictions like that here.That would really hurt a trapper for many species.How could you even calculate that?The base of a beaver dam or house under water would be impossible to know.

We have trappers here Boco, more in this state than your whole country. We trapped the Beaver out and they are now coming back, so we make it sporting so as to not kill them all again.

Fake news.Your trappers licence is combine with hunting,lol.You suffer from antiitis there.
You likely do have 10 times more trappers there,but produce about 1\10 the fur.

You'd be wrong again. Some are, but alot arn't.

What makes you think I'm wrong?

There's no "thinking" about it, lol.

Proof?
I agree you put no thought into much.

Proof?

Anybody can look how many license we sell.
Anybody can see we had no Beaver to trap 30 years ago. or Fisher, or Bobcats, and at one time, we had coyotes wiped out.

Dream on.

We even had Bear and Deer wiped out and had to stock them.

Theres no trees in the sahara either,lol.
Musta been the loggers.

Why you called hippie?You kill off all the brain cells,lol.

I gotta go trap some beaver.I'll get a few pics of some good old dam sets for ya.

Nope.
I lived on the river all summer and when i would show up at home with long hair (this in the 70's)
my Dad said i looked like some dag-gum hippie. It stuck.

Anyhow, good luck on the Mink boxes. If ya have any success, be sure and tell us, and how ya made/set them.

Here Boco.

http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/the-history-of-deer-management-in-pennsylvania,587735/

https://www.pgc.pa.gov/HuntTrap/Trapping...202010-2019.pdf

I forgot we wiped Otter out too.


https://www.pgc.pa.gov/HuntTrap/Trapping...lan%20Draft.pdf

I have said this before about mink boxes. When I did my Canadian trapping trip I caught lots of mink In boxes. We just laid the marten boxes near water and of course beaver dams are hot locations. We even caught Mink In elevated marten boxes.
But It doesn't work In WI. Good luck

Boco knows and I agree

10% of the trappers catch 90% of the fur. And that 10% might be high

I ran 160s years ago in wire cages big time. Had the triggers trip wired, adjusted, disguised, painted camo, etc. Covered some of the cages with grass, leaves, rocks, left some uncovered. Same 160s I used at blind sets. Used natural fish or muskrat for bait Basically threw in a set or 3 at every stop on a long mink line. Probably had 300 going at one time for most of mink season, averaged like 2 mink a year out of them.
Caught nice amounts of coon but its a real head scratcher why mink don't get caught more often? Caught mink nearby in blind sets, no action at the cages.

Just yankin your chain hippie,lol.I got two sets in at each corner of the dam,and picked up a mess of spruce grouse-good afternoon.

Season here for mink is real short.I have lots of respect for the couple guys around here that put up 50-60 mink in a couple weeks.
They set on location.I got 25 last fall with about a dozen boxes.More than I was trying for.

Depends where you are at. We are overrun with beaver here. And there is no law about not setting a mink trap on a beaver dam. That rule is in the beaver trapping section. Seems to me that rule would only apply during beaver season and to traps capable of catching beaver.

I asked our local WCO about a trail going across an old beaver dam- I made it clear beaver were not my intention.. The beavers were long gone and the trail had fox, coon and mink tracks on it. He said no, don't do it. This was probably 15 years ago, did the laws change?

IMO I believe the rule where you have to be 15 feet away from a dam is because of otters. If you set a dam crossover your going to catch everything that swims through it.

Well, if hes says don't, I'd listen, since he's the one gonna bust you. I just see nothing in the general regs about not setting on beaver dams, only in the beaver regs.

Correct...however there are secondary crossings that are used by muskrats and mink in many cases.

That’s because you gotta use blue buckets in Wisconsin, Beav. Jeesh, I would have thought you would have known that already.

Fair to poor results. In winter I have better luck with trail sets in snow in cattails.

The trail I am talking about was along the top going from one side to the other, not a crossover. It was a dead dam many years old with no beaver activity. He still told me not to set it.

I have a diagram of a floating mink box I will have to look for it in the morning i wanted to make some to try this year.

There is blueprints for a floating mink box at the FHA site.
I never tried those.

Seems like the farther north you go, the better they work. I ran a couple dozen set up with conis a few years ago and no luck. Started setting 155s up on the dry trails and put the hammer on them. For me, more trouble than they're worth, may work for you though.

This one box produces several mink each fall.

Boco, do you leave the boxes set out year round? Maybe the mink get used to seeing it? From tracks in the snow, I'd had a few mink approach the boxes but wouldn't go in.

I think that one is the second one there in about 30 years.They last a good while.Sometimes the mink go by but eventually they check it out to their detriment.Secret to get mink in 120's on the ground is to wax them so they fire easy,or use a pan trigger.If the triggers are not sensitive enough to fire with a light brush of the minks shoulder,they will go in and out of the box past the trigger without firing the trap.I like to stuff the box full of dry grass and use a 1.5 ls on a drowner wire before freeze up.You don't need any lock on a drowner wire for mink with a 1.5 ls.

If I'm in a new area,I slap down about 20 boxes the first year,then leave about 5 or 6 that produce well,and lift the others.After a while all the boxes that you have out will be in locations that produce well.Takes a couple seasons to fine tune a good trapline.
That's how it works here anyway.

Here is example of some we made up this summer. This is a newer one but we have some pretty weathered ones that have seen service for many seasons.
In good locations these are great mink takers and stay operating in some pretty harsh weather in dead of winter here. I like them a lot better than just blind open sets when it's heart of winter here.
Wide open each end, and set up to accept a single spring 110 trap at both ends.
(Single slot for spring on one side of each end)
We made a slightly elevated piece for the 110 clips and in very middle is an old sardine tin nailed in to hold bait and lure.
These were place along weedy banks of creeks after they freeze up and next to beaver dams.
They get covered with a pile of sticks and grasses leaving just the tunnels barely showing each end. Both traps get attached with same (just one) single t-bar stake that also pins down and stabilizes the box. The stakes are long and are driven down right outside the center of the box so the t top of stake holds the box down. We use a long t-bar because we get a lot of coon try to reach in the box and get a 110 on their arm but easily pull out if you anchor everything well. Takes both mink and rats pretty well for us. Target mink though after ice up but if open water it will get some rat visitors.
If you set near beaver dams cover it with sticks and leave a few sticks hanging down over ends of the box. min are used to pushing around in sticks at beaver dams and the trap triggers are not an issue to push through either.
Same with cattail locations, or weedy creeks banks...pile them onto the box and have some hanging over end of the boxes so they have to push in to investigate.
Haven't used a 120 before we always used good 110s and never had a problem killing mink even really big males. Triggers need to be adjusted for short throw no extra travel. Get a good flat and a round chainsaw file to work the dog notches just right.





Thanks for looking.
Jim

I use footholds in boxes when water is nearby for dispatch before freezeup.
I like the 1.5 dls.They sit stable in the box.

If you give these mink boxes a try just remember not to build more then a couple. LOL

If you place the trap outside the box(better chance of making a catch)you might as well dig a dirt hole.
A coni with a pan Inside the box would most likely be better then a coni set with the trigger wires hanging In the minks face.
Good luck

Yes pan trigger trap, SET CLOSE TO THE BAIT, deep into the box is the way to go when using mink boxes.

Although the majority of your catch with the boxes will be mink,they are attractive to a lot of other species from time to time,such as rats,skunks,marten,ermine,fisher,fox,lynx,otter and others.







Remember what beav said though,only Canadians can catch fur in boxes,Yankees cant do it,LOL.

If you wax your 120's don't worry about the trigger wires.Animals don't push on them with their faces,they will duck under like marten,or in the case of mink and weasels,they hug the edges so go alongside one wall of the box and trigger the trap with their shoulder.Have the wires spread in a V hanging down from the top.With a waxed trap you wont miss any fur even the small shorttail weasels.
If you don't wax,then use a pan trigger.

Lots of things work In Canuck land that don't work In the USA.

Bump