Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6267648
06/26/18 05:27 PM
06/26/18 05:27 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,851 Pa
Wright Brothers
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,851
Pa
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Sign lasts longer under bridges protected from rain.
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6267906
06/26/18 11:17 PM
06/26/18 11:17 PM
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 25,413 williams,mn
trapper les
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 25,413
williams,mn
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I don't scout, I just set a likely line. Not just for mink.
"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not."
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6268026
06/27/18 08:36 AM
06/27/18 08:36 AM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,723 Maine
Mac
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,723
Maine
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Whats the easiest way to tell how much mink activity there is along a stream that is very rocky making it hard to see many tracks. You can certainly go out with the theory that mink will be on any waterway so just set them up. In areas with good populations of mink that is probably quite true, so the trappers that suggested this are correct. But having said that I think that it is not a bad idea to confirm there are mink on a given waterway. I have talked to some very good trappers that cold rolled into an area only to find that they were not going to catch many mink. In the summer months a lot of mink are raised way back in the willy whacks up on feeder streams or in old ponds or bogs that have a lot of feed. Sometimes you can really luck out if you hit these areas early before freeze up. Sometimes they disperse early in the fall but not usually. If the back in area has a lot of groceries many of the mink do not venture near a road until things freeze tight, and sometimes not then. Finding sign as Newt described is what I look for. For me it is mostly tracks or droppings. Even on rocky streams there will be sand and or mud patches to find track on. Droppings are often left on culverts as mentioned or on rocks near culverts. Also you will find dropping on trees that lean out over or that fall across waterways. They seem to like to find a rock to deposit their droppings even away from roads. Mink trails? I have never trapped in an area with a high enough population to say you could find trails. I suspect there are such areas The exception would be one of those back in ponds or swamps I referenced above. If there are mink on a waterway you can usually find sign, if you take the time to look. mac
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6268072
06/27/18 09:39 AM
06/27/18 09:39 AM
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 4,497 PA
PAskinner
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 4,497
PA
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Old muskrat trails through the grass are mink trails!Set them and be patient. Also mink trails are sometimes quite obvious in snow. The most obvious mink sign I've seen is where they are fishing like an otter and tunneling under the ice. Also mink dens with piles of scat.
Right now I’m having amnesia and déjà vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this before.
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6268832
06/28/18 04:18 PM
06/28/18 04:18 PM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,505 james bay frontierOnt.
Boco
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,505
james bay frontierOnt.
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Beaverponds here are fur pockets,and beaver houses as well as dams are mink magnets. It takes hardly any extra effort to kick in a couple of pocket sets at a beaver house or dam if you are trapping some beaver before or at freeze up.
Last edited by Boco; 06/28/18 04:20 PM.
Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: joepennanti]
#6268865
06/28/18 05:47 PM
06/28/18 05:47 PM
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Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 2,293 PA
lumberjack391
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 2,293
PA
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I will remember salt water marshes the next time Im on a coast trapping mink... Lots of salt water marshes along the PA coastline? That was my point...….sarcasm.....
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6268911
06/28/18 06:58 PM
06/28/18 06:58 PM
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Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 38 Manitoba
Mbcoyote
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 38
Manitoba
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I caught 2 mink this year, bringing my life's total to 4 mink. 2 5ish years ago....1 I caught at a small seasonal stream in spring, 1 I shot along a roadside ditch while waiting at a beaver pond as he ran the bank. The other 2 I got this winter, late Dec, in -30C weather, in the same set,a mile away from any water in a foot of snow on my coyote line. Both were big males and one got me top lot at NAFA, the other a grade less. So why were they there? What kept them there...methinks I know. I have seen their tracks in the same locations on my coyote line in the winter for years and this year I set 1 box for them, thinking it was big ermine. In both locations, meaning woodlots, are many bunnies. One is new growth polar, lots of rabbit food. One is the dense-est h$#llhole of a bush I know, many rabbits live there, as there is a lot of cover That's my theory, anyways, as to why the mink are there.Food. And in both places there are many voles, so many I chase them from my boxes on almost every check. (I only had one box apiece where I saw the mink tracks) I believe the voles increase in population is also responsible for the Marten I'm now seeing and trapping in agricultural Manitoba. They go where they have the best chance of finding food, and where that is depends on your trap line's habitat...again this is just me speculating. I will see if I get more in those woods next year.
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6268925
06/28/18 07:17 PM
06/28/18 07:17 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,845 Wisconsin
The Beav
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,845
Wisconsin
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When I trapped In Ontario our go to mink sets were baited boxes along open water sources. WE even caught a few mink In elevated marten boxes set along creeks and lake shores.
The forum Know It All according to Muskrat
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6268928
06/28/18 07:18 PM
06/28/18 07:18 PM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,505 james bay frontierOnt.
Boco
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,505
james bay frontierOnt.
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In January and February I catch the odd huge bush mink in elevated marten boxes,miles from any water. I wouldn't scout for mink there. Feb 24,I bet he was travelling between watersheds like otter often do,looking for a mate,when he was lured in with the fish oil.
Last edited by Boco; 06/28/18 07:31 PM.
Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6577395
07/19/19 11:17 PM
07/19/19 11:17 PM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,505 james bay frontierOnt.
Boco
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,505
james bay frontierOnt.
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Like otter,there are some spots that produce year after year. Good blind sets are often like that although a good baited set on target can also be a yearly producer.Often several mink each season. I start looking for scats and tracks in September while grouse hunting to see what kind of numbers are on the landscape in any year.
Last edited by Boco; 07/19/19 11:19 PM.
Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Boco]
#6577513
07/20/19 07:51 AM
07/20/19 07:51 AM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 4,238 Illinois
ratbrain
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 4,238
Illinois
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I always see where mink have shat on top of the end of culverts.Culverts are deadly spots to set for mink.Even if there is no scat. What Boco said. I make a lot of mink sets around culverts and field tiles.
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6577519
07/20/19 08:02 AM
07/20/19 08:02 AM
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 28,978 potter co. p.a.
pcr2
"Twerker"
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"Twerker"
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 28,978
potter co. p.a.
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great post but come on newt and tell us the secret.
if i had to find mink sign,first place i'd head is one of the 2 trout hatcheries on my line.
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Re: Mink Scouting
[Re: Fmjoutdoors]
#6577641
07/20/19 11:07 AM
07/20/19 11:07 AM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,505 james bay frontierOnt.
Boco
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,505
james bay frontierOnt.
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Good catches of mink can be made when trapping other water based furbearers without going out of your way or adding any extra expense to your operation. Never in my life have I set out a trapline exclusively for mink.I always take mink when trapping beaver.
Last edited by Boco; 07/20/19 11:10 AM.
Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
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