2X. Remember when rats “covered the gas expenses “. Now it’s almost all furbearers. lol

I had some baited mink pocket sets (water) out in February and still caught 4 raccoons!!

I think that is the case with a lot of people. Too bad the prices are so low.

That's 160 hours.

Joepen. 160 hrs scouting with maybe a catch of 10 or 12 mink at 10 dollars each comes to about 120 bucks. Not a very good average 1.33 EACH. Now subtract your gas at 3.00 dollars a gallon and you are going to start your season way in the hole.

You would be better off spending those hours getting permission. 160 hours adds up to a lot of land to trap.

Locations, Locations, Locations are the 3 most important elements in significant mink catches. Many good points in this thread. I agree even the rockiest areas have areas where tracks can often be detected. Mink in our area are have a low density so finding sign is often by good fortune as trail cameras prove that some of my areas may not have a mink go through for months at times and then during season it may be possible to catch a couple. Habitat can be a good indicator of a probable population (just as a cornfield often indicates that whitetails will likely be present). I like to understand where the water I'm trapping is coming from and where it is going to. Then the location gains value if above is a swamp and below is a bigger stream as an example. Are there fish and crayfish in the water? Mice and rabbit along the banks? Muskrats? Personally, I like to run my line throughout the year to know the amount of miles I'll be travelling, How far from the truck will I be setting and walking? What type of sets?- pockets, blinds, surface blinds, depth of water, types of anchorings and platforms needed as well as stabilizers. Will I hide anchors/ plates? I'm not a cold roller but rather a line developer with a progressive approach to cover more locations then add as I go down to check yesterdays sets. This keeps me adjusting- "Patience has no place on a mink line but rather diligence is what is needed". To many I have rode with take a peek and move on. Good Mink Trappers I have seen like Nittany Lion who is probably approaching 60 years of age goes down to the trap and breaks the ice, or makes the bed deeper or raises it up depending upon the need." WIN THE MOMENT and WIN THE DAY!
All trappers face 4 concerns
#1 A Mink may pass along your chosen location only once per season.
#2 Trappers may not cover the course the mink may choose
#3 Trappers may aid the mink in missing the trap by using poor guides or stepping sticks incorrectly.
#4 Often weather may make a properly located trap inoperable because of ice or water depth
#5 It is a numbers game and infrequent catches sap the energy from a potential minker - I Work to reach critical mass so each day I have something to show for my efforts. This catching of Mink After Mink On Purpose is more rewarding. - Just don't ask me how you can make a profit trapping them as I haven't figured that out yet.

As usual, Don is 100% correct it is Location, Location ,Location.
One thing I might add (I only use snares in dry land blind sets), is get down to look at your set location. The average trapper is viewing the set from an eyeball level of 5+ feet off the ground, the mink sees it from an eyeball level of 4 inches. Many times that height difference makes a blind set location look completely different.
The 3 locations that I look for are a tree stump or log jam in the middle of a stretch of stream that has no obvious cover (see first picture). Every mink will explore around it for a time before zipping thru the area of no cover. Almost always there is a toilet spot there. Second is a pinch point between a rock, tree or in this second picture an old bridge abutment. Third is a beaver bank lodge, abandoned or active, either attracts every mink traveling the stream/river. Eric

Tracks. More tracks. When the first snowfall hits just walk the creeks. Won't only tell you if you got mink but will show you some dandy places to make blind sets

I personally don't worry about finding tracks, or if there is a swamp above or below me, location or populations- how do you figure that out anyway? I just make sets that fit the situation and hope for the best. Concentrate on bridges, culverts, tributaries and pools and you will eventually connect. There are always a few around.
You guys stressing location, do you mean "micro" location or "stretch of creek" location?

Fmjoutdoors, being your are from PA, you ought to buy Don Powell's Mink Trapping Book and/or Mink Trapping DVD. If you are not confident in picking locations, Don's book and DVD will greatly shorten the learning curve. Plus Don is from PA also, so the information he shares, is exactly what you need to know for your area.

Just google it

hmmmm

I never look for mink sign , i look for mink set locations .
Come to Minktoberfest , you will learn alot from stream line demo's .

Hey Newt
How about anywhere there are muskrats and or fish.
just

I'm wanting to catch some here in GA before I move out to mink-less AZ

you'd be hunting snipe looking for sign on 75 percent of my line.learn how to blind set a bridge or sluice right and go do that 50 times in a circle ending and starting at home.after 30 yrs,there will be places you don't go anymore,and ones you can't wait to get to.and just cause you draw a blank at a stop one year,don't think it won't have mink another year.

What about ponds...
Do many of you like trapping mink around the edges of ponds?

Inlets and outlets on ponds and marshes are about as good as it gets. Think pinch points, it's really no different than trapping anything else.