That furry tail sticking up is a feeling that non trappers cannot understand. I can see my first furry tail around 1978 like it was yesterday.

Same here, 1966, 1 1/2 coilspring, blind set.

1969 , , , in a #110 Conibear in a 'rat run into a bank in open water

Yep, 1962 1 1/2 long spring baited pocket set

Depends how hard you are willing to work, as much as a high population.

At an average of $50 a mink, I think we will all see what a respectable catch will be. I hope to hit 30. most years its 4-8. First mink was in a bank set in NJ, Denville area. It was a female. I think it was 1985.

Everyone is going to be a mink trapper all the sudden…

Yeah and that will drive the price up! I’ll sell ya the Brooklyn Bridge cheap. lol

Seriously doubt if the major auctions will be receiving much of a wave of prime, properly put up mink. There will be the bunch that will start soon as the season opens and take their carcass and/or skinned 'rats and mink to the local buyer or traveling 'rat wagon. Weighing $2 'rats and $10 mink they'll soon fold up when weighing fur check against expenses.

Next up will be those that will wait a bit, get out there and do a fair to good job with the catch and put up. They'll likely call it after a couple dozen mink and settle into the couch for the balance of the winter. Will sell to the 'rat wagon or send off to auction.

The group that will make a difference will more than likely be those mink trappers who have been waiting for this window of opportunity. Many of them realizing this might be the last hurrah in their trapping lifetime to match up a decent fur take with respectable prices offered. They'll be after 'em from November 'til the fur is no longer worthy of taking. Hoping the whole time the $40 average will be sustained through the later auctions.

If nothing else, there's a little excitement in the fur shed this year for the water trappers prepping for the upcoming season. Lets us be kids again.

I haven't made a mink set for years. This season I'm going to concentrate on beaver coon and rats.
With no ROW trapping mink trapping is not going to happen.

If I pocket set mink I will catch 6 or 7 coon for every mink in my area.

The ROW’s in Michigan will be crowded with trespassers that will also come with sticky fingers!! The one thing that could be a deterrent is that there aren’t any local buyers anymore whereas there was 5-6 at one time in the County years ago. So I think the days of seeing a person come into a buyers shop with an animal in one hand and a trap in the other asking how much for each are gone!!

2X. Our county is over 2800 sq miles. Zero local buyers.

My county is twice that size and no local buyers either.

No local fur buyers, sounds like an opportunity.

Yes, an opportunity for trappers that put up their own fur….

I'll take theft, competition and ROW over no ROW trapping and low prices.

You mink trappers are going to be a year late. If the basis is thirty dollars on mink that would be about the ceiling I think next season. Which I would be happy with. The issue to my thinking at least for me will be population. The bad flooding we’ve had won’t help and even before that we had much lower than our population of say ten years ago.

Many mink trappers. I'm afraid, are going to find out mink numbers are down most places. Wish I knew why.