Coon and mink Number Trappers North VS South

What are some differences that guys in the deep south that put up number of either and guys up north? Seem to me talking with some guys down here who've done 200+ mink or alot of coon, most of the time pocket sets and all that aren't even a thing. Almost 100% blind sets. Anyway just curious

mink numbers in southern states especially with crayfish or fish ponds have 100s more mink than northernstates

Trapping along creeks and ditches here in Ohio, I caught probably 16 coons per mink. In woods and fields, I caught probably 60 plus coons per mink.

Keith

Exactly right.Those mink around the crayfish ponds are rolling in fat and look like small otters.

I have yet to gave a chance to trap mink down south. Here in north west ohio I target mink (100+ per year)I got it down to about a 1.6 coon to 1 mink ratio this year. Almost all mink come from pockets.

If coon prices ever come back up I can easily crank that ratio io to at least to a 5 to 1 .

I would love to try my luck down south someday.

Can only speak for my little corner Used to be the first good snow the mink and weasel went nuts tracks everywhere you could catch more in a couple days to a week then the previous month last 2-3 years not even a track same as spring have to check 5 or 6 different watersheds to find a track

My limited experience is as follows. In marshes and sloughs I will catch about 50-75 rats and a dozen coons for every 1 mink. In moving water, (streams and rivers I will catch 20 rats and 10 coons for every 1 mink.
I don't know season lengths down south but here if Mink season is open for say 150 days, there may only be 50-60 or fewer of those days where weather conditions are good for catching mink and many of those days come before they are considered salable let alone prime.
Gerald Schmitt from MN caught just shy of 800 mink in one season and to me that is an extraordinary high number when one considers the the weather issues in MN and the coon and rat incidentals in those sets.

Bryce

Weather is a much bigger factor in the north, It can shut the coon down for a month or more and mink go under the snow and ice once the snow is deep enough. There is a lot more food for a mink under the ice and snow than on top.

Right in this area both mink and coon numbers are down. Coon seem to be slowly coming back now.

No coon in the north but fair numbers of mink some years,and a very good section of mink here.
There are 6 sections of mink in Ontario,ours has the very desireable slate blue underfur,but not a real big mink.

Here in PA i now only use 110's & 120's in blind or bottom edge sets. No coon in my mink sets

There's one main reason why us norther guys use bait and pockets and the southern guys don't. Animals up here feed heavily getting ready for a long winter (especially coon) making them far more susceptible to bait. Southern critters never really get that hungry and aren't nearly as food driven as the northern critters.

Many northern guys would be totally upside down had they had to trap in the south. One has to learn how to blind set in the south.

fossil (on here) caught over 800 mink that same year Gerald did (both great guys and friends to each other), Mainly using baited pockets. I trapped in MS. with fossil later on and I brought all kinds of bait thinking coon are coon. I learned quickly that bait doesn't work in the south, much of the season, like it does up here. fossil was racking up the critters with blind sets and I was scratching my head helping him skin his catch. If he hadn't taught me how to blind set, I would have been totally lost and skunked. It was an eye opening experience for sure that most northern trappers will never have the pleasure to learn from.

The largest concentration of mink I have ever seen was in the Houma LA area. There were at least one roadkill per mile. And as fast as the scavengers would clean them up, there would be more.

Since moving to south Louisiana, I have never seen mink like this. Growing up in the central part of the state, mink were non existing in my area. Now, they have become my favorite animal to catch. Strictly blind sets for me.

In this area mink are kinda rare here and their size isn’t that great either, coon is king here you can make a set almost anywhere and get one.

Minnesota North to south in my experience is different. Southern mink are bigger and more plentiful. Mink in the north never got much bigger than a southern female. Just my experience.