Been a lot of years since I targeted mink. I made these sets up last week, and baited them a couple of times just to get them coming in. Slipped traps in on them yesterday. Tricked a couple little females.

This is a bridge over a highway. I piled the rip rap up, and made a tunnel for them to play in where they can come out from the water under the bridge, or come from the top. Baited with gizzard shad, left over from fishing trips. This spot has always been good for me.




Bean, this is what I was trying to describe to you. This is an old concrete header. I just took rocks and build a tunnel up along the side of it, and made sure the top has a hole that they can come in off of the bank. The trap is under the horizontal stick. Also baited up with gizzard shad. Those things STINK bad. They make good bait. As you can see, I placed rocks to guide them right on top of the trap.

very cool. Nice work.

That is cool Yaz. Great job and love the pics.

Cool Yaz, I never trapped mink before. Do you always carry a tire with you mink trapping?

That is cool!!! I plan on trying next week and I am going to use that idea.

Thanks for sharing.

Awesome yaz very neat

Cool! Congrats

Yaz,

have you ever tried using a mink carcass as bait to catch more mink?

I read this in a trapping book last year. The author used fish chunks or 1/2 of a mink as bait in pocket sets or cubby sets

Never heard of that Chevy. We save the glands, and use them to scent up an area. I HAVE used muskrat carcasses for mink.

Cool info! I have two ditches that dry up sometimes in the summer, would mink travel them? What sign do you look for to determine if mink are present? h.h.

I saved the liver and heart out of the last deer I killed just in case I could put them to use trapping.

Do any of you think chunks of heart or liver would work for bait on mink in cubbies or mink boxes?

Never tried it. I would say you would want to keep it fresh. If it gets rank, they won't mess with it. Plus, you'll probably attract more grinners. I try to keep my water set lures fishy smelling. It would be worth a try.

They will certainly travel and hunt a dry ditch. I just like the water to have a place to put a steel trap. I I know they like to hunt mice, frogs, or anything along those places. They will dig around sometimes, so you can look for that. But I mostly look for tracks. If its dry, that may be tough. They like to poop on top of rocks and logs. Look for that. If its dry, try to find an undercut bank, root wad, or heavy vegetation with a trail through it, and set a 110 conn. Tie it off good. I have caught them in 110's on dry land, and since they don't drown, they could still be alive when you get to them.

I saw a mink on public land Friday. The first in twenty years.
The day before there were two otters in the same ditch. The were the first otters I have seen not on a refuge.

Yeah, it was new to me too. Probably just the odor from the glands that acts as an attractant.

And what and odor it is!

Well, the one that got all the bait out of the cubby night before last, couldn't stand it. He just HAD to come back to see if there were any more shad in there. Hole was NOT baited. Pretty nice male. It was my only catch today.

Thats a good number of mink in a short time. Nice going.

I looked today around a culvert my ditch goes threw and its has plenty of water in it. I looked at a flat rock out of the water and it had some small pooh on it. I might build a cubby hole and set a trap later this week. h.h.

I'd say you have a mink! Thats what they do, poop on rocks in the creek. You also might use some rocks, and fence off that culvert a little, set a steel trap where he will step on it going through the pipe. Put some rocks or pile up some mud right at the mouth of the pipe to lay the trap on so he will step down onto the trap. Thats a good coon set also.

Took a couple pictures of a mink set. 6" drain tile. Hardware cloth to close off the back, and let the mink smell and see the bait inside. Hardware cloth cage on the front of the pipe to hold the trap. Be sure to put something heavy on it, or drive some stakes beside it to keep critters from turning it over. I like to use these where I don't have a natural set, or natural materials to build a set from.

is that a 110?

do you catch many mink in pocket sets?

Yes that is a 110. I really don't set pocket sets much Chevy. Most of my mink and coon sets are blind sets, or baited cubby's with steel traps in the water. I suppose If I had more time to set more traps I would. I'm only running about a 1/2 dozen sets, that are EASY to set and get too.

I will ONLY use these kind of sets where I cannot use a steel trap. This pond is froze, and I can't get steel trap in there where it won't freeze up. PLUS, the fat *** cows see me put in a trap, they are usually right there thinking its something for them to eat. They usually mash my trap a foot into the mud!!!

thanks.

I like the IDEA of pocket sets but on the creeks I trap they are darn near impossible to put in (all sand and rocks).

I need to build some of these types of cubbies, I see plenty of mink tracks

Just pile up some rocks along the bank at the edge of the water,throw something fishy smelling up in it, and stick a trap in the water. As you can see in my pictures, that essentially what I am doing. Or take a short section of drain tile, and put rocks and gravel over the top of it. I really think anything like that along the bank is going to peak their interest, and get them in front of the trap.

Here is my concrete tile set. Feel free to critique. Got 2 of these sets a few cubbies.

You have the right idea there bean. Two things I would do. #1 is place a couple stakes on the trap to keep it from moving and tipping over. Place one through the spring loop, and the other between the jaws on the right side of the trap. I'd brush in, and cover the trap with weeds and grass, giving it more of a "tunnel" affect.

Dad dropped me off on one road, and walked and scouted through. He drove back to the header on the other road, where he had a coon/mink set at and waited on me. I took a lot of pics of the locations I seen that were suitable for sets. Primarily so I wouldn't forget, but to also know what EXACTLY I needed and # of traps to haul back through there when the time comes. Dad had caught a mink, had the trap reset, and was sitting in the truck waiting on me. My phone died before I could get a picture of him with his stinky minky! :rolleyes:

Here is the set. It was the ONLY open water on this ditch. So, the coons and minks are working it pretty good now. It is a header with a 14" tile dumping in. You can see the trap in the water in lower left hand corner of the pic. I can't ague too much since he had the fur, but we fitted over the trap placement here. If I was setting it, the trap would be located RIGHT at the corner where pan of the header drops down into the deep water. That way, when they stepped down to come around to the bank, they would HAVE to step on the trap. Where it is at now, they have options. Just one of the many arguements, or should I say discussions... today!

Start checking your creeks that have any moving water now. The snow cover has the mink out of the fields, and fence rows to the creeks now. I heard today from two different people about numerous mink tracks along the open ditches. If you have open water, you should be good to go if there are any around.

This one has been a long time coming! I've had this trap set in an undercut bank in some rip rap right behind my house. I have had it set since before Christmas. Luckily, when all the water came, the bank didn't wash out too bad, and it was still wired off to a tree root. It FINALLY connected on this female mink today!

Nice picture Yaz. Solid catch!

Nice Congrats

Nice catch! Is that trap died pink....???? h.h.

Why yes…….thanks for noticing….big fella...

Actually, its red primer. Didn't get a chance to put a coat of brown on them. It does look pink in the picture though….It worked.

Never fails!!!! Yesterday, this creek bend was open. I have a pocket set right behind the log. Pair of mink went down the whole creek last night! following their tracks sure does give you a good idea on where/how to set of them.

That's interesting yaz, nice pic!!!

I should have taken more pictures. Those critters stuck their noses in every nook and cranny along that creek!

Getting another 4-5" of snow tonight so any tracks will be fresh. Tomorrow Im going up both ditches and check for mink tracks. h.h.