best traps and sets for mink?

nightwatchman

nightwatchman

New member
we are totally polluted with mink here and i wanted to try my hand at trapping them but need some advice on the best trap size or type and the best setup for catching them along with bait. in the past two weeks ive picked up 5 on the road dead that have been hit only one has been damaged. 3 males and two females. im hoping to catch a few this fall and have them mounted. any help would be appreciated or any sights to check out thanks.
 
I have never gotten to go after mink, but I think one of the standard sets is the "pocket set". Basically it is a hole dug in a creek bank right at the water line. Then you anchor a coil spring in front of the hole and run it to a drowning wire. Then you use a high quality mink lure in the hole.

basically the mink comes snooping along the creek bank and sees the hole which might resemble a muskrat hole, smells the lure and investigates.
 
Try to get a copy of Fur-Fish-Game. Or, better yet, get a subscription. There's always a lot of great articles on trapping. I see your in Ohio also, so you should be able to find it pretty easily.
 
Mink are few and far between here, but I agree that watersets, or "pocket" sets would work best. Zero or #1 should be plenty big enough.
 
I trap mink along a ditch and I use a wood box about 16 inches long X about 8 inches wide and 8 inches tall with a hinged top and a hasp to keep it closed. we drilled a 2 1/2 in. hole in 1 end (Just big enough that a trap can't get out of it) we put mink bait in the back and a #1 jump on the bottom under the hole , take the chain off the trap, covered it with Long grass, those mink would go in ,get caught and they couldn't get out of the box!! when we got one we would just sink the box to drown the mink and re-set it on the way back up the line we took 17 mink in 3 boxes in a very short time. The box costed very little to make.Old pine is fine 3/4 in. thick, cedar is ok if you got some..plywood was ok but the porkys would chew on them for the glue once in a while.
Sounds crazy but it worked great!! give it a try
 
Some people, like me when they were worth more, use 120 conibears. I take the trigger and bend the wires in a v or y shape. Then lightly hit the ends with a hammer to flatten the end of the wire a little. Then take fish line, or copper wire and wire it to both of the trigger wires to make a loop with the two. They think they can slide right through, not usually. Place them in a trail that the munk are using or one along the creek or water way. A conibear support works very good for this, to hold it up and in place. T.20
 
Blind sets are killer on mink. Set traps tight to vertical banks(i.e. bridges, culverts) and under overhanging banks, as mink have a tendency to run right next to structure. #2 Victor square jaw coilsprings and 110/120 conibears are my primary mink traps when blind setting.
 
Purchase a copy of Hawbakers "Trapping the North American Furbarer" I should answer most of your questions.

AWS
 
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