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Post by yoteskinner on Jun 5, 2011 9:11:46 GMT -5
Any of you ever target mink with these? Lookin for some input on how they work and best way to set them up..
Heres where i want to use them....We have a few Large canals that run for miles mainly lined with cement chunks, and they also have a road built on the edge of the canal thats opean to public hunting.... So the road gets drove alot by phesant hunters and others... But Im always seeing mink runnin along the sides popin in and outta the holes hunting....
My idea was to make some boxes and then go under the bridges where no one would see and pile rock around them like another hole, Bait with Fish and guard with a 120.
Lookin for some input befor i make a ton of boxes...
thnx for any info you can give me!
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Post by minnesotascott on Jun 5, 2011 9:19:43 GMT -5
I make cubbies out of natural rock in the area, this is a picture of a a typical cubby I make.
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Post by ewoktrapper on Jun 5, 2011 9:40:45 GMT -5
Cubby's are good mink takers.I started use'n them here cause I get all the lake effect off of lake erie.Lot's of snow..All the grass tunnels and such are snow on and calapsed.The ice builds alot streams and makes pockets useless.
Here's my winter plan.I use bottom edge sets.The weather can do what ever it wants and I still got them working.The next set is the root system tunnels.These are the roots that are high and dry.I block them in and force mink thru them.I use to make pockets at these spots but it take too much time. I do how ever that a 3/8 stake poke a hole in under the root and lure it.Then I blind set each side of it,within a few feet of the hole.The next thing is the cubby,under high grass,drift piles,Or sitting on the ice and cover with snow.Even set on,by or near beaver dams.At this time of year I'm running 100% 110's are being used.
You can still find open water at spring seeps and out flow of beaver dams.Even some pipes will be open.I just found too much grief setting these places up with foot holds.
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Post by Law Dog on Jun 5, 2011 10:29:32 GMT -5
Have any sawmills around? I liked to use the 1st cut slabs from a mill and take the best ones and cut them 15-18 inches long then put 3 sides together with the slab pieces. Then I would put a furring strip 1X2 in the middle on the bottom between the 2 side parts so I could bed the traps and no messing around setting the trap on a wood surface. So the top and both sides are slab pieces and the bottom is set on the ground/bank when placed. slots can be cut on both ends if you are using 120s. Looks like a "natural" hollow log and lite and easy to set up!
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Post by sniperbbb on Jun 5, 2011 10:47:54 GMT -5
Got a picture of those? I got access to a big pile of those slabs.
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Post by Law Dog on Jun 5, 2011 11:06:06 GMT -5
Used them in the UP worked great on the narrow sandy banks, don't have any here in SD not many mink here were I'm at now. Best way I can say is build a fake log on 3 sides and use the 1X2 as a cross support on the bottom in the middle to support it and hold the shape. The great thing about this is the outside is round "like a log" but the inside is square thats perfect for a 110 or 120!!
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Post by bill1958 on Jun 5, 2011 12:03:39 GMT -5
the thing about rock covers as they pretty much stays put each season but there is another advantage over logs and wooden cubbies is this they draw crawfish and minnows and the mink,coon and otter knows this and the muskrats will often use these as resting spots.
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Post by Law Dog on Jun 5, 2011 12:12:45 GMT -5
I like to set the fake logs on the narrow banks like a blind set for the mink running the bank, worked well on the small feeder creeks also and in the thicker cover too!
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Post by hideman on Jun 5, 2011 14:24:00 GMT -5
Yoteskinner,
I faced a similar problem here. The county/townships went around several years ago and place large stone and rap under and around the bridges to prevent erosion. The mink were drawn to it like flies, I assume hunting the nooks and crannies for miice, crawdads, etc. Several of them even had mink toilets under them. But no good places to conceal traps. I took several pieces of 4" field tile, 4 to 6' long, placed them where I could bed traps at both ends, and covered them with stone. They stay put year after year, don't look out of place to prying eyes, and the mink can't seem to leave them alone. Works for me!
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Post by ewoktrapper on Jun 5, 2011 14:44:40 GMT -5
the thing about rock covers as they pretty much stays put each season but there is another advantage over logs and wooden cubbies is this they draw crawfish and minnows and the mink,coon and otter knows this and the muskrats will often use these as resting spots.
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Post by ewoktrapper on Jun 5, 2011 14:48:06 GMT -5
Bill those are nice for the early season..Just too hard here to keep open in icy water.Cubbies tend to get flooded out also on the water like scott posted above.If I use a cubby it's high and dry so it stays open in all weather.
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Post by mark572 on Jun 5, 2011 16:03:01 GMT -5
IMO! rock cubbies are the best way to trap mink just like scott posted above. with usen these cubbies all i need to carry is traps bait and wire. the only downfall with rock cubbies is when the water comes up you cubbies is useless for a while, but what i have found is i make 2 small rock cubbyies 1 for regular hight water and 1 about 2 foot back and a foot up above the first one and when i wire my trap down i leave extra wire to get the trap to the other cubbies!
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Post by ewoktrapper on Jun 5, 2011 16:35:38 GMT -5
Nothing wrong with a rock cubby.I caught my first mink that way,many moons ago LOL..I just start high when setting cubbies.If you put all your eggs in one basket and the water comes up or even floods.your missing alot of bank runners.IMO.. I leave the bottom edge set and the pockets for the water.....
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Post by yoteskinner on Jun 5, 2011 16:48:56 GMT -5
... Think a guy would benifit from building them & tossin some fish in them now and keep doin that through the summer and get them use to usin them?
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Post by sniperbbb on Jun 5, 2011 20:18:55 GMT -5
Id wait till fall perhaps, mink dont do carrion well even during the winter.
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Post by walkercoonhunter on Jun 5, 2011 20:25:11 GMT -5
... Think a guy would benifit from building them & tossin some fish in them now and keep doin that through the summer and get them use to usin them? mink do well on mice and voles...when mink season opened up my uncle used to use these or rabbit..then he went to muskrat when he got the supply of carcusses.... he used alot of cubbies all made from natural stuff and he started making them this time of year so the mink would get used to checking them in thier travels thru that area looking for food.... he once told me a mink is alot like a coon....in reguards to this....if he gets a meal in that cubby a few times he will then visit it every time thru that area....and i have seen this time and time again in the snow... if you would pre bait them the coons/possums and skunks would beat the mink to the bait till you got them all cleaned out....just my opinion tho...
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Post by bill1958 on Jun 5, 2011 20:37:06 GMT -5
yes but a good shot of rabbit urine will do the trick in my opinion
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Post by backwoodsman on Jun 5, 2011 23:24:08 GMT -5
We used to pursue mink intensely. Any cubbies work and natural ones are easier to hide. Coffee cans can be cut and modified into double cubbies for 110's. On several occasions ours produced doubles that I like to thin kwe wouldnt have got if the first mink had the only trap at the set occupied. The coffee cans work great with footholds too and you can make a double cubby out of them but I recommend flattening them a little and making sure the two critters cant reach each other. PVC makes good cubbys and the bigger ones can be used with 110's. 160's and 220's. I'd skip most of the bait and use lure though.
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