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Post by chappy on Jan 18, 2013 19:59:28 GMT -5
What part of the state has the most mink???
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bdfisher
To date: 34 Muskrat, 3 Mink, 9 Raccoon, 4 Beaver, 1 Rabbit, 3 grinners
Posts: 246
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Post by bdfisher on Jan 18, 2013 23:38:27 GMT -5
In Ulster county
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Post by chappy on Jan 19, 2013 9:17:48 GMT -5
Doubt that, Orange county has more mink and rat habitat then we do.
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Post by jsevering on Jan 20, 2013 9:13:09 GMT -5
well i was gonna guess the kerhonson area to be specific ;D...
arnt they doing a density study now on mink... monitoring the mohawk river to relate it somehow to what the hudson should be... some sort of pollutant deal?
read about it anyhow... cilinder pipe type hair traps for dna and some sort of special mink pooper snooper dogs to collect scat...
dont know what county would have the highest density chappy... my thought would be certain areas, with a good variable steady food base and cover within the different counties across the state probably are close or equal in high density populations where those conditions exist...
scenarios in each... was doing some survey work down this side of the hudson where jersy and ny come together... after the hurricane two seasons ago for an engineer... working some of those small tribs... place was beat down with mink tracks... looked like coon trails... not to mention some fairly nice narrow dry land corridoors for cover... so... either the food base was there or theres a mink running twenty four seven looking for a playmate....
kinda wondering how those special pooper snooper dogs and prickly dna cilinder mink traps are doing monitering the mohawk for that portion of the hudson cause the smaller tribs feeding into the lower portion seems to be doing fine... jim
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Post by ztbowtech on Jan 21, 2013 6:57:02 GMT -5
we have mink on very creek, pond, and lake here.
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Post by chappy on Jan 21, 2013 7:49:25 GMT -5
Kinda interesting this year...startin to get the feeling that the mink population in my area is down a bit and there may be a few more rats on the creeks? I don't have a single stream this season that has produced more then 2 mink. I usually have several that produce 3 or 4 every year. Caught close to a hundred incidental rats, which is above normal....maybe less predators? The mink and muskrat studies are still ongoing. There was a mink study done in Michigan a few years back that connected the pollutants with mink fertility issues....the minks prey species are on the lower level were pollutants accumulate.
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Post by chappy on Jan 21, 2013 7:54:21 GMT -5
Maybe a trial hawk and owl season is over due, problem is they taste like nuts.....lol.
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Zagman
#2 Newhouse
Posts: 2,186
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Post by Zagman on Jan 21, 2013 8:26:18 GMT -5
This same topic is being discussed on Dobbin's forum....and I am a little surprised to hear that NYS is being mentioned as one with the highest population......
I just figured all the states would be in the Midwest........
With the amount of water we have in this state, I'd say we have pretty good habitat for the little guys.....
And, I know of 3-4 guys that have busted 100 mink or more, which is better than zero. Probably more, just mentioning the ones I know.....
MZ
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jan 21, 2013 8:37:48 GMT -5
Like most other fur animals, NY has a good but not great population of mink relative to other places. The guys who said that in tman have never been to the midwest walking those ditches and creeks. If they did, they wouldn't say that. 100+ mink per year in NY is excellent production right there... among the top performance. But that ain't even a real good week in parts of IA or southern MN. Men like Gerald Schmidt and Terry Sawasky (fossil) have caught 400 to 700 mink out there in a few weeks before ice-up hits. Those numbers may seem impossible to fathom here, but if you spent one day looking in culverts and bridges, creeks and ditches out there it'd be different. Same with the 1,000+ to 3,000 coon per season guys in southern IA. Or the 1,000+ fox trappers in southern PA and MD. They happen to live in areas where a particular animal is peak density population. Here in NY we have some of everything, but tons of nothing. Except maybe gray squirrels and rabbits this year
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Zagman
#2 Newhouse
Posts: 2,186
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Post by Zagman on Jan 21, 2013 8:45:30 GMT -5
Oh, I agree completely.....thus my incredulity that NY was mentioned......I just mentioned the 100 number as it is often thought of as a benchmark number to hit......and a "1 percenter-type" catch in this State......
MZ
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jan 21, 2013 8:48:01 GMT -5
Oh, I agree completely.....thus my incredulity that NY was mentioned......I just mentioned the 100 number as it is often thought of as a benchmark number to hit......and a "1 percenter-type" catch in this State...... MZ I took your post to mean you were surprised to see NY even get mentioned, and I agree. It's not even near top-five in the country... nor even best in the northeast. Maine probably has more mink than we do, especially because of that long coastline and bigger waters up there.
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Post by scott on Jan 21, 2013 9:07:09 GMT -5
"I took your post to mean you were surprised to see NY even get mentioned, and I agree. It's not even near top-five in the country... nor even best in the northeast. Maine probably has more mink than we do, especially because of that long coastline and bigger waters up there"
Take a look at the harvest records for any given year and you will quickly see you are off base. One would think with all the water you would be correct but the statistics show otherwise.
Maine trapper Mac
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Post by jsevering on Jan 21, 2013 9:15:19 GMT -5
actually mark there are a few guys in ny, that i know that get close to two hundred mink a season... well actually in about a third to half the season, before they pull and move onto other things... i would tell you who they are ...but then they would kill me ... kinda disheartening when your still waiting to set your first trap and there breaking the one hundred mark already and hearing reports of eight to ten mink days still coming on the average run... not really... enjoy hearing about it from them... i just say... well... basically all i can say, is darn that's nice... jim
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jan 21, 2013 9:18:27 GMT -5
Mac, NY and PA have way more licensed trappers AND milder weather than Maine. Catch #s aren't reflective of population #s... Alaska has more mink than any several other states combined, but that doesn't mean a guy can catch 1,000 mink per season there.
Midwest states are the ideal blend of mink density and weather conditions permitting max possible harvest
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jan 21, 2013 9:29:28 GMT -5
actually mark there are a few guys in ny, that i know that get close to two hundred mink a season... well actually in about a third to half the season, before they pull and move onto other things... i would tell you who they are ...but then they would kill me ... those are awesome numbers from NY... must be the eastern or northern part of the state. I've never known anyone to catch more than 50ish here in the western half. One local guy who is long-lining mink along with beaver this year had 40ish mink last I heard.
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Post by jsevering on Jan 21, 2013 9:48:19 GMT -5
just part of a mink catch picture one of the guys sent me, from a couple of years back... very humble man when it comes to talking about catch's... matter of fact... the guy will probally chew my butt out for posting it... but figure its good blood presure medicine for him... was for me.... jim
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Post by walshy0913 on Jan 21, 2013 10:26:19 GMT -5
Lots of mink here..see them driving down the road sometimes on the streams..lots of sign around and plenty of tracks..wish i could catch some more of them..oo if i only had more time off of work
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jan 21, 2013 10:30:54 GMT -5
just part of a mink catch picture one of the guys sent me, from a couple of years back... very humble man when it comes to talking about catch's... matter of fact... the guy will probally chew my butt out for posting it... but figure its good blood presure medicine for him... was for me.... jim hey... I recognize that place... it's the Flatiron! busted... your secret mink killer is outed!!!
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oldeman
Fulton Montgomery Fur Harvesters Ass.
Posts: 581
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Post by oldeman on Jan 21, 2013 11:41:44 GMT -5
It seems to me looking back over the years that the mink population in my area goes up and down with the nos. of prey animals as with other species.Just what I have observed over the years.
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Post by skunkman on Jan 21, 2013 15:07:57 GMT -5
Don't even waste your time trapping them here, they are as scarce in Madison County as Muskrats in East Syracuse....
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Post by otter on Jan 21, 2013 17:24:34 GMT -5
Maybe someone else is catchin the mink before they get to you..
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Post by skunkman on Jan 21, 2013 17:31:42 GMT -5
That must be it.... ;D
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Post by brushwolf64 on Jan 21, 2013 20:17:05 GMT -5
Maybe someone else is catchin the mink before they get to you.. You might be on to something there........i think its the guy Jim Severing knows LOL Look at that pile of mink.
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Post by chappy on Jan 21, 2013 21:42:35 GMT -5
Otter...Maybe so....lol. I will agree with Austin that the Midwest is where there at. Just to give you a rough idea the most recent report i could find from IAFWA Fur Committee shows estimate of 134,000 wild mink out of Midwest region. The rest of the country lumped together was only 56,000.
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Post by Rick on Jan 22, 2013 17:19:31 GMT -5
I LOVE trapping 'em but aint got 'em. I dabble in it because I enjoy it. Catch a few every year 3, 5, 6, 7, 10. I don't think an all out effort would produce 30.
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