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Post by psb1011 on Feb 20, 2013 19:28:21 GMT -5
I dont know where the densest mink population for mink is in New York state,but you should of been there!!!!
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Post by bballou on Feb 20, 2013 21:00:51 GMT -5
ED ---jd---have a friend who says he has had luck putting up muskrat quarters----in the air thight bags with the air taken out----I have been sucessful with quarters in rapped news papers---- but its only from spring to fall-----I have soaked the quarters in water for a while ---jest to give them some body then wrapped and put in to freeze. The glands I age for a little while ---- then grind and put up in a preserative. Or put up and tinture for liquid lure.
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Post by jsevering on Feb 20, 2013 22:33:46 GMT -5
Also how to slow down or stop rat carcusses from freezing and drying out ? .....................................................................................................
if your in the water find a spot where there running and the flow is keeping it open or from freezing over... leave your bait half in half out or all the way in depending on the set.... dry land you would be screwed some.... jim
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Post by bballou on Feb 21, 2013 11:31:56 GMT -5
Jest had an IDEA------we put fish up in water all the time-----why wouldent it work for muskrat quarters-----put some water in a gallon freezer bag add the quarters---add more water --- COVER QUARTERS) close bag --and freeze---- (may have to wait a bit for quarters to draw some water---- then add more water )
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Post by jsevering on Feb 21, 2013 18:13:41 GMT -5
bill the adding water to give it body... is that for leaching later or evaporation in the freezer... kinda at a disadvantage as i don't freeze bait over the summer... would the second way without the news papers give you more leach time at the set... kinda interesting thinking on it... either way, thanks.... jim
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Post by jdpaint on Feb 21, 2013 18:49:51 GMT -5
the leaching as you call it is what i think im looking for ,thanks , I was thinking a gallon of glycol in a five gallon pail with the rats and an ounce of carmans mink gland. Stir ,stir , stir. Also was thinking the non toxic ,glycol based rv antifreeze might be the way to go.
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Post by bballou on Feb 21, 2013 21:32:24 GMT -5
Jim ---for some reason I always try to thaw out my bait before useing-----the water is to prevent freezer burn and dry out----never though about the leach time ---jest wanted to thaw the bait----pull it out of the water (mess) and put in another container. jd---never liked putting bait in glycol---polly-g -- - or any type of anti-freeze----that I was going to use for mink-----I found---(what I though) was a refusal of mink to want to take or chew bait that has been in any of the products we mentioned. I want to keep the mink at the set as long as It takes to put a trap on him-----I belive mink have a uncanty ability to avoid traps---if I can get there attention on there bellys they may step on the pan faster. This is what works best for me.
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Post by broadhorizons on Feb 21, 2013 22:48:07 GMT -5
Mr. Ballou, the avoidance makes perfect sense... polly g tastes awefull when I've gotten it on my hands as antifreeze land trapping and then snacked in the truck between stops.
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Post by bballou on Feb 22, 2013 7:54:36 GMT -5
broadhorizons -----I have talked with many trappers----and the ones that I have talked to all agreed----animals would be attracted by the bait ---- ( put in the products we have mentioned )----BUT ----they all agreed the animals would not eat or move bait very far---(the animals have to carry the bait in there mouths)---so for mink and most other animals I use thawed bait---they will carry it away and they will eat it----there for spending more time near my traps.---and increasing my chances for a catch----- especially if I MAKE IT HARD FOR THEM TO GET.--------- AVOIDANCE ----wish I could figure it out ----I have watched mink go in and out of my sets----MANY TIMES --AND NOT STEP ON THE TRAP -----I also have talked to others with the same experience. ------ I figure its mother nature messing with me----at some time I must of made her mad.
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Post by jsevering on Feb 22, 2013 7:59:27 GMT -5
your freezing bait post got me to thinking...know a lot of guys caught mink with rats they were hauling in the same set... some rats real fresh... but how about the ones that don't have rigor or appear to have been under the ice for almost a week...
always made me wonder if them litte buggers were smart enough to take advantage of certain things like that, when they decide to hole up some or just a freak scavaging incident... know at least with the latter, it wasnt left or caught at the place they decided to hole up anyhow kind of fun to think on... jim
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Post by bballou on Feb 22, 2013 15:53:33 GMT -5
Jim for years I was told ---bait for mink had to be fresh ----I belive fresh bait is the best ---- but ----I had a bait set this year that I had a half of a muskrat in----for about 3 weeks---cough 6 mink off that half of a muskrat-----sometimes mother nature dont read the HOW TO TRAPPING BOOKS ---and the mink ----they dont read them eather. GO- FIGURE.
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Post by mole on Feb 22, 2013 17:19:37 GMT -5
A thought on bait and mink. Early , keep it as fresh as possible. Leave half a rat in a pocket and after a while it can get pretty rank. I usually scrub the hole with the stinky rat , toss it and put in something fresher. The stink will calm down and theere will be a little odor. Take a piece of stinky meat and freeze it, the odor will tame down to almost nothing.
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Post by bballou on Feb 22, 2013 18:37:15 GMT -5
ED----do you leave the heart lungs ---ect--ect ---in you muskrat baits. ??---or do you throw them away
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Post by centro44 on Feb 22, 2013 19:17:27 GMT -5
mike marasayada has a video called straight forward mink trapping.......he says when baiting with muskrat tear it in half......leaving liver with the top half.......he also says that mink carcass works good for mink bait......leave liver with top half and the glands with the bottom.......liver has attractent for top half and glands for the bottom half......makes perfect sense and i have too say his video was one of a kind......might not have been a high budget movie but full of info......he also at a pocket set would run the carcass from the top of the bank to the hole so if the mink ran the bank, it was a trailing scent down too the whole......same as fisher trapping
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Post by mole on Feb 22, 2013 19:40:13 GMT -5
If they stay they stay.. guts, stomach intestine go. tail goes too
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Post by bballou on Feb 22, 2013 21:24:18 GMT -5
ED ----The reason I asked was I always though the guts (especialy) would become more putrid and give off a more putrid smell----and would not be as attractive to any animal---except oppossum.
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Post by mole on Feb 23, 2013 7:01:13 GMT -5
Ever see an animal bloat on the roadside? intestinal gas.
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Post by bballou on Feb 23, 2013 7:20:25 GMT -5
Got your meaning----what makes this trapping thing so intresting ---always learning.
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Post by mole on Feb 23, 2013 14:44:08 GMT -5
always learning Yes Seem to forget a lot too.
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Post by bballou on Feb 23, 2013 19:55:14 GMT -5
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Post by bballou on Feb 25, 2013 8:26:44 GMT -5
Any of you guys ever use (the big flat shinners) for mink bait. ??
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Post by pettit877 on Feb 25, 2013 12:00:37 GMT -5
This is a great post guys, while we've got all of these great mink trappers checking this thread out I'm wondering if any if you use any flagging at your mink sets? I know a lot of people advocate using flagging at Marten/fisher sets just wondering if anyone uses it on there little cousins.
Eric
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Post by bballou on Feb 25, 2013 17:37:39 GMT -5
I use golf balls ---- when ---everything is right-----work very good -----for me. Some times hanging ---sometimes tied on the ground---so the little buggers can move then around-- when playing with them.---
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Post by mole on Feb 25, 2013 18:51:11 GMT -5
I have flagged mink sets, maybe a feather or something small light. I believe it helps some times. I dont do it all the time just when the spirit moves me.
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Post by jsevering on Feb 25, 2013 20:27:50 GMT -5
bill… kinda have an idea, your idea of a large flat shiner and mine is different… but ive used them alive at sets, what I guess you would call large bait (shiners) from minnow traps and sport shops…. before I got smart enough to realize to look for, what I was trying to create, naturally, rather then go through the pains of constructing the sets and trying to maintain them where I wanted them… usually not shiners now though
never used them froze fresh in water for later like you described earlier, usually use fresh killed muskrats or larger fish, probably the size of the large flat shiners your talking about, that im able to pick up along the way when I use bait, if im guessing your large size right… rock bank and bottom brooks here mostly, a lot of my bait when I use it, is wired to rocks, or wood snags that go out into the brook on or close to a certain angle… hard to get a pocket in here where you want or think you need them…
flagging, think a majority of mink sets at least, have that incorporated into them some.. naturally, at least with blind sets and using the minks nature… but used pulled feathers, rabbit fur and such at baited sets as a visual draw… but personally think, even a well constructed rock tunnel in the right place is just as much a visual draw or flag as the others… guess its how you look at it…. jim
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