# Help!!! new trapper



## muskrater (Jan 7, 2009)

:sniper: I am just starting trapping and I need help. I tend to trap muskrat, mink, weasel, and squirrel. I have caught one rat and a squirrel. but htere are mink tracks going aroung my traps every day. I use semi fresh perch for bait and one day I set a trap at one side of a tunnel on some tracks then put the perch in there. The next day tracks went in from another hole and took the perch. I put some new perch in and put a trap where it went in but it will not go near the traps. Is scent a problem. I also need any advice for trapping.


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## jjames (Jan 6, 2009)

When you say "tunnel" are you talking about a tunnel through the grass, or in the side of a pond or creek bank? Sounds like the perch is working as bait. Personally, I think muskrat works quite well as its a very bloody meat( which the mink like). Check your pan tension and be sure its just shy of being a hair trigger because the mink is a light footed animal. Another tip: set your trap with the dog facing away from where the mink is expected to approach the set. Very infrequently, the mink will be thrown out of a firing trap via the dog flinging backwards, if he's standing on the dog when the trap is tripped. You may have better luck with a baited pocket set. Just dig a 5-6 in. diameter hole in the side of a creek bank right at water level so the bottom of the hole is just a little under water. It should be about 10-14 in. back in the bank. Place a large bait such as half a muskrat or some perch in the very back. A #1 or #1.5 coilspring should be bedded directly in front of the hole so that each jaw touches a side of the hole. This will give the mink no choice but to go right over the pan to the bait. **** luck!


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## muskrater (Jan 7, 2009)

The tunnel is through some cedar roots. Right now the river is frozen and so are the banks. Would a cubby with an open front with a 110 coni in front of it? I was thinking about trying that with a perch or rat in the back and the cubby covered with snow. This is my first season trapping and I started in late December setting on tracks so I don't know where anything is as far as dens. I currently have four conus and a floating culvert set with a #1 longspring on both sides. A mink has been using the culvert but won't go on top of the float yet.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Another option would be a bodygripper style trap for "tunnels" and runs. A 110 or 120 conibear would be perfect in these situations.

Just check your state laws to make sure bodygrippers are legal for land sets.


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## ND trapper (Nov 14, 2006)

muskrater said:


> :The next day tracks went in from another hole and took the perch. I put some new perch in and put a trap where it went in but it will not go near the traps.


Sounds to me like he knows your there. Not because of scent but because of possible disturbance at the location such as your foot prints. I got two words for you. "Blind set". Mink can seem very smart at times but they are also very predictable. The mink will let you know where to set because of their tracks. A well concealed blind set with no bait or lure will take most mink on their next time through the area. Bait and lure have their place on the mink line but it can also create them to be cautious. I have tried using cubbies with 110's with no success. That's not to say they wont work but they didn't work for me.


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## muskrater (Jan 7, 2009)

I have been setting blind sets for two weeks with no results. I followed tracks to some cover and the set there but the mink still avoided it.


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## Trapping God (Apr 14, 2009)

Try a pocket set differently, make a hole in the bank throw some fish in the back and spray it with some fish oil. and place a 1 1/2 coilspring in front of the hole. make sure to stake the trap in deep water so the mink drowns. hopw it helps.


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