Think
Like A Mink
Article from Mar
- Apr 2006 Buckeye Trapper
by Nick
Bower
I'm not certain how you feel about mink trapping; all I know
is that for years I held the mink in high regard. A secretive
little critter, few and far between; almost magical in nature.
Though it's been more than a few years ago, I still remember the
first mink I ever caught, quite by accident I might add. I would
guess that most of us trappers have this same mind set.
I made a commitment to myself to do my homework, pay my dues,
and go after the little furry tailed critters with reckless abandon.
Why? That is a very good question. I guess because, like I said,
the "Magical" mink intrigued me.
For me it became an obsession. I armed myself with the best knowledge
I could find; books, videos, talked to everyone who would share
anything they had learned over the years about the mink. One person
in particular, Randy Schworm, was and still is, an inspiration
to me.
Over the last two seasons I have had the opportunity to spend
most of the season afield in search of my quarry. It has been
a great learning experience for me. If you allow yourself to actually
see what you’re looking at it, it is amazing just how much
the animal will teach you. Let me explain a bit about what I've
learned.
Mink amaze me in the respect that there is absolutely no rhyme
or reason to their actions at times. They’re hunters, on
the move constantly in search of prey I guess. It appears to me
that the mink just can not help themselves, they have to check
out every inch of their territory at times, but then again, I've
seen them avoid the same trail on their next trip through; choosing
another path to travel.
I've heard this said, and how true it is; more can be learned
by a non-catch sometimes than by a catch! There are several darn
good mink trappers out there today. Depending on their school
of thought, some insist that the blind set is the way to go, others
have good results using pockets, and then there are the bottom
edge set guys. I personally put all these sets to use, but I just
seem to rely on the baited pocket more and more. Why? Let me relate
one instance here.
I had an abandon beaver pond on my line, the dam had a breach
in it, man made I might add. It was at the end right next to the
shore line. A few strategically placed obstacles were used here
to make what I felt was the perfect blind set. This set went with
no action for almost four weeks. Now there is a bit of snow on
the ground, I could plainly see where two mink had worked the
shoreline of this pond. This made me scratch my head in wonder.
What had I done wrong or what had I overlooked here. I thought,
maybe it's time to change tactics, so I dug a pocket into the
exposed end of the old beaver dam and baited it with a chunk of
muskrat. I moved the trap to the new location and said to myself;
let’s see what you think about this. This new set was within
three feet of where the blind set had been made.
To my delight, the next two checks produced two nice male mink.
Before the season’s end, this location produced a female
mink. This female provided me with even more information. She
was a large female, and I could tell I needed to examine her stomach
contents. I do this with all the mink I catch. Her stomach was
full, and I mean full. Yet she could not help examining the hole
with an odor coming out of it. I know that she could not have
been hungry.
Location, location, location!!!! Another very important part of
this mink madness. Like any animal we attempt to capture, if they
ain't there, we ain't gonna catch one! This was probably the hardest
thing for me to overcome during my pre-season preparation; the
lack of sign. I found myself wandering aimlessly looking for mink
sign on my line. I would at times, find some scat or on a rare
occasion I would find a track. This put me to doubting that I
actually had a mink population worth trapping. I had to keep telling
myself, if I were a mink I would want to hunt and live here. Again,
it amazes me where mink travel. I soon found out that lack of
sign did not mean the animal was not using the areas that I felt
were good mink habitat.
Snow can be a help and can also be a very humbling experience.
A lot can be learned quickly from spending some time tracking
the mink’s movements. The more I pursue the mink the more
I learn about them and their quirks. They have taught me that
mink trapping can, and is, a waiting game.
I'm certain that there are mink men out there who would make me
look like a rank amateur. My thoughts were, and still are today,
I'll just have to make lots of sets in a given area to cover up
for my lack of knowledge. Trial and error has taught me that this
is not a bad thing. It has proven to me that it takes this type
of mind set to take advantage of the mink’s habits and quirks.
My eyebrows have risen more than a few times when I've seen a
mink floating at a set that I thought was really not needed, and
at the set I felt would produce, which sat empty. It's this exact
set of circumstances that keep me intrigued, it's definitely a
challenge.
I'm still learning. Everyday on the line I try to look at something
and make some sense or reason of what I'm looking at. Why do mink,
do some of the things that they do. I'm finding that I'm a much
better mink trapper now, gaining knowledge and confidence in my
methods. I keep telling myself, "Nick, ya got to think like
a mink". ### Nick Bower, Box 181, New Athens, OH
43981
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