Shooting Mink

[shakey jake]

may contain the creme of sum yung guy

 

[eldon]

Lots of experience regarding mink on Isle of Lewis. Traps are baited with scent not food if you have that many (thousands) out.

True story, Strangest every freebie from a stranger over coffee was some mink "fluid"

I was on a motorbike and warned not to bust the bottle on the way home, which was only 500 mile or so

 

[User00047]

Lots of experience regarding mink on Isle of Lewis. Traps are baited with scent not food if you have that many (thousands) out.

True story, Strangest every freebie from a stranger over coffee was some mink "fluid"

I was on a motorbike and warned not to bust the bottle on the way home, which was only 500 mile or so

How did you get on with the, erm, “mink fluid” ?
did it work??

 

[Longstrider]

Adding to the sentiments of others ... DO NOT try shooting the ruddy things with a .22 rimfire when they're in the water. The ricochets from the surface will travel almost as far as a 'sky shot' when you miss the mink. Doesn't matter how good a shot you are, you WILL miss a good few. Not only does shooting over water affect your distance perception, mink swim with next to nothing above the surface so become very small targets indeed. I used to trap them for a few local fisheries and regularly took over a hundred each Winter.
A Fenn #6 in a tunnel cut into the bank at water surface level worked well for me. A bit of fish, or bunny guts at the back of the tunnel draws them in over the trap nicely. A nice long bit of cable between the trap and the peg allowed any 'not quite as dead as I wanted them to be' mink to escape the tunnel, where they quickly discovered that swimming with a #6 on them was problematic .... I used to use bicycle brake cables for this and put the peg on the outside of the tunnel or even just under the waters surface in front of the tunnel.
I'd make my own cage traps for places where I suspected there may be otters (far fewer of them around then) and had moderate success with them. Cage trapped mink were dispatched with a .410 from far enough away to avoid ruining the cage trap.
Most shooting was done with a 12 bore simply because the ammo was cheaper than that for the .410. These days I'd be using steel shot around waterways, but back then it was just a 30 or 32 gram load of 6's.

 

[Hornet 6]

Traps on floating 'islands' you can bait to an area with a a back stop and shoot them, shotgun is best, but obviously no good if range is an issue.
As for mistaking them for otters, not happening in reality is it, something of a size difference.
If a 'mistake' is made, just hope its not a tagged one, and that imply the three S's

Neil.

 

[hendrix's rifle]

It's all been said.
I use to trap them.
Don't put your finger in the cage!

Or if the dogs get on one make sure it's dead before picking it up... had a patter dale catch one and I didnt make sure it had expired, a shot to the head and a trip to hospital for a tetanus later lol

 

[User00025]

Be careful my friend, shorten cable, keep them out of water if not dead.

 

[AGR]

If you trap them you have to prevent those lovely cuddly otters from becoming victims.
but once otters arrive you will know exactly how many fish are present in the lake, ,, they will be on the bank and easier to count. all dead and dying often with just a mouthfull of flesh missing, normally from the gill area.
you could of course pay large amounts of money to otter/mink proof the place, not always possible dependant on resources and location.
I have never known mink to destroy a fishery, otters on the other hand, 100k of un-replaceable specimen fish in a matter of weeks. in addition to anything else edible, frogs, birds including full grown wild fowl even geese and swans aren't safe.
if you notice ducks no longer flighting in even when food is supplied, you can take it as a given you have otters.
good luck.

At least the mink will be dead too. The otters will kill them.

 

[reloader54]

At least the mink will be dead too. The otters will kill them.

they generally vacate the area, something the lakes fish stocks cannot do!

 

[foxdropper]

Accidental catches when ratting with terriers are unavoidable I’m afraid and certainly sharpens the pack up should they come across one again .Most ridiculous law since banning burning of witches .

 

[User00025]

Accidental catches when ratting with terriers are unavoidable I’m afraid and certainly sharpens the pack up should they come across one again .Most ridiculous law since banning burning of witches .

 

[reloader54]

Accidental catches when ratting with terriers are unavoidable I’m afraid and certainly sharpens the pack up should they come across one again .Most ridiculous law since banning burning of witches .

oh dear,,, now you tell me.

 

[foxdropper]

My team has accidentally caught 3 this past year when ratting river banks .Good hunts too all of them .Accidentally holloared them on too .

 

[Smellydog]

Accidental catches when ratting with terriers are unavoidable I’m afraid and certainly sharpens the pack up should they come across one again .Most ridiculous law since banning burning of witches .

I smell vegan involvement mate!

 

[foxdropper]

Strictly beaver man myself mate .

 

[Brittany boy]

When I worked on a fish farm in the 80's we had a problem with mink getting into the tanks and scratching the backs of the fish ( turbot large flat fish ) I used cage traps back then and shot them with air rifle. Be careful of them letting rip like a skunk the smell sticks to everything.

 

[Marcher]

In a cage trap, if you poke the rifle barrel into the cage, the mink usually bites it. Makes an easy shot.

 

[Longstrider]

In a cage trap, if you poke the rifle barrel into the cage, the mink usually bites it. Makes an easy shot.

They do that to the muzzle of a single barrel .410 too, but it's a bit messy and tends to push out the far side of the trap mesh a bit, even with a little 2" cartridge. Been there .. done that !

 

[countrryboy]

As has been said probably 1 of the easiest animals to trap.
I've only ever used cage traps as always been decent numbers off otters about.

I mind 1 poor sod that worked for the local fishery board had the job of squeezing the anal glands of dead 1's for the scent for baiting traps.

Any consriction\bridge always works well as a trap site and if using a raft on moving water u need quite thick rope, 10mm+ poly or if u get a big flood can snap lighter rope.

Nowadays as with snareing traps will have to be set so animal can't hurt it's self,. So be careful with long chains/cables, the trap shouldn't be able to reach the water side so they can't drown themselves.

 

[Beretta V]

Ive been a syndicate member on a fair few different carp waters, and 5 out of 6 have been destroyed by the otter, they will drag a 40lb carp out and kill it in seconds.
Use traps by the way .

Yup these pests need to be sorted out.
But the cwis lot won’t have it.
Rivers managed to get a decent stock but our fury friends have changed that around here now