Tips on mink shooting

[kaboom]

any tips or hint on shooting mink been asked to get rid of as many as is i can with a friend these have been "freed " and have started to invade the permission when is the best time to to go after them day, evening, night ? bait them wait for them ?

 

[Smellydog]

Traps are probably better.

 

[Moose67]

"Trapping is a legally acceptable and most effective way of controlling mink. Live capture using a cage trap, followed by shooting, is considered the most appropriate method because it avoids the risk of harming non-target species. It is easy, humane and efficient and allows non-target species, such as water vole, to be released."
BASC Guidance

 

[old keeper]

Certainly not easy to shoot and always on the move. Cage trapping as Smelly said has to be the best way. They are rather evil little sods, I once picked one up by the tail and it doubled round in a flash and bit through a thick leather glove.

This one had got into a seaside hotel and I finally cornered it and picked it up to put in a ferret box. I don't think I' 'll do that again in a hurry.

 

[Bramble]

I use double ended cage traps, covered right over to make a tunnel, make sure you put Otter guards on if you have any near you.

 

[Rhodesianjess]

Unless you're prepared to sit and wait all day,I'd trap them. Cage or tunnel plus Fenn, either works.
Fishermen see mink because they're sat still all day, not a luxury most people have.

 

[JTO]

"Trapping is a legally acceptable and most effective way of controlling mink. Live capture using a cage trap, followed by shooting, is considered the most appropriate method because it avoids the risk of harming non-target species. It is easy, humane and efficient and allows non-target species, such as water vole, to be released."
BASC Guidance

I would think a Water Vole would be good bait, the last mink I saw was chasing a Water Vole.

 

[Greenmist]

MK6 fenn in a false tunnel was always effective, live catch under a bridge is the way the go

 

[cjm1066]

Lots of info

Waterlife Recovery Trust - Saving our native wildlife from the introduced American Mink

Waterlife Recovery Trust is a registered charity, helping to protect the UK's native wildlife from the invasive non-native American Mink.

www.waterliferecoverytrust.org.uk

 

[kaboom]

traps wont be viable for while as i cannot check on them daily so lots of leg work to start but seems its the right time of year to see them during the day

 

[eldon]

I was once in Scotland having a coffee with a local mink trapping warden. He went on to explain that he had x600 traps and I wrongly assumed the bait was food.
Hang on he said and nipped out to his truck.
He came back with the bottle in the picture below and said this stuff is magic but stinks absolutely awful. Here you can have that one, but don't bust the bottle or you'll be puking !!
Now bear in mind I was on a motorbike with a fair few miles to go, 500+ to home.

Apparently, his mate reckoned he could stomach anything and the smell wouldn't bother him . After a few beers one night the challenge came to be and he lived to regret it

Whilst the rest of them fell about laughing.

 

[Smellydog]

I use to put a plank across streams with a live catch wired to it.I could see them easier etc.
Pieces of fish work as bait.

 

[Overlay]

To control mink you need a long term plan, using a large area to monitor and live catch, I completed a five year mink reduction for a group of farms and it was a great learning curve you clear an area just like foxes and like a bowl of marbles you take the ones out the middle and it fills up again
Best way is to find the high traffic areas over a bigger area you can and put in sand traps to get a number and also to correctly ID what you have on the ground, live trapping is the best by far and most humane and selective as you will catch moorhens and voles.

If your serious about cleaning the ground up, there are plenty of plans for floating mink traps for monitoring and setting to catch eliminates some non target species as well which is good

Best average bait I used a frozen small trout with the black and white magpie feathers hanging off and fluttering inside cage or /and little tin foil rattling around , mink are opportunists, they hate magpies love fish and just like a jackdaw they can’t resist a bit of bling to fire up their velocity of hunting.
If you can put out a stealth video camera you’ll see why they can kill and clear most ground dwelling animals and birds in an area so quickly, I’ve seen them in packs clearing up ducks in the water
You may have missed this season on the breeding season but get it right you’ll make a massive difference to next year

Good luck it’ll be worth it

 

[JTO]

I was once told that the best bait is a live female mink.
This stuff doesn't smell too bad:- Caven's Mink Master Lure - F&T Fur Harvester's Trading Post
Nor this :- Caven's Otter Lure Supreme - F&T Fur Harvester's Trading Post

 

[Cragman]

Trail camera likely spots, look for footings on the soft ground on bankings. They’ll sometimes come to a squeak. I had one in the lamp once come to have a look at a lip squeak.

 

[John Gryphon]

Winter mink skins, are they worth skinning/tanning for home use even if prices are poor?

Edited to include a search result.

Glacier Wear - Mink Pelts For Sale

Real Mink Fur Pelts and Hides For Sale. Select Quality Northern and Ranch Mink. Visit Our Website To See Our Complete Selection Of Quality Mink Furs and Skins For Sale From Glacier Wear.

www.glacierwear.com

 

[Tazz]

any tips or hint on shooting mink been asked to get rid of as many as is i can with a friend these have been "freed " and have started to invade the permission when is the best time to to go after them day, evening, night ? bait them wait for them ?

Shooting them is very tough, trapping is the way to go if you need to sort them, we have them on one of my permissions only ever seen 1 in all the foxing I have done

 

[kaboom]

think an investment in a couple of trail cams will be the way to go for starters ( after a long walk saturday )

 

[eldon]

Winter mink skins, are they worth skinning/tanning for home use even if prices are poor?

Edited to include a search result.

Glacier Wear - Mink Pelts For Sale

Real Mink Fur Pelts and Hides For Sale. Select Quality Northern and Ranch Mink. Visit Our Website To See Our Complete Selection Of Quality Mink Furs and Skins For Sale From Glacier Wear.

www.glacierwear.com

I once skinned and tanned a mink, probably wouldn't bother again as it was hardwork. The skin was hard to remove and the meat was slippery to grip a good hold of.

 

[John Gryphon]

I once skinned and tanned a mink, probably wouldn't bother again as it was hardwork. The skin was hard to remove and the meat was slippery to grip a good hold of.

Have you still got it?