Not to many clay or plastic tiles in my area, but any area where water will flow through it are hot spots. Ex: culverts

Great post!!

NOOOOOOOOO !!!! ...... The rain just melted the 10 inches we had .... Now just mud ... Yuk! ... Garry-

here in the mountains they are usully dry most of the time,but still produce a healthy number of mink and coon

ttt

Great advice actor. I know of a perfect pinch point i'm going tto set at next year. I just cuaght a mink at it's hole near it do ya think i could get another one there?

great post Garry, set what works for you ... pocket sets arent easy to punch in, in certain parts of the country .... what works for you is what matters .... if it catches mink thats all that matters .... i know i cant punch in pockets at home like i can elsewhere .... clay, roots, sand, etc .... spose i need to move to IA or MN .... LOL

I love those pics . . .those are hot locations here in the farm country of the south.

tiles. I know up here we call them things culverts. whether their in a field or ditch, hey i'm open to new names

ttt

I believe the term tiles is due to using terra cota pipe for them as plastic was not available when these were put in many places. Terra cota is the same stuff those thick roof tiles are made of.

In the first picture with the stone wall I would think you would miss some that would go up around the wall and others that would follow the point of land out into the water, plus some others that may always stay on the opposite bank. Nothing beats a little snow cover for showing you exactly what is happening.

There is a field road and culvert two 30" inch pipes side by side across from the house here, I have trapped it for I guess ten years and always look for tracks when I cross it. One side looks pretty equal to the other side in terms of cover and water. But the one side produces mink every year and the other side almost never does and rarely shows a track. I have a bunch of other places where the same thing happens. In my opinion you have to be right smack in front of them, any place else leads to alot of waiting and empty traps.

Awsome post Gary thanks for the help. one question though. do you put any bait or lure in your clay tiles or do you just let them be blind sets?

Did you reach your Mink goal yet?

There ya go.

Now wait a minute. I thought you couldn't catch mink on bare banks that didn't have any cover. I've seen that said many times in books, on here, etc.

Haha, I was gonna make that point, but decided I didn't want to open that can of worms.

I couldn't help myself. That's one of my favorites. Along with "Every mink runs tight against the bridge wall." "You can't catch another mink where you have already caught one if he lets off some of his musk." "I can catch more mink faster in blind sets than in pocket sets." "You can't catch mink in bodygrippers with any regularity." And on and on and on. LOL

Mink will go where mink want to go, and most times mink will go where mink have gone before.

Randy ... thanks for that input ... Like I said earlier in the post ... "I am making an effort to teach the young people coming up through the ranks." I can't help what others have said before me and I really don't care. I am not trying to be argumentative just state the facts as I know them, as plainly as I can and what works for me. I also believe that in most cases where similar habitat and other factors are near to what I have, the same ways will work.

At my age, I never know how many more years I have left to trap. I have a heritage that I believe should be passed on and a little knowledge about what I am writing about. The Good Lord has made trapping enjoyable, and at times profitable for me and I believe I should give back and teach others that may not have a mentor close at hand.

This is why I am writing the book on muskrats and muskrat trapping ... to state the facts as true as I know them. I am here to help.... if I can. ........ GArry-

And doing a great job too. Just thought of a couple tiles I'm gonna set next year that I've passed up before. Thanks.

Those are both excellant pinch points .... most every body of water or water course has pinch points ... you just have to look for them and make sets there ... and then have PATIENCE! .... Garry-