# Weasel thread Lets get one started..



## Wizard3686

FREEPOP said:


> Sick huh Rob? Brew flu? :evil:
> 
> Thanks for the leg work on this post


 

Lol i wish it was brew flu lol... Nah everyone in my house has had that stupid cough.

No problem on the post.. Did you use your box yet? Alot of the guys i sold them to have been useing them for chimpmunks


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## FREEPOP

Had that cough stuff a couple weeks ago. 

I did get several chipmonkers with the box. 

Still working on deer and then it'll be steel and rabbits


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## Wizard3686

Lol yea the cough wouldnt be to bad if i didnt have to cook for a living lol. Dont think ppl would like me coughing on there food.

Gonna move some of my traps here soon water opens up on the 25th and i havent had no luck with the **** in the spots i have them at.


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## uptracker

You're just asking for competition aren't you Rob?

One more thing you can do with new boxes is get some muddy water and a paint brush and paint them with mud. Some even brush them with trap wax too.


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## uptracker

Here's one of my crappy boxes from last year:



















My new boxes:










One other tip, you may want to use a chew or tuna can to hold your bait in so the weasel doesn't get soiled when it lays in there a while. I have a cleat on the bottom of my box too so the can can't slide around too. Plus, you can take a Q-tip and dip one end in Anise (or Anise smear) and the other end in Weasel Lure and then throw it in right on top of the bait can. I make a smaer lure outta skunk essence and when it's really cold, I smear a tad on the closet tree about 12" up. I don't like it too high up or on the box because I always get it on my clothes. Keep it about 12" up so that it wofts around good. When they come in to investigate, they'll lose the smell becasue it'll be above them blowing over their head and then they start to look around. One look though, and the box is right there. It saves you from buying Gusto or some other skunky liquid lure too.


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## bawplank

Great thread, I got 15 boxes going out as soon as I think they are white.Kalamazoo county


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## Rustyaxecamp

When do you guys figure the UP weasels turn?

Worth my time to throw some boxes out during rifle season?


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## K-zoo




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## Wizard3686

Rustyaxecamp said:


> When do you guys figure the UP weasels turn?
> 
> Worth my time to throw some boxes out during rifle season?


 
They should all be white by mid Nov.. I got one last year on the 16th and he was white as can be.


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## Fordman7795

i read the the glands and skulls can be sold as well. Anyone know someone who buys these?


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## Wizard3686

Fordman7795 said:


> i read the the glands and skulls can be sold as well. Anyone know someone who buys these?


 
Im not to sure on the skulls but i bet if you cleaned them up you could sell them on Ebay or somewhere like that. 

On the glands i know RockyII was looking for some last year he may still buy them. Not sure on that really. If you get enough im sure you could find a lure maker to trade some lure for your glands


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## Wiggler

dang... you guys are making me wanna weasel trap and ive never even seen one in the wilds.. lmao! how much do weasels sell for? and how in the heck do you skin something so small? its like skinnin a mouse. :yikes:


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## Wizard3686

Wiggler said:


> dang... you guys are making me wanna weasel trap and ive never even seen one in the wilds.. lmao! how much do weasels sell for? and how in the heck do you skin something so small? its like skinnin a mouse. :yikes:


 

Lol 
Man truthfully i have only seen maybe 3 or 4 in the wilds you dont see them to often when i seen them i just got a glimpse and only because they were running across a dirt road Its funny how white shows up on a dirt road.lol 

Last year my tops was around 7 bucks for a big short tail. I sold a couple for 3 but i also messed up the head on them and they were small. It is nice to lay some boxes out along your line and check them as your checking the other traps. 

Skinning is easy as heck really just ring the back legs and snip the front legs off at the elbow. Make the cut from back leg to leg and watch out for the glands. The tail is a lil tricky but what i did was slit it down some till i could use my thumb nail and finger and just take my time and slide it off. You will lose the black tip a few times till you get the hang of it. The you just pull down kind of like doing a rat in a way really easy to pull off. These things have no fat whats so ever on them all lean mean muscle. 

All i used to flesh them was a paper towel and my thumb nail last year worked out great.


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## Wiggler

thats pretty cool. just trying to trap them would be fun. do you have fisher around you, U.P. Master Slayer? gonna have that beaver tanned? im gonna set a few more buckets today and pull everything tomarrow. i know most of the deer hunters will be up friday, so i want all my stuff out of the woods. cant wait until saturday... that is one day i have Never missed since i have been old enough to hunt. (35 years) dang im old... :sad:


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## Wizard3686

Yea we have fisher and pine marten which both of them i will be going after. 

Nah not getting anything tanned this year as much as i would like that grey fox is gonna cost me a good clip of money so tanning will have to wait till next year.. 

I pulled most of my traps today but am about to go set some 330's at a new spot i dont think it will be seen by hunters and the ppl who do hunt on the road are friends of the family so im not to worried about it lol. 

But man wait till you see the pics it is 4 ponds it goes pond then dam and cross over to another pond then culvert then back to a pond then dam and cross over which goes out and across the road and up a hill and back down to another pond. So i am gonna set a couple 330's on the cross over by the road i think. Might get lucky and get an otter in this spot also we will see may set one in front of the culvert if it isn't to deep lol


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## Wiggler

man... that sounds like fun! we have another "warm" night so i ran out and set a few more buckets. found a coyote run across a 2-track that looked like a highway. too bad those worthless rodents arent worth much. i'd put a spankin in the runway with snares this winter. oh wait... i wont be here! i'll be sunnin myself fishing in florida.....


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## TallPaul

Do you think they've turned completely, I know hares were still spotted a week or so ago.


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## Yoopertrapper

They are all white now!!Snowshoes and ermine.


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## Wizard3686

I havent had no luck yet we only have 8 boxes out at a few locations . I know last year they were white by now and i Know a guy over in Mn got one and it was white. Plus Asa Lenon told me he got 2 outta his deer blind that were white as can be. He is down in Gulliver


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## MuskyDan

what's the story on the little white mink fellas?


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## anon21511

They are all white in Montcalm Co., got one with the truck this morning! Unfortunately there wasn't anything worth picking up.


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## MuskyDan

buddy and I managed to piece together 4 boxes last night. I am heading out to the big brush and rock piles that are logged into my memory bank this morning.


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## bradym54

any1 know if weasels are in lower michigan(lenawee county)? and how much bigger would I have to make a mink box?


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## Wizard3686

MuskyDan said:


> buddy and I managed to piece together 4 boxes last night. I am heading out to the big brush and rock piles that are logged into my memory bank this morning.


 

Good luck Dan i havent been having much luck yet i think imma move a few boxes and see what happens lol. 



(bradym54 Asked)any1 know if weasels are in lower michigan(lenawee county)? and how much bigger would I have to make a mink box

I would have to say yes there is some down that way. I wouldnt know what kind of Pop you have or how long they would turn white for tho. I know there home range goes alot more south then that. 

On the Mink box are you gonna use a 110?


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## LyonArmonial

hey wiggler...first thing i skinned WAS actually a mouse! lol


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## trapper_max

anybody have pics of weasel tracks? i saw robs tracks around the box, but i think i found a set of tracks, not sure tho


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## Wizard3686

trapper_max said:


> anybody have pics of weasel tracks? i saw robs tracks around the box, but i think i found a set of tracks, not sure tho


 

I had a pic of them on a post i made a while back. If you cant find it in a search, I bet you could send NorthCountry a Pm on T-Man and he will send you some pics of them. That is who i got the ones on my post from.


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## bradym54

wizard i got a butt load of 110's and plenty of 1.5's what ever works best I will use for mink box. any ideas of dementionsof box


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## Macker13

Another great post Wizard, I learn so much off threads like this. I really appreciate the effort you make to expain things simply. For guys like me with little or no background in trapping they are a great read. Thanks and keep posting!


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## Wizard3686

bradym54 said:


> wizard i got a butt load of 110's and plenty of 1.5's what ever works best I will use for mink box. any ideas of dementionsof box


 

The box i made for my 110 I took and made it around a 1/2in bigger then the one 110 all the way around. I cant remember how big it was off the top of my head really.


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## uptracker




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## Wizard3686

Macker13 said:


> Another great post Wizard, I learn so much off threads like this. I really appreciate the effort you make to expain things simply. For guys like me with little or no background in trapping they are a great read. Thanks and keep posting!


 

No problem. Like you last year was the first year i have ever set a trap and i have learned a lot sense then by reading forums and just getting out and doing it. 

On the weasels it was the first thing i have ever gotten and i knew i would be going after them again. It is just great see them sticking outta the box when you walk up. 


Just trying to spread the joys of trapping weasels. It isn't a very sought after fur bearer but it is a great one to start out on or for kids to get in to.


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## MuskyDan

I went 4 for 4 on my first night, I had a mouse in every box. :rant: Hopefully after I clean them out the weasels will get hungry.


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## Wizard3686

MuskyDan said:


> I went 4 for 4 on my first night, I had a mouse in every box. :rant: Hopefully after I clean them out the weasels will get hungry.


 

Lol welcome to the life of a weasel trapper :lol:

I hope you took them mice and stuck them in the back of the box tho? They are a great attractor and bait for the weasels. I have heard where some ppl will feed the mice in the box all summer long and even try and get them to build a nest in it so it sticks just like a mouse when season comes.


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## bowhuntr81

Ok I have a question for all you weasel trappers. I have been studying the milk jug set (not that there is alot to study) but I haven't been able to make any boxes and I think the milk jug set is the cheapest and easiest for me to try. On to my questions:

How do you secure it? Wire? Cable? Stake? Seems I'm not in any danger of the weasel dragging the trap off, but what of another animal dragging the weasel off? Seems wiring it off would work just fine. I looked at wizards original posted pictures and couldn't see how he had secured them, so any thoughts or advice is cool.

Also, for lure I am going to give the Kishels Weasel Food Call Lure a try, it was cheap and I like experimenting. Anyone ever use it?

Thanks guys!


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## Wizard3686

bowhuntr81 said:


> Ok I have a question for all you weasel trappers. I have been studying the milk jug set (not that there is alot to study) but I haven't been able to make any boxes and I think the milk jug set is the cheapest and easiest for me to try. On to my questions:
> 
> How do you secure it? Wire? Cable? Stake? Seems I'm not in any danger of the weasel dragging the trap off, but what of another animal dragging the weasel off? Seems wiring it off would work just fine. I looked at wizards original posted pictures and couldn't see how he had secured them, so any thoughts or advice is cool.
> 
> Also, for lure I am going to give the Kishels Weasel Food Call Lure a try, it was cheap and I like experimenting. Anyone ever use it?
> 
> Thanks guys!


 

You can just wire it off to a log. I would use 14 or maybe 11 gauge wire. I haven't had any problems with anything messing with a weasel yet. I do know that fox will kill a weasel just to do it tho lol. If you really want to you could also make up a couple cable extensions and use quick links to hook it to the trap chain. 


I havent tryed Kishels Weasel Food Call So i cant really help you there. But let me know how it works out for you. Matter of fact i dont even think i have ever came across that lure.. Where did you find it at?

Another new lure on the market is one by Bob Jameson called Erminator That i will be giving a try either this year or next. From what i have smelt of it it has some skunk smell mixed in with glands and i think a lil bit of a food call to it also.


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## hplayer13

Can anyone post pics of the milk jug set? And where are the basic places for weasel to be where should I set my traps?


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## Wizard3686

hplayer13 said:


> Can anyone post pics of the milk jug set? And where are the basic places for weasel to be where should I set my traps?


 

There is a Pic of the milk jug set on the first page of this thread.. I showed a few areas where one would look to set a trap on the first page of this thread also. 

Where i am i look more towards old clear cuts and thick pines. I have set some in grass and culverts and did good.

I Know in Mn they all swear by frozen cattails and that tall grass stuff even more so if there is a culvert going under the road connecting to sections of they grass or frozen cattail swamps.


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## xfdmazqgwu

Wizard3686 said:


> bradym54 said:
> 
> 
> 
> any1 know if weasels are in lower michigan(lenawee county)?
> 
> 
> 
> I would have to say yes there is some down that way. I wouldnt know what kind of Pop you have or how long they would turn white for tho.
Click to expand...

I saw one today in Washtenaw county and it was brown. Maybe some of them don't even turn white around here. I see tracks and scat a lot, but today was was the first I actually saw one in the wild.

I wouldn't have seen the weasel, but I stopped to look at a dead mouse a few feet into some brush. It was still warm when I picked it up. While inspecting it, I noticed a weasel bounding in my direction. I tossed the mouse a few feet away. The weasel darted away for a second before grabbing it's meal & continuing on. It wasn't much bigger than the mouse & didn't even leave any tracks on top of the snow.


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## Rustyaxecamp

shrew

A weasel in MI right now would be white. Plus they are 3x as long as a mouse.


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