Fun Muskrat Hunting Story

[Minkenry 1,044]

I've got a fun hunting story to share with everyone from this morning. Since I didn't capture any of it on film, I thought I would share it in story form.....

I took my pointer lurcher Onsa and mink Fang out early this morning before light for a little muskrat hunt before work. I released the lurcher and told her to go find a muskrat, and we started walking around the lake. After walking for a little ways, Onsa stopped and started sniffing and scratching at the frozen ground near the lake shore. I walked over with Fang and took her off the leash so she could look for the Muskrat hole.There was a thin layer of ice on that portion of the lake, so Fang had to search for a hole in the ice so she could go down under the water to find the submerged entrance of the muskrat den.

Soon after entering the den, a couple muskrats swim out and Onsa dived in after one of them. The ice shattered as Onsa went head-first into the frozen water, but the breaking ice slowed and disoriented her enough that the muskrat escaped. I felt bad for her, as crashing into the thin ice like that looked quite uncomfortable, maybe even painful, but she shook it off and looked for more muskrats coming out of the hole. Once it was clear there were no more muskrats, Fang came out of the hole and ran out across the lake on top of the ice, naively looking for the muskrats on the frozen surface of the lake. I called her back and put a leash on her, then asked Onsa to find another muskrat.

As we were walking along the edge of the lake looking for another muskrat den, we got to an area where there was no ice, only open water. I noticed a muskrat swimming out in the lake following the shore line, but pretty far out in the water. I noticed that it was edging closer to the shore as it swim, and as it got closer I finally decided to alert Onsa of its presence, as she hadn't noticed it yet. "Ssc ssc ssc!" I said, as I pointed to the Muskrat out in the water. The Muskrat was far enough out I thought it was a long shot, but we might as well give it a try and see if Onsa would get lucky. Onsa leaped clear out into the water with an amazing jump, and landed just short of catching the muskrat. The Muskrat quickly dived under the water, surprised by the sudden presence of the dog falling out of the sky. I expected the muskrat to then escape, but to my surprise Onsa dived under the water after the muskrat, and surfaced with the muskrat in her mouth! I was very pleased that she was able to catch that muskrat, especially considering as far out in the water as it was! We then continued looking for more muskrats.

On the other side of the lake Onsa again stopped and indicated there was a muskrat nearby. I took the leash off of Fang and released her into the water. She swam around the edge of the lake, feeling around the edge of the shore, looking for an entrance to a muskrat hole. She disappeared up under the bank, but I wasn't sure if she was just under the lip of the bank, or if she actually found a muskrat hole. All I knew was I couldn't see her in the water anymore. I looked around to make sure there wasn't a muskrat sneaking out of a back entrance, and when I looked back to where I saw the mink last, I noticed ripples coming from under the bank. I walked over to look more closely at what was causing the ripples, and I noticed my mink's tail flipping out from under the bank, wildly flailing around. Then I saw her back feet kicking around, coming out from under the bank as well! I was concerned that maybe she was tangled in some fishing line and drowning, and I bent down to try and help her out, when I noticed a flash of muskrat fur, and then a muskrat tail coming out from under the bank as well! I quickly reached down and grabbed the muskrat tail, pulling it out of the water with Fang coming out of the water with it, hanging from its nose like a bulldog!

I'm not sure what happened under the bank, but my best guess is the Muskrat was in a extremely short, submerged, dead end hole, up under the bank, and Fang grab the cornered muskrat by the nose, then proceeded to pull it out of the hole into the water! I am incredibly happy with both my animals after that hunt! Onsa leaped out into the water and captured a muskrat I thought for sure would escape, and Fang fearlessly grabbed a cornered muskrat by the nose! I honestly couldn't be happier with my little hunting team! :-)

[mackem 30,237]

Good read mate,justbout of interest do you ever run your dog on jackrabbits and suchlike?Racoons?

[Minkenry 1,044]

Good read mate,justbout of interest do you ever run your dog on jackrabbits and suchlike?Racoons?

 

I plan on it, but she is just barely 10 months old, so not fast enough to run jack rabbits yet, and not mature enough to try her on rough stuff like raccoons. I have done some cottontail rabbit hunting with her already, but I plan on holding off on hunting hare until she's more physically mature and developed. As far as toothy game, brown rats and muskrats are the only thing with teeth I've purposely let her hunt, but I do plan on hunting feral cats, foxes, and some coons. I'd also like to try her on coyotes some day down the road, with the help of experience coyote dogs of course. She does after all have several aunts and uncles on both sides of her family that are successful coyote dogs.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Minkenry

[mackem 30,237]

Sounds good Minkenry,hope she does you proud,thanks for sharing with us,much appreciated,merry christmas mate.

[jok 3,480]

As above . Jok.

[Guest vin]

always look forward to your posts...thanks for sharing.

 

Id like to know how/what/why etc etc made you come up with the idea of hunting with a mink and training it like you have done.. Its been an amazing experience watching all your vids from the beginning.

 

 

Merry Xmas to you and your pack.

[Minkenry 1,044]

always look forward to your posts...thanks for sharing.

 

Id like to know how/what/why etc etc made you come up with the idea of hunting with a mink and training it like you have done.. Its been an amazing experience watching all your vids from the beginning.

 

 

Merry Xmas to you and your pack.

 

I actually made a video to answer that very question, and to tell my story on how I got into mink.......

 

 

https://youtu.be/1HOM24OX6Oo

[Moe 108]

Good read as always mate , glad your team is coming together.