At the entrance dig a cavity somewhat larger than a trap, with a shallow trench leading around to one side for chain. Line with fine sprigs of hemlock, and set trap evenly and firmly. The hemlock will not only keep trap and chain from freezing down (a thing to be carefully avoided) but also help to neutralize that tell-tale smell of metal. Get some moss of a dry, fibrous nature, and containing no earthly matter to freeze. That found on rocks is generally the best. Tear out a crescent-shaped piece of a size to half fill trap, and fitting snugly between pan and jaw and two small pieces to fill in on back or trigger side of pan--or only one piece, like the first, if using a trap with spring on the outside.
If you have done your work properly, the inside of the trap is completely filled, from jaws to pan, with no chance for anything to get under the pan, and no wad of batting beneath it (as is used by some) to become swollen with moisture and prevent its free working. Now go around trap on the outside with moss, pressing it in so as nearly to cover jaws, lay a thin leaf over pan, and cover with well pulverized rotten wood, which may be found in any old stump.
Lastly, throw on bits of leaf and pinches of dirt until it resembles as nearly as possible the surrounding ground. Don't be afraid of covering too heavily, so long as you don't put too much over hinges of jaws. You want it so that the iron will not be washed bare with the first rain. But avoid any appearance of a mound, as nothing arouses an animal's suspicions quicker than this. The chain may be covered with loose earth and stump dust. Some advise hitching to a clog, but I generally use a stake, and seldom, ever lose a mink by footing. But if a green stake is used be careful to smear the exposed end with mud to remove its fresh appearance, and to secure the bait use a dead stick invariably.
Many guide books speak of leaves as a covering for the trap, but the fact is that dry leaves are something that the mink habitually avoids, doubtless not liking the rustling sound given out in traveling over them; hence it is best to use them in land sets sparingly, and to locate your trap so that the shy fellow will not have to wallow through a carpeting of them to reach it.
I have had excellent luck by placing trap at the edge of a bank a foot or so high, with a good runway underneath. The mink smells the bait from below and springing up to investigate often lands plump in the trap, when if he had been afforded the chance for a closer inspection he might have gone on without troubling it. You may think this a small thing, but it is just such trifles that circumvent the shy fellows.
In making your set do all the work from the back side; also approach on the same side when visiting. Go no nearer than necessary to see that everything is all right, and make your stay in the vicinity as short as possible. If any part of the trap has become exposed cover with stump dust. A small fir stuck down by the trap with branches projecting over it will serve as a protection from rain and snow, but is seldom needed when trap is covered as above described.
Always be on the lookout for places to set when hunting or fishing. Let your eyes run along the strips of beach and boggy, peer under overhanging banks and among piles of drift, and scrutinize closely every log spanning streams. You will be surprised to find how often you will hit upon footprints, droppings, holes and runways, the knowledge of which will be of the utmost value to you when the trapping season arrives.