I've never made a gland or urine lure before...but I think it is time I experimented.

I caught some brushtailed possums today, and I cut the glands from the base of the tails of some of them.

I've heard that to make a good tincture lure, I should cover the glands with vodka. I don't drink, and I don't want to buy a whole bottle just to make a wee bit of lure (yeah, yeah, I know I can post the rest of the bottle to you ;)). I have also read that you can use denatured alcohol. The denatured alcohol that I have has had some purple dye added along with a bitter additive to make it less likely that folks will drink it (we call it methylated spirit).

Will this type of denatured alcohol be worth trying?

What should I be using? Is there an even better recipe that doesn't require alcohol at all?

Thanks in advance... Coote.

100 proof vodka works well. It really dosnt take that much. Here you can buy a 1/2 pint of cheap rotgut vodka for around 3$US. Not sure what you have to pay for it.

Good thought thanks. I actually dunno what is available here in the way of cheap vodka. I should go and check it out. Maybe I've just imagined I'd have to pay around thirty bucks a bottle.

I dont drink Vodka either. Its 100 proof, thats all that matters. Couldent hurt to check it out. Maybe Asa or Paul will see this soon and chime in. Theyve been at it a long time.

I called the local liquor store. Seems that 100 proof is an American classification... and if I listened properly to the store clerk, 100 proof is equivalent to 50% alcohol by volume. They didn't stock it that strong... about 43% by volume (86 proof?) is all they have. And that was around NZ$42 for a 750 millilitre bottle.

I will phone around some more to see what else is available. It could be that we don't have 100 proof around here. I guess 86 proof would be worth a try.

I understand that vodka is relatively tasteless compared to other spirits. I wonder if some strong other variety of spirit would do the trick. I will have to bludge a small quantity from some of my buddies that drink.

Thanks for your help... Coote.

Well, I've never done it for lures, but I know some people who tinture herbs, and 100 proof is all that works.
P.S.-Vodka is about the burn, not the taste.

ever heard of ever clear? nasty stuff but it will do what you want to do.and its about as high as you can go i think. i do know you can run a car off of it

Thanks folks. I'll investigate.

Everclear isn't legal to buy in my State so I use 100 proof vodka with good results.
(I have been told Everclear is used as break fluid on the railroad so if one knows a railroad worker they might get some.)

Sorry if I'm hijacking here, but can you tincture skunk glands with vodka? Syringes aren't the easiest to get ahold of here.

Hey Lynx if you post a step-by-step demo I'll give it a try.

Sounds like a plan.

I've heard of people that live in the northeast (only the northeast) that used the lemon method.

Big Pat asked...
Sorry if I'm hijacking here, but can you tincture skunk glands with vodka?

One can tincture any animal or plant product with 100 proof vodka. Ace

Thanks Ace!

How bout a definition of tincture. Is it similar to pickling? Preservation like with framaldihyde or something totaly diffirent and unrelated? Everclear is just packaged and legaly produced shine, good ole corn liqure. You can order 100 percent rubbing alcohol from a pharmacy, it contains no water, we use it at work when splicing fiber optic cable. Thanks, Rob

I dont think many using the term tincture know really what this process is and its intended use. Very few lure makers actually tincture in the sense that is being implied in this thread for gland lure etc. Alcohol is a powerful astringent that is used in this fashion to extract and draw out available extractable materials.

Tincturing is a procedure used to extract an specific active material from a plant or animal matter.It is not a means to an end formula quick mix. Alcohol is a preservative and a strong one at that. The higher the percentage of alcohol the greater preservation qualities that material possesses.

Glands do not need to be tinctured to be developed into a lure. Tinctured products will not break down, nor age beyond the point of initial mixing and will be preserved at that state. Aging your ground glands with some urine will yield a nice gland lure if allowed adequate time to age.Then you can work up something with your aged material. Which may take a year or longer to reach a desired degree of age.

I dont recommend adding an alcohol based product to any gland lure except possibly for castor based products for beaver etc. I would not recommend using specific alcohol derivitives for a canine or cat gland lure in the sense in which it is being implied.

Tincturing is a specific process used in limited fashion for acquiring a specific active ingredient needed and taken from a bulk or another raw form of material. This purpose is to extract a more concentrated material for another more specific use typically.

Rob:
Tincturing is just a solvent to get the most oder potential released from glands and plant materials like asafoedita powder, musk ambrette crystals, catnip, spearmint, etc. 100 proof vodka is a natural product made from potatoes and has no negative odor effects on the canines. Rubbing alcolhol is something different and might have negative effects when in lures, especially fox and coyote lures so I would be skeptical of using that. Ace

Wow, thanks Bob....

Bob J:
The only glands I tincture in vodka are the small weasel musk pods to get the most out of a product in scarce supply. Ace