I was sifting some raw gum asafoetida that I had put in the blender and powdered it up getting it ready to do a tincture. Got that sticky stuff on my fingers and I can't keep em outta my nose. Almost as bad as Backbreaker on the fingers - lol.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA Ha What will you use to tincture it ??

Asafoedita is definitely a long lasting, enduring, penetrating odor that hard to wash off one's hands. I tried the latex gloves when handling strong ingredients and the odor will go right through the latex. I made a batch of Coyote Super Range All Call yesterday while wearing a double pair of latex gloves and I still can't get the odor off my hands. I've tried every soap imaginable, peroxide mixed with baking soda, gasoline, orange degreaser, lighter fluid and rubbed in several deoderants to no avail. My hands still reek of lure and Maria is going around the house going pheewwww. Ace

LOL - Maria sounds just like Rhonda. Today I've been in the lure shed a lot working with the lures and she put a change of clothes on the deck for me to change into each time before I come into the house. I have to change back into what she calls my "stinky clothes" before going back out. Women's sense of smell and tolerance to those "good" odors is different than men's... I do believe.

try tooth paste

Rags is right, toothpaste with flouride will work better than anything I ever used----Yes, was handed the toothpaste on top of clothes before I was allowed back into house with first wife, and I am not a lure dealer. lol

Actually, I kinda like the smell - lol.

There is a hand sauve that is referred to as a liquid glove that does a good job of protecting the hands while formulating with out gloves. I cant use gloves working with the gum. It just sticks constantly so I just jump in and get it done. I do use gloves religiously for most other applications.But things still bleed through.

I try to refrain from rubbing anything while working with this material.LOL It will stay with you for some time and everything you eat or smell tastes like asafoetida flavor.

Bob, do you make your own valarian extract?

Fortunately Dave made me a few gallons of it last year, but I'll be out of it by this time next year. He also told me how to do it myself, but his method was different than a tincture, its a heat process.

I was wondering if you tincture, or do it the other way? I was wondering if there's much difference in the product when done.

You can distill it from the powder form,tincture it or buy it as you know already in the fluid state. I have done both.I have used the straight powder in formulas also.

Not positive that either has a great advantage over the other process when referring to the final result.The older I get the more ways I look to speed up my processes if possible without sacrificing quality.

Maybe Asa has a thought on this.

ACE YOU'RE ALIVE!!!!

Listerine mouthwash is great for removing foul odor's from the hands also, plus cleans up any cut's/scratchs you may have as well.

is the asafoetida mixed with wheat flower worth using? does it need to be the pure form.

Bob J & Paul:
I have only used the valerian powder in heavy base formulas that are aged for a year or more before selling. Same with the asafoedita, the powders will permeate the base and release the odor if aged long enough without having to tincture or process into liquid.
Ace
PS- I rubbed Ultrabright toothpaste into my hands for about 5 minutes and they smelled real good. A few minutes later the Coyote Super Range All Call odor was back full force. I tried the Listerine mountwash too but that didn't even phase it for a few minutes.

The powder form can be used.You need to determine the amount needed to achieve the level of strength for your formula or tincture volume.Its just not as strong as the gum and gum tincture volume to volume.

You have more inert waste per ounce also in the typical powder form. I used the powder for years before I found a good source for the gum resin asafoetida.

Maybe you just STINK Asa? lmao.

Offshore asked...is the asafoetida mixed with wheat flower worth using? does it need to be the pure form.

Generally the powder coming from India has been cut with rice but is milder than gum but still an effective lure ingredient for home brewed lures. One just has to compensate the amount used over the more powerful pure gum which is better for commercial amounts of lure.

J writes...Maybe you just STINK Asa? lmao.

Right! 65 years inside a lure shed sort of permeates one's molecules. People avoid 'ya, dogs love 'ya! LOL! Ace

i have 10 small boxes of asafoetida gum i brought home this time. my assist is supposed to bring me the pure form when i go back this time.

An old moonshiner/trapper i ran around with as young guy always, ALWAYS, smelled like skunk musk Asa, lol. If he had something of importance to attend, like family get together, football game, etc. he would douse himself with cheap women's perfume he kept in the glove box of his old jeep in an attempt to cover up the skunk odor, lmao.

Of course this only made a much much worse odor, lol. His nick name was Looney of course, lol.

J: Wherever I go, dogs are always trying to smell the soles of my shoes just from having walked inside of the lure building where a variety of lure ingredients spilled on the floor over the years even though the spills were cleaned up. Ace

I opened my lure container this morning in the garage to place a bottle that I forgot in the basket; the wife was complaining within 5 minutes at the other end of the house.

Guys, I have used Murphy's Oil Soap with some success on most lure impregnated hands.

Best of luck.

got skunk on me and washed my clothes in scent away laundry detergent twice and took a bath with scent away soap for deer hunting and took most away but when the wife came in she could still smell it in the house were I did not get it off in time but all was gone off ofclothes and about all off of me

The animal with the best nose on this earth....the woman of the house.

It's gotta be some kind of sacrilege trying to wash of such said smells! LOL

And as far as the women folk ... well, they signed on "for better or worse" ... remind'em this is the better and not the worse! lol

I take used coffee filter for odor off, this absorb and remove very good

I have tried a multitude of items for odor control over the years. It seems time,bathing and scrubbing is the only real answer to the problem of lure ingredients and lure odor on the hands, face and hair.

I just plain smell most of my daily life as I am formulating something, preparing other things for aging or mixing ingredients for blending, adding skunk to batches or just bottling it for lure makers sales.

I dont go to town much or socialize alot but that is ok with me. LOL The big exposure is doing wildlife control for domestic type folks. Then fifi, rover and the cats are like leaches on my feet and pant legs. Gotta kick them off at times. Little buggers try to pee on my feet and pant legs, then some try to hump my leg, have to watch them all the time.

The shoes like Asa says are the items you just cant hide.I am sure I leave a scent trail back and forth to all my sets in the winter since I am in my shop daily back and forth.

Asa, Bob, and Paul,

That's ok - keep doing what you're doing. We still like you-stink or no stink. Ain't nothing wrong with the fragrance of beaver castor, no matter what the wimmen folk think

I don't think most trappers would be so liberal when luring sets if they understood how enduring and penetrating a good concentrated type lure can be. Just opening the bottle cap and sniffing the contents doesn't come close to analyzing the odor of taking a small amount on say a cotton ball and placing it out in open air. If one doesn't believe or understand this, try taking a dab of lure the size of a BB and placing it in one corner of any room in your house. I guarantee the odor will permeate every room and one's wife will be screaming Pewwww, whats that smell!!! Now according to university studies a canine can smell somewhere between 400 times and 1 million times better than your wife so what does this odor smell like to them? Then consider that some trappers are only getting a few applications out of one ounce bottles at a set so this amplifies the odor 10 fold or more. This in my opinion sometimes allows canines to stand back 10 to 50 feet from a set and analyze the odors without coming closer and they move on without working the set. I suspect they sometimes deem this loud odor as unnatural and their wary mode kicks in. The trapper sees the tracks in the sand, mud or snow and thinks the canine didn't smell the lure so they add more lure compounding an already existing problem. I honestly believe the #1 cause of set avoidances, stand-backs and walk-bys is overusage of lures. I advise one to use lures as directed on the label by the maker. I knew one old time trapper from Crystal Michigan (90 years old at the time) who caught 80 to 120 red fox per season and done it all year after year for 50 consecutive yeras on a one ounce bottle of Fox Super All Call. Personally, I would feel a bit uncomfortable using that limited amount of lure but it definitely did the job for him. I like to lure the set with enough lure so that I don't have to get near the set again for reluring any time soon. I use a gob of lure on a stick about the size of a kidney bean and double that amount in late season cold weather. I know that works and has been a reasonable balance between skimping on lure and overusage. I have seen tracks proving that hundreds of animals have turned directly into the set from distances of 100 feet or more and that is a long enough call for me. I don't believe that one would increase their harvest by attempting to call animals in from longer distances, they would do better by honing their set placements down to at least 50 feet of where the target animals will likely pass. On the other hand, I don't get many avoidances so at least for the most part i'm not overluring. Contrary to widespread belief, even bobcat can smell lures for long distances and in cold weather too. University studies concluded that cats can smell at least 25 times better than a human. I have many times seen tracks in sand and snow where cats made abrupt turns from 100+ feet in sub zero weather and headed right into blind scent sets made for coyote with no visibility factor. Being that I trap and sell lures for a living one can take this information to the bank because if I were decieving one or simply speculating I would suggest really pouring lures to a set in an effort to sell more lure. Ace

i didn't know what this stuff was so i looked it up. interesting info on wikipedia. didn't think a main lure ingredient would also be primarily used as a cooking spice!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida

I was thinking,would baking soda help since it neutralizes oders,or in your case Ace maybe.

Rpowers writes...
didn't think a main lure ingredient would also be primarily used as a cooking spice!

Thanks for the information!
Originally trappers had to experiment with with ingredients they had on hand or easy local availability so it is said this is how asafoedita was discovered as a canine attractor. In the book by Sewell Newhouse of Newhouse trap fame, he tells how asafoedita being a stinky substance it was tried as a wolf call by smearing the asafoedita gum on trees to attract passing wolf packs. They found it worked and wolves smelled it for miles and came in to investigate. Pioneer lure makers than incorportated it into their baits as an added calling. Asafoedita was available at every drug store for medicinal purposes in those days so was always available locally. Ace

My little brother was in India a few months back. I had him search for Asafoedita and he came back empty handed. I figured he would of been able to find it, and get it pretty cheap. Oh, well, maybe next time he's there I'll have more information to send with him.

If anyone takes Asa's advice on putting lure in the house for your wives to smell, I think I speak for the rest of the forum when I say we expect a full report as to your findings, and any applicable photos of your wife's reaction will be extra credit.

well, K9, it won't produce any different results than your own scat that you seem to be so full of and willing to display! lol

LOL, k9.
I have read this thread with a good deal of interest as I aspire to try my hand at bait/lure making as an extension of the trapping. Much like I enjoy calling in turkeys, geese, predators, and other critters with calls that I make, I think I would get a big kick out of compounding lures and baits. If any of you would be so kind and generous as to give me a hand by steering my toward good literature, or even sharing tips, I would be eternally grateful. One thing that you would NOT have to fear is that I would try to get into making baits and lures in order sell them and compete with you. I already have too many hobbies of dubious worth to be adding to them...LOL...

Incidentally, while I have yet to embark on a lure making venture, I do have to be very careful about how many and how large of skulls I put in with my dermestid beetles. Bloodhounds have NOTHING on my wife...LOL...

Be Well, All,

Frank

any of you tried those aluminum bars that you wet and scrub your hands with to remove strong fish odors ?

washing ones hands in the skunk essance removal mixture of peroxide,baking soda and liq. dish soap should work and be safe to wash your hands with,

what asa said about using too much lure for canines and how good a sence of smell they have , very good advice .

asa and others , i'd like to know your thoughts about if you can over lure sets made for mink , coon, beaver and rats ?

mak

As a general rule lure usage should be moderate to light applications for canines. Mink, coon and rats I see no advantage to using any more. When one applies lure and bait to a set when you are on target they will find it easily as long as there is some eye appeal and/or wind drift assistance. So large amounts of lure or bait use dont really serve any great advantage and are at times a waste of product.

Cats I prefer more lure/urine use and multiple odors at times at certain sets with eye appeal.

Location and eye appeal serve a greater role in trapping then great scent appeal. As is supported in Asa's commentary regarding the older gentleman using such small amounts of lure each season.Knowing the animal and its preferred travel haunts is primary information when attempting to trap each specie.

Far too much emphasis is placed on lure at times. Its where you put the lure/bait, how the set looks and the origin make up of the product that determines an animals reaction to that odor.Very little odor will do great things if used with good forethought and common sense.

hmmm, Resin Lenon

Do you lure makers have outside wash areas? What I mean this is an area outside where you wash your tools and utensils after mixing/working with lure? I do and boy do the local dogs and cats have a ball in that spot -lol. Gotta watch where I step there sometimes though.

Also, do you mean your "one who cracks the whip" doesn't make you have one "special" pair of shoes to be worn only in the lure shed. These shoes are never to touch the floors in the house, or vehicle. They have to remain outside. LOL - I do.

From a few instances i've observed over the years I would say one can also overlure bobcat sets. Many times I have advised trappers who complained about bobcats walking by their sets and cubbies to try using less lure and most have reported more positive results. Ace

Nope I only have two pairs of shoes.The farm shoes are worn just about everywhere, house too on the trips back and forth. The others dont get much use.Limited dress up and church shoes.

I try to be careful but you know how that goes.She tries to keep me in line but I about have her worn out now from yelling over the years. LOL

Another good post with some top notch trappers/lure makers giving advice...thanks guys!


Question for Asa...you've been asked this before I know but put up with me again..after catching a skunk...there is a tremendous amount of smell. How come coyote/fox don't seem to shy away but are actually attracted to this spot...I can catch a few afterwards?

Mike: Skunk probably isn't one of those ingredients that can possibly put a canine into the wary mode. Skunk is so natural in a canines everyday life and its not unusual to smell where skunks sprayed for a variety of reasons. However, skunk musk used alone would not be the perfect lure as it is so common place that canines might not work the set, just come near for a look and move onward. Skunk musk makes a good call to get them in close enough to a set for a multi-compounded lure to take over and guarantee a set working most of the time. It is these multi-ingredient lures that might be deemed unnatural in loud amounts with the odor emitting from a little hole combined with excessive human odor. Just as an example, a dab of asafoedita gum at a set might evoke curiosity but a whole pound might be overwhelming and it might get analyzed from back aways from the set with the animal moving onward without coming in closer. Ace

Thanks Asa...good insight...makes sense.

This subject also reminds me that I favor lures with a reasonable amount of skunk musk in thier formulation whether it is in July or January. I used my Coyote and Fox Super Range All Call lures which contain skunk musk during the hot Summer months for 25 years during Michigan's bounty era. In my opinion, the addition of subtle skunk odor makes the whole set scenario seem more natural and works as a natural suspicion remover. One has to use reason when formulating lures with skunk musk or it will simply overpower all of the other fine working ingredients contained in the lure. If one is going to tip the skunk musk bottle and pour it to a lure then there is no sense in bothering to add such ingredients as asafoedita, castor, muskrat musk, tonquin, ambrette, valerian, muscaro, civet, etc., all one will end up with is a skunk gland lure in a base smell that has been obliterated by excessive skunk musk. From my testing and experience, it is all of those underlying multi-ingredient odors working together that ensure the best positive results. The skunk addition simply offers a longer call and suspicion removing quality to a good formula. Ace

thanks Asa for all the info!!!!!