LOL, Im sure if they work for you they'll work for an ameture like me. Ill Pm you.

Cletis the glands are at their best in this area in March.

We should be the same, I,m 55 mile n of Ark and 30 e of KS, but our season closed Jan 31. Thans Paul

Paul wrote....Authentic rat glands is one of the finest lure ingredients you can use. Beaver castor ranks right up there too

I agree 100%. Both are what my Dad used to term "commom sense lure ingredients."
Musk Ambrette is a fine ingredient too, its attractive to every animal species I can think of and is a secondary replacement to 'rat musk in canine and bobcat lures but one isn't going to fool a muskrat with it.
KY Boy, you didn't specify which animals you were refering to when you asked the comparison question! Ace

Good stuff for a "rookie" lure/bait maker...me!

I would love to see a pictoral on where and how to remove rat glands...Kyboy any possible way you could do that?

Asa are their any rat glands in that rat gland you make? You know that one that smells so good you could spread on toast in the am..lol

MChewk, next one I catch Ill do that. Ace I was refering to predator lures, thanks.

MChewk asked...Asa are their any rat glands in that rat gland you make? You know that one that smells so good you could spread on toast in the am..lol

Yes, pure yellow musk in the formulation, its what makes the lure the golden color it is. The 'rat musk is also the ingredient that probably makes the Muskrat Super All call so attractive to mink and fox. Ace

MChewk - This might help ya

Thanks Guys...still learning.

I've for the past 5 years tried the Artifical Rat glands first introduced to me by Dave Edwards, while I didn't take to them right away they are as good as he said they were, I'm pretty much done with real Rat Glands, except for 1 or 2 lures that I haven't had a good chance to test the "fake ones" out in yet, I'm down to buying 2-3 pints of the real ones a year....B...

I sure would like to get my hands on Dave's formula for those artificial rat glands. That product worked great. I still have about a pint of it left, but probably will never use it.... cause it was Dave's.

When I tested two of my canine lures long ago, I tried substituting ambrette musk for rat glands. The lures with the ambrette musk still attracted the canines, but they didn't seem to have that digging reaction like they did with the lures with the rat glands. For my formulations, the genuine rat glands work better for me.

They're expensive as heck, but I like how they work.

Thats what matters. When your supplying a product to satisfy a consumer even if it costs a bit more its best. Id guess having happy customers is a absolut must in the lure buisness. Without repeat customers one would have no buisness.

KYBOY wrote...Id guess having happy customers is a absolut must in the lure buisness. Without repeat customers one would have no buisness

I guess that must be what happened to hundreds of lure makers that have come and gone over the years I've been at it. I suspect that most had inferior lures and/or poor service and some that just rode the fair weather fur boom of the late 70's early 80's and onward to more lucrative persuits. Ace

Glycol is usless as far as I'm concerned. I tincture with 100 proof vodka. In some of my paste lures that call for ambrette I use the crystals straight, the odor like dried castor will permeate the lure's base when aged for a year or so. Ambrette is a very mild smelling ingredient at face value but will fool one who adds too much in a formuala once it has aged for a while. All one will smell is ambrette when too much is added even though other ingredients in the formula seem much more powerful. Ambrette is very permeating, I suppose that is why it is used in expensive perfumes. Ace

LOL - Asa, I made that mistake of using too much ambrette early on, and is a lesson I won't forget.

ttt.

Great discussion!

Glycol is not a good tincturing material.I agree quite unamimously regarding ambrette musk crystals.

Very good topic I will try the vodka. What about ketone and tibetene crystals? Will vodka be better than glycol?Thanks for tips guys its great the way you all give out info like this.

Take some real rat glands and some ambrette and dip a seperate q-tip or what ever you want in each pure mixture... put outside exposed to weather elements. After a month or two , go up and see which one you can smell with the human nose!

Well tell us...dont leave us in suspence what is the longest lasting?