Help on the process of aging skunk meat for k9s
Sets I need to take.
I bought some it looks Orange as in color and has a vigery smell.
Has any one done this before .
Thanks for your help.

I have not. And was thinking it would work. Everytime I have a skunk set up as bait he gets chewed up, but usually the vent first and the organs after. Not usually much of the meat.
I bet if you play around with it for a while you might be able to get enough taint that it will be good for k-9s. Can't hurt.

Thanks

If it has a vinegary smell sounds as if it soured before the preservative took affect! All the skunk meat ive ever dealt with is a deep red almost purple color. I like a fresh meat smell with skunk meat. tainted mice and fresh skunk meat is one ive been wanting to try.

I put the carcasses in buckets and let it rot off the bone. You wind up with a mellow paste.

I order some from Keller kaatz brother.
That the color if it and smells like vinger

Don't forget...make sure you allow your bait to "age" for a "minimum of 3 years" or longer for best results. Canines know the difference, and will most likely walk right by the bait if not.

73 I don't know I would have to believe katzs method is sound! I do as tbn does as well but only keep the juice. Once it stops producing juice, I add a gallon of well water and start again! I've got a bucket with three skunks in it going on 6 years! still produces a half gallon of 100 proof stink yearly

Ok u don't use meat then.
I bought just plan skunk meat and it looks Orangey brown in color.kellen said it was noithing added to it just aged.
Thanks

orange skunks with white stripes on trap chains, the dispatch use of (sodium and calcium) Pentobarbital will taint essence and meat, it remains in the blood, body organs and carcass as a whole! orange tinged meat?!
In the past, it has been used also in executions of condemned prisoners. A/K/A Skunks!

Tony, do you use that as a lure base, or as one of several ingredients in a lure?

Lot of good info coming out of this thread.

base and a little bit of every thing it works as a stand alone in a pinch! Just make sure you get it deep in a hole!

tbn, do you put the entire skunk in to rot or is it skinned and gutted with pods removed?

I skin,draw essence,throw the carcass in a peroxide bath,basically to neutralized the odor so neighbors don't complain,then put the carcasses in buckets. I don't save the pods so with the fat and pods and whatever essence remains,all cooks down to a mellow paste.After sitting all summer,by fall you can scrape off enough paste for personal use and play with it from there.I leave guts in and it was just an experiment I tried about 3 years ago and liked how it turned out.I thought with the guts left in it would be a rotten nasty odor but was not.

tbn my method is very similar. Except I use the whole skunk hair pods guts every thing but then again im after the liquid! The first year its almost un bareable But the second year its a black ink like substance with lots of punch! I filter it and keep it in jars to use for lures! It goes well with skunk oil,or any thing else you want to wake up!

Tony on skunk u put in buckets 1st. Do you draw off essence in pods or no.do u chop up skunk and put in a 5gallon bucket.so when u drain off black ink substance.
How much can u get off one skunk.
What do u do with hair and the rest left over too. Dr

I leave the pods full I strain the liquid thru a fine screen or cheese cloth. the first draw usually yields a quart. But that all depends on the size of skunk you use as well! No chopping in chunks or anything! There are a few old time recipes that do that as well. carman speaks of a old lure that was made this way. And went on to say it was a deadly predator scent

So just drop the whole skunk in a bucket.
Seal it up and wait 2 year then.
Can I bury my bucket in the ground and wait
2 years .
Thanks.

Do yall shoot your skunks when dispatching or euthanize

Bury it and back fill with salted sand, that will allow the magic concoction to evolve into an irresistible ingredient/bait.

There really is no set standard to do this. The objective is to get juices and odors, as long as it's drawing juice/ fluids its working. Whether its there for a month or years, it will draw attention to the area you place the meat or squirt a shot. Or just stake one out in a field and observe the tracks that show up. Look at how many bait&lures are out there, think they were all made the same way in regarding steps and process? How many trappers go out and buy these products based on the adds associated with these products? Example "AGED FOR 15 YEARS" INGREDIENTS X Y AND Z! TO ONLY CONTINUE TO SHOP FOR SOMETHING THAT WILL HELP THEM TRAP THEIR DESIRED ANIMAL? Then you have people who can go out and buy a can of mackerel toss some catnip, castor, and trout oil in it and hammer predators. If you don't have the animals in your area chances are you will continue to look for that "MAGIC CONCOCTION" that doesn't exist.

Ok Thanks

YES a heart lung shot! Most times they don't spray maybe a little shart but not a full on spray! Ken I never even considered the skunk being put down with a syringe method! But I can see how that might effect the meat!

Hey Tony,about skunk you put in bucket
So you put a whole carcass with everything in a bucket
Guts,hair,feet,pod.
So you dont gut it open just throw in bucket and wait.
In bucket do u put any water so it does dry out.
Do you drain off skunk essence first or leave it in.
Do you bury it or just put in a shed out of direct sun light.
I have 6 skunks in my freezer I want try it it out to see
What it does.
So it takes how long u say.
So only use liquid
What about other stuff in bucket any good for anything and will it preserve its self too.
Thanks Tony

all I keep is the liquid all that remains is hair and bones im sure it could be used as a draw station. FYI its not for the weak stomached!

Tony was in NEWFOUNDLAND, recently!

Mr. Carman just didn't pass this around, he picked up on about 40+ years ago. Russ is a nice fellow, nice chat at a camp fire spit.

Ive done whole skunk and carcass only A year or two set.

My experience there are easier and better methods.

Our carcass piles use to be quite big,.. beaver muskrat fox and mink would get eaten up all witer long , in the sprinfg we had a pile of coon and skunk.

Really about anything can and will work,.. but some things work better and are easier.
I did like a paste made of skunk fat and scent pods, Added some propolene and let it breakdown all summer.. I wanted that skunky oily smell not a rotten meat slim smell

I back on this again I believe i did ut wrong I took the entire skunks from abiut say 5 to 6 years ago I put entire skunk in a seal barrel in direct sunlight and just left them.
It has fur,guts and and everything pod probably where full if essence too.
But never ooen it ever they are still in there .when it turn of cold I will open and see what they look like.
Do yiu thank I wasted all them year by leaving it in barrel that long without opening.
Just asking don't know and what should do when I open it up.
You thank something will still be in there and will it smell bad you thank or worth saving.
Thank you

I think it will be usable

Crack it open. I'm interested to see how your experiment turned out.

When it cools off I will it one of them blue barrels with gasket with lock ring around barrel

You thank it would broke down alot been it there for awhile probably
Alot of hair and bones i guess been over 5years now.

once i skin the skunk and remove the pods and insides i chop it up feet head and all and run this thru a grinder twice i take that and let age about 2 wks in moderate temps to what i call a lite taint then stabilize makes a fantastic base
another way i do it is to draw out the quill then remove the insides and sharpen my cleaver to



chop the entire animal fur and all and run thru my grinder twice i put this in a clean bucket thats vented and this i let age at least a month then stabilize
this way has quite a bit of twang to it i shoot every skunk that i plan on using the meat for bait i dont use a poke-stick if im gonna use the meat
when i skin skunks im sure to remove the glands around the ears and jaws as well as under the jaws i grind this up and fix -it fresh to be used in cages in the spring and summer nuisance work to coax in those stuburn big males

Bob, Very well Done!!
Thanks for illustrating several of the processes of preparing bait and lure base materials. I'm on a quest to work up material on most of the mustelids. They sure seem to generate several strong reactions from the canines.

i found that blending mink with skunk meat then grinding and giving a lite taint evokes the best response from the fox and coyotes at least for me here in the NE