why does bait need to be thick? smear some on the roof of a dirthole or on a bone or on a corn stob or on a rock or on a stump. if its good bait stuff will sniff or dig no matter how thick it is.

The wife mentioned the same thing about the corn starch and after discussing it with her and the comments here, I think I may go with a food thickener that doesn’t have a flavor.
Danny, I agree that lure or bait doesn’t need to be thick but in this case, if you saw the consistency I think you would agree that it needs tightened up a bit. I want something that I can slap on a piece of wool and poke down a dirt hole not pour in and that’s what I got.
I’m not saying they don’t work, but I have not had much success with liquid baits.
Rick

Rick when thewild plums are ripe here the thickets have tons of little seed piles from droppings. Coon, coyotes, everything hits the plums when they are ripe.
Jim

When I trapped in Arizona 35 years ago prickly pear was a staple in grey fox diet. I picked a lot of cactus needles out of their necks. I don't know how it would be for coyote. Forum member wayne52 (Wayne Derrick in New Mexico) probably would know the answer. I assume prickly pear syrup could be purchased.

Im quite fond of liquid baits they saturate into the soil.Making them impossible to remove! They will dig forever and never get to the source! The more they dig the stronger it gets! Try it as a liquid you might be pleasingly surprised.

I have used arrowroot to thicken successfully

the small leaved type of prickly pear in west ne is different than the big leaf common in the desert. the stickers fall off the fruit when its ripe. then everything eats them. deer cattle and coyotes. animals don't usually get thorns in them. no big leaves to dodge or even clumps of leaves

Well the deed has been done.i ended up with 3 separate baits that each have a unique smell. I strained the chunks off and added a bit of skunk (3-4drops) to a quart that will really mellow by the time I’m ready to use it in December. The liquid I thinkened up with thickit which adds no flavor to the base. Before doing that though I split it into two buckets of about a quart and a half each and added 3 oz of Karo syrup to one and molasses to the other which gave me two different smells. I’ve been checking them daily since getting them bottled and I really like the one with molasses. Next weekend will begin the trials tho as I am going to put some in the ground and set some cameras up.

Anyone ever use pawpaws as a bait for critters? Always find the seeds in scats of coon, fox and coyote when the pawpaws are dropping. And no one mentioned adding castor to bait to give it a slightly sweet smell to a bait. I wouldn't have let the bait go that long of a taint myself, but then again I don't know what conditions he has in place either.

I’m not any sort of bait or lure maker. I have on occasion ground up beaver and scrap and mixed it with Dobbins Bait Solution. I added not-for-human-consumption honey to a gallon of it and have done well.

Well I wouldn’t call it a verdict but the first batch of results indicates that the mix with the molasses definitely interests them. I had three different coyotes working the set even after having a ton of rain. I went back in yesterday and put in another dirt hole and we will pull the card next week and see if we can get similar results.
Rick