I did a little search on the forums and couldn't really find the exact answer that I'm looking for.

I'm going to attempt (for the first time) to make some bait from the beavers that I've been catching, when I grind the beaver meat, should be pure lean meat or should it be just as it comes off the bone with the fat and all? Or are both good in their own way?

I'm planning on putting a light Taint on it then adding a commercial bait solution.

I probably have about 3 gallons of beaver quarters and back straps, but if I trim it down an exclude most of the fat are probably have about a gallon and a half / two gallons.

Any guidance on this would be absolutely appreciated!

Fat in bait is good but too much is not. Using what fat is left on the meat should be about right. I did the same this fall, grind with a light taint then add your solution. Stir it occasionally and if you can let it sit till next season so much the better.

Yup, that's the plan, I'm going to collect about 2-3 gallons of ground meat then let it age until I use it in the fall, I'm also making some beaver tail oil and saving the castors and oil sacs of course.

I've also been saving the little glands from the armpit of the beavers. About the size of a kidney bean. I'm not sure if there been any use, but I did saving them just in case they are.

As cheap as beaver is right now I would remove the castor and oil sacs, gut them, remove the head and tail, then grind up the carcass hide bone and meat all together. When i kept hounds i fed beaver carcass regular. Those dogs were full of energy and slick haired when eating them. They ate all but the skull and a little of the spine where it attaches to the skull. I was selling the fur, they didnt get that, but skin and hair get ate too by wild animals. Cheap as beaver is if you dont want to pelt one i would just grind it along with the bones and meat

Question from a curious new guy........how important is the source of meat base of canine lures? For example, bobcat, horse meat, beaver, skunk, muskrat, etc.

Is it important to be one animal or the other or is this just an opportunity to utilize a carcass that would otherwise go to waste or be fed to the buzzards or worms?

I know the coyotes around here will clean up a downer cow same as a roadkill deer, and have never seen a dead horse or beaver.

There is a difference in coyotes reaction to different meats. If available food is limited or extreme cold it may not be a big difference. If you want a simple bait they will eat I think its important what meat you use. The more doctored up the bait with other smells maybe the meat you use becomes less important. My preference is to start with the most attractive meat I can find.

[/quote]There is a difference in coyotes reaction to different meats. If available food is limited or extreme cold it may not be a big difference. If you want a simple bait they will eat I think its important what meat you use. The more doctored up the bait with other smells maybe the meat you use becomes less important. My preference is to start with the most attractive meat I can find. [/quote]

Gold right there. Watch coyotes on trail cameras with a simple, one ingredient bait they typically encounter (venison, horse, cow, sheep, etc.) and then put next to it some souped up bait with three meats, 3 perfumes, 4 oils, 7 exotic musks and a partridge in a pair tree . . . and then see what they do. Not to mention that most cattle and deer are more attracted to those exotic additives than just tainted meat they encounter everyday in their environment. I'm not saying any commercial bait is bad or not attractive. There is a time and a place for all things and my comments are specific to this very narrow question.

RKR, some good advice in here from some great trappers. I would like to add that this past season I used fresh preserved beaver that I had saved myself, I added a few other beaver goodies to it, castor etc, etc. Didn't want to get to crazy as I just wanted to give them something to eat. It caught over 20 coyotes, maybe over 30, I'd have to check my notes. I only made a gallon of it and ran out, I plan to make at least 5 gallons this year. I ground mine with the fat and all, that fat is good stuff.

I kept mine fresh as I wanted it to appeal less to opossums and coons and more so to coyotes. Something else to think about with louder baits in MO. Best luck!

Sorry if im out of the loop when it comes to bait making .but what do you mean by fresh preserved ? Like just ground and frozen ?

Fresh meat that is then preserved with something like sodium benzoate so it doesn't taint or rot.

Gotcha thanx Lazarus

Exactly. I will put SB in my beaver meat as I grind it. I want it as fresh as possible, that is what I had the best results with last year.

I ground up a couple of beavers for bait right at the end of the season. I have it preserved fresh. I also made up a simple bait solution from the Katz brothers lure book, Going to try a couple of test holes here soon with and with out the solution.
J

Thank you that's a good thought! I have enough Beaver to make a couple gallons of fresh and a couple gallons of little taint! That's a great idea thank you!

Preserve it fresh you maybe eating it soon.

How much SB do you mix in per pound of meat? Thanks, Larry

It's usually expressed in cups per gallon. E.g. 1cup of Sodium B per gallon of meat/bait. Fish and poultry may need a little more I've heard.

Ground meat can varry in it's weight per gallon. But let's say for example a gallon weighs 4 lbs, that would require 1 cup of SB. Using that weight, which is the approximate weight of ground beef per gallon. You would need a quarter of a cup per pound. That's a minimum, so a little extra won't hurt anything.

MHO, Rod

I dont know how many of you have ever made sausage but it requires water. A little water helps to get the sausage spices evenly distributed through the ground meat.

When I make my bait I grind it. Grinding is step one. I prefer ground for several reasons. #1 is the "spices" get mixed in evenly. Also I feel like sometimes with chunk bait the animal gets the bait and leaves having gotten lucky and not stepped on the trap. They stay there longer with ground bait moving their feet around.


A little water helps to mix stuff into bait also. Including S.B. I like to fix ( add S.B.) and let it sit and stabilize awhile before I add anything else. 2-3 weeks for fresh meat and several months to a year or more for tainted.


When I add the the other spices one is always some glycerin for anti freeze. Glycerin and or fish oil etc. does the same thing. Helps distribute stuff evenly.

That all makes sense. I add water to sausage to help it ''flow''.

I think ground is better than chunks too - just for that reason. You can smear it.

Liquid particularly warm to hot water used as a dissolving fluid will cause the preservatives and any other ingredients added within this medium to allow far more aggressive absorption into a meat base. SB is absorbed into the meat over the next several hours and days until it has reached its maximum absorption potential.

Periodic stirring over the next week will help to ensure proper contact and delivery if you have added adequate SB and any other preservatives and /or mold inhibitors.

Any excess liquid if "water only" can be poured off if necessary or desired after this process is complete.Inert fluid will aid and facilitate your process considerably as Danny stated. Most ground raw meats will absorb most if not all fluid over night. Chunk type treated meats will require considerably more time to achieve the same degree of preservation as ground meats.

When I smell a well cooked steak I start to salivate. I can just taste it and the smell puts a picture of a good steak in my mind. I can only imagine this is what is happening to Mr. Coyote when they smell a good bait. If a coyote smells beaver I would imagine he either wants it or does not. Why would a bait formula make a bait more appealing if a coyote had never smelled it before? Is this purely curiosity?

Imagine seeing an attractive woman at a mall, bar, restaurant or on the street.

Depending upon your frame of mind you may or may not approach her for a better look just out of curiosity. Or you may position yourself as not really paying attention to make a better observation of her just for practice sake.

It briefly catches your eye or interest.

At some point as fate or circumstances play out you may opt for a walk by for just a brief close encounter and a better look.

Now you may get a shot at a possible odor encounter of her perfume as she passes you bye. Now as quickly as she passes you pick up that brief odor presentation. Now how ever slight that odor may be it either enhances your attraction of your initial impression or it disappoints you in a split second. Or you may rationalize that it really wasn't all that to begin with..

This calculated determination typically all takes place in a split second in your mind.

Animals in my experience may most likely act very similarly.

The thing that will determine how that reaction plays out all depends upon their life experiences and their current state of mind up to that point of their encounter of that odor and set presentation.

In my mind an animal may never have smelled or encountered that particular odor or modified odor blend previously. However it does present an OPPORTUNITY>

Does the animal bolt at the smell, does he get a good whiff and keeps on going , will it stop to evaluate that odor at a distance, does it cautiously circle down wind and take another whiff to try to decipher the unfamiliar odor better?

Does it travel on and decide to come back at a later time that night or does it return the next time around to commit totally without hesitation?

Just some practical food for thought.

Bob, I agree with analogy, with some slight modifications.

First, with coyotes, as a specie they are neophobic (the fear of something new). So to the extent that an odor (or in your case, the attractive woman) is a new experience on the landscape, the coyote's first response is to leave, walk away, trot off or even run. Not because it has had a prior experience with the odor, but because it has NOT had a prior experience.

Second, in your analogy, grey fox are teenage males in the height of testosterone production. The go blundering in to check out whatever the odor is and the decide later if its something they actually want.

Third, bobcats are of the mindset that if they coyly wait near the bar, the good looking female will eventually come over and ask for a phone number . . . .

Bob,

What would you suggest to add to a ground muskrat meat bait to make it a little more fluid and easier to stir? Your bait solution has already been added. A small amount of glycerin?

Thanks,

All the muskrat meats that I have worked with were usually quite moist by themselves. Before adding any other ingredients. Just my experience.

Let the meat marinate with the bait solution and stir for a week or so. It may produce some of its own juices after it sits for some time. There are some variables that will determine this. After sitting for a while if doesn't suite your likes you can add some fluid.

Use what is handy. Add some Mineral Oil, P. Glycol or Glycerin. I have used them all for private use baits over the years. Commercially I use glycerin. Add a little, stir and monitor. You should know when you have reached a suitable state for your liking. You can always pour off excess if needed.

What little bait I use is fresh preserved with zero adds, If I feel it needs adds I add it at the set with lure. I get a lot more commitment the first time thru with fresh preserved bait and a lot less Opossums. I want my bait to taste good, castor, sac, and mink glands don't taste too good, don't ask LOL..

Northern castor isn't bad but southern castor not so much. sac oil is bland and mink glands are just plain nasty. Don't ask me either

Not asking!

Not to sound too naive but the adds I have seen over the years that say things like '' enticers added'' '' makes them slobber'' '' triggers'' or words used to describe how much a canine will want someone's bait are pretty much advertising in you guys opinions?

I agree with the thought process of your above post Mr. Jameson.

Quote '' enticers added'' '' makes them slobber'' '' triggers''

Those things describe me before a good dinner on days when I am really hungry. See I still believe animals don't react too much differently then humans with many things. All those adjective's are accurate to a good degree IMO.

Thanks Mr Bob! I appreciate the feedback. I will let you know next fall how it turns out.

Sac and mink are dead tie for me , even tried catsup LOL

Thanks!

A little note that worked well for me for cats and coyotes... After skinning the beaver, I remove it’s entrails. Then I cut open the diaphragm and pour the blood, heart, lungs and liver into a bucket. I grind up the beaver meat and the heart, lungs and liver... add the blood back into it and stir it up real well. It’s a little soupy. I add about 1 large beaver castor to 2 gallons and taint for a couple of weeks for coyotes before pouring in a couple of cups of glycerine. Or, for cats, I add the glycerin right away. I don’t add any other preservative and it seems to work fine. I use about a pound at my cat sets and a little less than an ounce in my dirt hole sets with good results throughout fall and winter.

Something I do with paste/ground bait is put it up in a soft plastic bottle. I use a sausage stuffer to fill the bottles, helps to keep the bait where I want it. I used Bob Freemans bait years ago that's how he put it up.