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.