Thought this might make a good topic and stimulate some good conversation for the general learning of us want to be lure makers. The question is regularly asked if a certain material is a good base and i thought it would be insightful to share what each of us think are the criteria of a good base is. Im thinking to focus more on the characteristics of a good base than specific materials. Ill start with some of my thoughts and hopefully the rest of you will share some of your knowledge.
- attractiveness; does it have mild, medium or high attraction by itself
- availability; how much of it will you need, what is the cost in time or labor or $ to attain it
-type of response; food, curiosity, rolling, urination, territorial, just a desire to get a closer smell. For me if used for bait it must have a high food value to target animal.
- durability to weather conditions; does weather conditions hinder its ability to produce an odor and for the odor to last for a reasonable amount of time
- strength of odor; based on what your desire for the finished formulation to be you may want a mild or strong odor from your base
- texture; depending of how you plan to use it and your personal preferences this might have a higher or lower value
- compatibility to mix with other ingredients; this might have a bearing on your selection based off your goal for final formulation
- stability of material over time; your skill level and knowledge of preservatives may help or hinder you here

I think testing a wide variety of bases is valuable to be able to compare and select based of these criteria. If you dont have nothing to compare it to its hard to guage its value.

These points can help you decide which other ingredients can help overcome in areas of its weaknesses and add value to the bases strengths.

Different goals can change the importance of each criteria to each lure maker and their intentions for the lure or bait.

Just some of my thoughts.

Which areas do you put the most value in?

I know some will say I'm over thinking it but the fun is trying to come up with the best for me not just something that works. Its a fun hobby for me. Just like trapping

Some criteria of a base for various lures will be determined by the volume of its use and what type of lure it will be used to develop.

Availability of the material in the volumes that is needed and how long does it take to develop each base material before it is ready for use.

How well does it hold its odor over time and how does it test as a stand alone?

Are you able to duplicate the base on a consistent basis? A base is the flour of your cake and is a staple ingredient needed for a good result.

A base is the support material used to compliment and to carry the desired final odor.

Many of the criteria have been mentioned. However experience in what to do with the material is what makes it all work out as is desired. Lots of trial and error no doubt.

These are a few important foundation criteria that I have used over the years to develop our products.

A lot of good points Bob. I would add an ideal lure base alone would stand extremely attractive to the target animal. And the oil, powders, glands etc added to the base would combine to make it hopefully an extremely effective lure. Your points on being able to consistently make the base and get the ingredients for the base are so important. I enjoy reading all your post Bob and look forward to the day we chat again.