Castors from 2 different beavers from 2 different locations, enough glycerine to make a paste and a capful of vodka. Anything else I need to do??? I can just keep adding castor as I go, correct??

Your good to go.

Thanks, Beav

Cracked the lid on my new concoction and liquid squirted out like it was under pressure and top was bubbling. Is that normal??

No. You DID dry the castor before you ground it, right?

I always make lure in bigger containers first until its stable then bottle it in smaller ones. Dried beaver castor though never expanded on me like gland lures from land predators.

Most organic raw material ingredients need some prep to help to keep them fixed and stable in the odor condition when you started. Otherwise they can change in some odor/color and will continue to break down over time until they reached the end of that cycle.. Cleaning well, grinding, preserving are some of these steps. Some things can be very simple but you will learn down the road if you did it right or not.

The volume size is best to start small at first. You can add more as you go but it should be prepped some prior to adding into your original batch or the same break down chemical reaction will continue to occur with fresh raw materials when added and the aging begins again. Just a tip to consider. Castor isn't as volatile as some other ingredients however it will still work and build gas in its raw state as it ages.

When I make a a straight castor lure I open and scrape the GREEN castors. I scrape so I don't get any flesh from the castor shell. I then mix with glycerine to make a paste. I have never had any pressure build up when doing It this way.

No....I guess I thought I read that they could be ground frozen so I just put into freezer in April and took out and ground up. Sounds like I should have just cut em open and scraped them out.

I could never see any reason to dry and grind.

I only grind and dry the castor I wish to make into powder for formulation work.

I age mine in the pod,then just chop fine.its like black rubber when aged the way I learned.Super castor smell,very little goes a long way.
Yours will be good.Just add a little sweetener it will make it double effective.

i score them a bunch of times and tincture them right outa the beaver

Me too. 5-7 days. Then chop and grind up. Add a couple extra ingredients. Works perfect, and lasts indefiniately.

I dry mine through hard and soak in vodka.. They re-hydrate and when I need em I grind and or cut em up.
Then I add glycerin.

I dry the majority of my castors completely and then grind into powder to use them like Mr. Jameson mentioned, for formulations. When I want a lure out of fresh castors I tincture them in vodka and grind after they have sat for a week or so. Once ground I add glycerin. I have a quart jar of vodka that has had castors in it for several months and will use the vodka in baits that I think need a little hydration and castor smell.

sounds like you did not add enough vodka to preserve the casing or material that can decompose when ground fresh or just thawed.

I added more vodka and a tad of SB to it. Seems to have settled down. We will see if it works this fall....

When I scrap green castors I do It so I get NO casing material. And I have never had any tainting.

Thanks Beav. This is my plan for the future

Paul once mentioned adding a wine component to enhance...

Years ago, I supplied castor for dad and Dave Edwards. Dave liked to have his castors dried, then soaked in red wine for 6 months. He said it fired them up some.

Grain alcohol, vodka etc. can boost castor odor to a degree as long as it holds within the material once it has evaporated will loose much of that component of odor push..Wine has a much lesser degree of alcohol per volume but will also help to boost odor due to the alcohol content.

Small odor boosting measures can really make a difference in the final odor of a product. What we smell isnt what an animals smells in terms of intensity and odor vapor.