Since I spent literally weeks in the archives only to have more questions than I started with, I just decided to dive in and give it a go..... time will tell.

I started with 3/4 of a five-gallon bucket full of ground venison (had my freezer go out). When I do this again, I will use two buckets as initially stirring the meat was too hard when 3/4s full. I tainted this in the bucked for 2 weeks in mild weather (40 degrees at night 60-70 during the day). I popped the lid every day and stirred it. After two weeks it had a nice taint smell. I added sodium bonzoate per the directions and I also mixed in glycerin until it had a consistency I liked. I popped the lid and stirred for another 2 weeks to let it fully gas.


When it was done simmering down (no longer gassing) I took 1/2 of the bait and added 8 oz of beaver castor tincture I made using fresh ground castors that I purchased from a northern trapper friend. I took this 1/2 of the bait and divided it into two sperate buckets. To the first 1/4 of the bait, I added 4-6 ozs of blue cheese salad dressing, 2 oz of Asafoetida tincture I made using real gum and everclear) and 10 drops of civit cat musk. I took another 1/4 of the bait and added 2 oz beaver tail oil, 4 oz sun rendered trout oil and (2 oz) of tonquin musk tincture.

For the remaining 1/2 of the original bait, I took the 1/4 and added Dobbins bait solution and the 4th quarter I used Jamerson's bait solution.

I will post results this fall as I use it. My initial thoughts are that all four smell pretty great. I did add a little skunk essence to my first 2 qrts as I found the SB just killed the taint smell too much. The skunk really brought ALL the odors out and I am extremely pleased with it. I will have to say the blue cheese formula surprised the heck out of me and I personally think it has the best overall smell. A very mild "sweet musky" deer meat odor There is no doubt in my mind that all 4 will interest any predator that comes along. Keeping in mind that no bait makes up for poor location.

I am also putting together a squirrel, rabbit, mice, gopher bait from my garden trappings. Ill post up that formula once I get enough meat to make up a gallon. I also have 5 bobcats I cut up so I will make a bait out of that as well.

Good info. Keep us posted.

i really kinda wanna know how he did with them lol

I'd use that bait anytime. Sounds like you did a mighty fine job.

Its always neat when you catch a canine on your home brew.

Yes 1/2 or less of meat in the the bucket makes it much easier to mix well.

Well… also thanks for sharing!

OK I trapped for 2 weeks in December. I pulled my traps because yotes are only bringing 2-3 dollars and IMO just not worth the effort and expense. I do have one more farm where the owner wants me to kill of some coyotes - I just don't like shooting them and leaving them lay even though I know their populations are way out of balance. So I am torn if I even want to set out any more steel this year.

I caught 7 bobcats and 9 coyotes in 25 sets over that time. All four baits worked well, and I really could not see that there was any noticeable difference between the four. I will say that all four really mellowed out after 4 months of storage. In the future I will make these up as I need them as I thought they all lost a lot of their calling power as they sat. I am currently tainting 4 gallons of bobcat meat and will experiment some more. In all honesty I don't think it makes any difference what bait is down in the hole if you use a good gland lure and urine at the set and you are "on location"

I'm not sure if the deer meat caused the mellowing out of the baits? I personally like a mouse/rat-based bait like Hiwatha Valley for both bobcats and coyotes better. I will be curious to see how the bobcat meat-based bait works out. Not really sure what I want to add to it I am thinking I am going to go simple and add beaver castor and perhaps some Asafoetida or tonquin but don't think they are really necessary for a bait at this point.

Outstanding! Sounds like you had fun.

You learned quickly the real SECRET to successful trapping of predators. Some trappers never do learn this.

I will emphasize that the LOCATION is the primary component and not the bait or the lure, or the urine.

When u find a good a one u will see the difference

I would rather have a good location than a good lure, but prefer to have both.

Not sure what is considered a "good one" but I caught 3 cats in one night out of 8 sets on one farm. I have caught over a dozen yotes thus far on 3 farms in 2 weeks with 25 sets. I am pretty happy with the results.

If ur happy that's what counts

I won't argue with u but will say this I've seen 1000s of coyotes reactions to baits and lures, hundreds on videos, tested 100s of formulations, send formulations all across the country to be tried by serious coyote guys and picked the brains of guys that catch coyotes by the hundreds about lures and baits. I feel confident in what I speak about. I can promise you there's a difference in the quality of lures and baits. I can promise you in my area I trap you will get enough misses and refusals that it will become clear. We don't get a lot of snow but when we do it will humble you. Good and happy are relative terms based of of one's experience and opion. I by no means know everything and there's guys that know more than me but I'll stand pretty firm on what the coyotes tell me and will be happy to share it with others.

Not sure we disagree, certainly wasnt arguing?

IME, order of importance 1) location, 2) Quality urine 3) eye appeal, 4) Lure & finally 5) bait. If a coyote refuses a set, I don't think the majority of time it is because of the bait - it is far more likely due to that yote being skittish by nature, has experience with trapping or there was just too much human scent around. Matter of fact, I personally believe the majority of refusals are due to poor urine and lure far more than from a natural bait.

The majority of "wise"/older coyotes I've caught have been with flat sets with no bait..... many of them with nothing more than fresh urine and a coyote anus tacked to a piece of wood.

A really good lure or bait will improve the odds of them over coming their skittishness and to work the set.

I agree - I just think a quality/fresh urine trumps them both.

I would agree urine is a great lure by itself and can catch a lot of coyotes by itself but it generally doesn't get an intense reaction like a well formulated lure or prepared bait which can create a lot of foot movement at set. Some year I keep telling myself I'm going to use good fresh urine only and see how I do.

Any recommendations on a really good lure or bait?

I hate to speak for yes sir, but I think his answer will be to test in your area. I spent a lot of time doing that in the off-season and now have a lineup of baits/lures that I have very high confidence in. I was surprised at how many “good” baits or lures get a one sniff reaction around here. That’s great if you’re a genius with trap placement. I suck so I need all the help I can get

I'm kind of partial to my own brews.

DT63, For my style of coyote trapping I would rate it this way #1 Location.
#2 Baits, I prefer to have several baits with different bases to work with.
#3 Gland Lure/Lure, I like bobcat, fox & coyote gland lure.
#4 Urine.
#5 Eye Appeal.
Just my 2 cent's.

An experienced seasoned trapper can make almost any lure or bait look good.

That is truly the " Magic in the Bottle" answer.

Amen Bob!

Some years ago I was trapping with a guy Bob Jameson knows. He had gone to WY to trap cats the first year PA had a cat season. It was not open to nonresidents so WY would not let Curt trap cats. He called me pretty upset so I told him to come stay at my house awhile. We trapped about 3 weeks I guess. I pointed out a spot one day I had caught cats at before and told him to make a set. He picked another spot about ten yards away. I went to setting on my old spot. Got done and remembered I needed bait. I had my pee bottle in my bag but had not refilled my bait jar. I hollered at Curt and told him to toss me some bait. He tossed a pint jar of something labeled Bear bait and giggled. I dont remember who made it. But anyway I had a nice cat next morning and Curts set never did hit. I could smell anise in the bear bait.

I never been a big fan of anise but some coons like it. Was making a set by the interstate. One of those big square double culverts you can almost stand up in. Lots of mud and coon tracks. I wired a #11 longspring to whatever kind of bush was growing there. Stuck half a scavenged corn cob down in the mud close to the bush and mashed that #11 in the mud in front of it. Put a drop of grocery store anise on the cob. That set caught a cat I had no idea was anywhere around. So some cats like anise I guess. The cat I caught on that bear bait musta wanted a closer look too is all I can figure. I woulda never caught either if the trap had not been where they wanted to go anyway.

I agree Bob, have made that statement many times