So, after attend the states rendezvous I picked up a lot more lure that worked well for me last season. First observation was, gusto from last season smells really sweet?? I also had some other lures like violator seven, mark June's red fox gland and a few others that seem to have lost there punch. Asked a few other local trappers and they said use it, just wondering what your guys thoughts are? Biggest one that changed from last season to buying new for this season was the gusto. In your guys opinion do you think the aged lure will be different and better? Thanks for the thoughts in advanced. Only been trapping for a couple years so still lots to learn.

Much would depend on the quality of the lure when it was made.

I bought some LDC, ( still unopened ) that lost it's punch.
A good skunky call lure should still smell like essence, even through a sealed cap

A skunky lure will lose it's punch over time. Skunk essence is so volatile that it passes through the seals on the caps. I heard that there are some plastic caps that do better.

I remember talking with Bill Kasten about this a number of years ago. He said that Canine Call, which is skunky doesn't lose it's punch. I asked if he had an older bottle on hand, and he did. When he opened it and took a whiff, it was evident it did lose it's punch.

I'd go ahead and use the lures. They'll most likely perform well.

Thanks for the reply, I will just keep using it. I will also look into this canine call lure.

As long as it doesn't smell like sewer, use it.
I always have left over canine call that loses it's skunky small, I add a very small drop of pure skunk quill and it's back to code. Lol
By the way, they all smell sweet to me, but I would use skunk as after shave lotion.

Thanks wet dog!! I truly enjoy the smell also, and my wife want me evaluated!! Ha Ha!!
None of them smell bad at at all, just sweet. I know they wouldn't have the calling power as fresh but was hoping that being aged and a lot milder might be a good change up on the line.

Way I always do it is if in doubt, I throw it out. My time is more valuable then the relatively minor cost of lure and I would hate to have a lure out that wasnt doing its best to do its job! My mind races enough with what ifs, doubts etc during trapping season, I dont need someother thing to worry about!!! That said it would probably be fine to use I just choose not to.

Old gusto that has been opened definetly loses its skunky smell. On the other hand I find it makes a good changeup for canines when it is aged, and I have had coyotes trying to get into my marten boxes when I had year or two old gusto, with the fresh stuff they won't come within 50 of my marten sets. I like it loud and fresh for marten though. I have some Violater 7 that is ten years old that I dug out and was using this winter, it worked great. Can't say it was better than new, but I don't remember it working that well when I last used it years ago. Gland lures and pretty much anything without skunk in it is likely to be more stable, and if you want you can always spice up a skunky lure that has lost its punch with a dab of fresh essence.

All lures and baits that are freshly made with Skunk essence or recently spiked will be quite volatile even bleeding from the cap. As it sits on a shelf or when in use with the cap taken off and used frequently, the skunk will continue to bleed out over time. Eventually to the point of a soft musky odor being detected from the initial sharp skunky odor.

All the products that have mellowed will work just fine if not better. We as humans tend to rationalize according to what we smell and think something should smell like and what will work.

This is not the case. It takes very little odor for an animal to have interest in something. Keep that in mind. Lures present multiple odor interests.

If you feel you have a product that has mellowed from its original state as mentioned, just add a few drops of pure essence or some sweet skunk to the product.

How much is up to the user and to your liking. Just keep in mind it doesn't require much "on average" to spike a bottle of lure.

Skunk essence is just one carrier element in a product. Just because it has mellowed out doesn't mean the other ingredients are not still working to attract the target animal.

One key element of a good lure is the base and the other primary ingredients that make up the lure.

Don't lose confidence in a product due to its softening of the once more dominate skunk presence. That is inexperience talking. I prefer on average to use lures without skunk or prefer those with sweet skunk in the formula if working in colder temps. For fall and summer work I prefer products with no skunk additives.

Musk odors are very durable and will carry on much longer then volatile skunk essence.

Skunk Essence is a flash, fast push element.

It is subject to evaporation / dissipation once it has escaped from a containment of pure essence ex.. a dead animal or from a formulated product..

Road killed skunks can be detected very easily once the fresh essence has been released into the open air environment.

However, in a few hours to a few days the odor mellows from the sharpness it once had.

Now it has become musky by nature in odor. Just the natural progression of things.

When you walk into a lure makers facility, a trappers shed with stored skunk essence/urine or walk into a pole building at a trappers convention the first thing that gets your attention is the musky odor in the air.

That is the blending of multiple odors that the human nose and brain can interpret. Skunk essence and urine bleed off is the carrier, but the overall musky odors are the most durable odors that are easily detected.

Thanks Bob Jameson. I think I am going to try a few of these older lures and will post latter the results I had with them. Appreciate your explanation.

If youre talking Carmens canine call, that was my best performing lure last year. I never detected skunk oddly enough, i just thought it smelled good and different than anything else i have smelled. I need to go smell it now…

If I have an opened bottle of lure that worked well last year I will definitely use it again this year. I have found that even after the skunky smell mellows these lures still produce for me. I tend to buy lures that work well for me several bottles at a time even if it takes 2 or 3 years to use them up and have no issues.

Thanks guys, I am going to use them. I have a bottle of hawbakers gland in the shed that I just found that a guy gave me 10-15 years ago and it still smells like it should. It amazes me how some lure never loses it's punch. Appreciate it.

In my opinion lures often get better when they age and mellow out a bit.

This thread got me thinking of how many bottles of older lure and bait I have. When I got back in to trapping in 2013 I bought 12 bottles of lure from Lenons and had really good success with several of them so late that year I ordered a few more dozen. Don’t judge they gave nice discounts for buying bulk. In 2014 I got worried that they may quit producing lure so a dozen more. In 2018 after new owners took over I decided I should buy a dozen more to make sure the quality was the same. It was and I have to date used up around 42 of the 72 plus or minus bottles of lure that I have purchased from them. We won’t even get into Hoosier Trappers Supply, Fox Hollow or Mark June lures. Point is I am still using lures produced by Lenons in 2013 and 2014 with equally good results. At 144 a dozen it was money well spent. I miss filling out paper order form and sending it to them by mail.