Good strong, authentic uncut target animal urines can be a challenge today to find and then to know what is good stuff when you get it.
Good Urine may be the one of the most valuable single animal by-product element that a trapper can use. Time and experience will teach you this on your traplines.
Single animal urine, mixed collection urine or single sex urine are all very productive. For general trapping purposes I don't see any advantage of one over the other. If it is good strong clean urine it will do what it is intended to do.
Put an animal at ease, suspicion remover or just someone was here and spent some time, I will do the same reaction. Each animal can / will react differently at times.
Single animal urine in my experience has its greatest affect and impact doing ADC work or catching that last animal or two that gives you fits.
It is the user of the good urine that makes the difference in its effectiveness and how it is used in a particular presentation.
Good urine can boost any trappers success and increase interest, on the other hand a poor quality urine can have a negative effect with digging, rolling or rejection from some animals.
A dribble of a little good urine at a set can only compliment a set. I don't know if there is really a right or a wrong way for its use. We try to rationalize these things all the time.
An animal, in this case a predator, uses his or her urine to make a statement or to reply to a statement. Simply because it is one of the few things it can do to communicate to others.
Urine, feces, glandular excretions and vocalization are their primary means of specie communication and interaction.
Intrepretation of these scenting actions makes for stimulating discussions of why and what do they mean.
There are still some commerical fur farms and some commercial collection operations still out there.
They are all probably trying to maximize their output potential and most likely have standing orders and a backorder list. So lots of water and conditions to keep them peeing as fast and as much as possible are being utilized.
The diets of those animals in those big operations cannot be catered too easily. So bagged food must be incorporated into their feeding cycle to make the operation easier. That kind of diet will affect the urine strength, color and determine its high quality standards.
Then I am sure there are some dilution methods going on as well as the synthetic / home brew urine being flooded into the market.
There is much time, work and planning that goes into finding adequate wild meat sources for a good collection operation. These food sources are key to getting the best urine quality with a good strong odor in the end.
Muskrat, ground hog, some fowl, and red meats mixed in will get you the prime sought out urine and keep healthy animals. It takes some knowledge / experience or training from another to get this process going and maintained daily. Not to mention the freezer space, pens, shelter and daily routine involved.
Some will cut corners with diet and it is evident in the final product as is the same with summer collection urine. It isn't the same quality or odor and is prone to spoil in a few months.
Those that do collect urine and do it right, feed right and keep clean pens most of the time will have the best of the best urine.
Finding these smaller operations are not easy and there aren't many these days to meet the demand. The state regs., investment and work involved discourage many to do it.
As a dealer or trapper you want the best you can get, because that product represents you and contributes to your trap line success.
Good quality meat fed animal urine will demand a higher price compared to the average industry pricing per gallon. You truly get what you pay for at times.
But that extra expense will pay dividends and give you confidence at setting out your lines that you have the good stuff. The rest is location and hard work.
There has been some excellent information and experiences shared with the public as of recent years.
Men like Chris ( steeltraps ) and James (Tejas) have done a great service to all those that follow along with them on their control work and traplines.
These tutourials and interactions have never really been taken to this level of skill and sharing.
You all need to appreciate these men for what they are doing, taking the time and giving information that only comes through doing it and working thru the challenges of trapping that comes with different seasonal times of the year.
I would have been much better skilled at a much faster pace if I had a computer and a Forum like Trapperman in my early days. Back in my day there were no such tools or internet.
Magazines and books were our sources of information as the older local guys were tight lipped and held their methods close to the cuff.
