There is no “one” lure or bait. I’ve tried a lot of different manufacturers and have a favorite from a few of them. Some did nothing for me, but there are some that will always have a place.
Most are from not from “well known” manufacturers either and none from around my area, lol. Just something about that particular lure the critters like.
Heck I got some I wanted to try out, second hand, from a guy I KNOW catches coyotes in my State and they didn’t work for him, BUT they work for me and my son.
I hope no one takes this wrong because I’m not a great trapper, but critters during winter can be taken with just about anything down here. A cheeseburger wrapper from Micky D’s will work. Winter time makes me look like a professional, lol. It’s those warm season critters where things get a lot harder for me. When food is plentiful and mating is over is when you’ll find what works for you. I realize some can’t trap year round and I guess that’s when testing comes into play and to be honest, that’s when I’d think that it’s the best time to see what works.

Let me throw another twist into this discussion: a particular lure's effectiveness will fade over time when used in/near same general area/properties.

Exposure of that lure to the critters may be one reason. Another is differences in batches over the years.

Yeah...some are already about to pounce on me for the exposure excuse and say that a caught critter has been exposed it's last time. Yep...but possibly not the critter that was with the one captured or the ones missed....that got a whiff of your favorite lure.

I like that Swamp Wolf ! Habitualiztion to lure does happen. MORE in area with low coyote density. THEN you have learned and taught behavior. I get grief from this statement but will say it anyway. When you use bait and lure and DO NOT catch that coyote. You have educated him or her. Not a great amount BUT. Ever set s coyote comes to with bait. He or she is educated. To some small level

Now wait a minute, I was crucified for stating that once, lol. I keep a track of what’s used where and swap it up from time to time on properties, especially hitting the same property in the same year.

Good notes. Matter ! LoL!!

Wasn't me that crucified you. Must have been a lure maker...lol

I think its a good idea when trapping public ground to use a variety of lures because you don't know if someone had made a sloppy set in the area using the same lure and educated the coyotes.

Hard to beat fresh bloody deer liver, plus it’s free in a lot of situations

That was absolutely proven in my area during the fur boom of the 70s-80s with fox. Every hardware store had either Hawbakers 500 or Lenon’s All Call or both on their shelves. Even in 1970 fox averaged $8 and in 1971 averaged $16!!! I know what I was making as a Journeyman Welder for Dow at the time so fox were “big $$”. Seemed like every able-bodied kid and man was buying traps and trying to trap fox. I remember being in one 40 acre field and there were two other people trying to trap fox with me. They never caught a fox but I did using an Arnold’s lure and my Disco set. Everything I did was purposely made different from all the others and it worked great.

Never forgot that era so I never talked about what scents or sets I used since. I know that my one cousin who was a very experienced trapper used Lenon’s and his line which came up against mine and my catch was either equal to or a little above his.

I believe from data gathered from both my "catch-to-set used" ratio and testing of a lure or bait AFTER a poor or a substancial drop in the catch ratio has occurred that this "difference in batches" is very real. I also believe that a difference can be slight enough that I persoanlly can't detect the difference with my nose and sometimes, as with the 2019 White Label/Yellow Label deal, I can. Using a camera is a huge asset when testing the slightly different lures/baits because the coyotes absolutely WILL tell you that there is a difference and that the scent does not instill the anticipated desire verifying the catch-to-set used" ratio drop.

By using the process I just described, I have come to believe that the difference in batches/vintages can be one of the main contributing factors towards why a scent works for someone but not another.

remember fred trost on michigan outdoors? he got sued for exposing the truth on deer lures. they said it was 100 deer pee , he went to the place of manufacture and it was all cow pee!

Absolutely, I remember that era very well. Old Fred was a driven man by golly!

I’ve had baits even come different from one year to the next, and what made that bad is I talked someone into getting that bait. He said this smells like a sewer and it’s runny. I had to check it out for myself and he was right. He sent it back and they replaced it. The consistency was better, but the smell was still off. Needless to say I haven’t bought that bait again.

This^^^ is why I make my own coyote baits.

I do buy some commercial lures, but rarely buy bait. The baits I have purchased over past few years were 8oz jars of mild smelling baits such as Just Mice amd Kaatz Red Label. I spike these baits and use like lure in small amounts.

That’s part of the reason I’m getting into making my own as well. After seeing lure/bait makers phase out due to retirement or whatever, I decided I wanted to have some form of control over what I was using and not have it disappear right when I was building confidence in it. I’ve got about 2 gallons of one I feel like is pretty good. I also have about a gallon and a half of commercial stuff laying around so I imagine I’ll be set for awhile! Sure it won’t stop me from fooling with other stuff nonetheless

LIKE

Sp 94 i have been watch a few of the videos you posted. Looks like you are getting some good responses to what you are using..

You get one they hitting on pretty good, hit me up, lol.
I bought the 2.5gal of bobcat from MTP and added my own “ingredients”

OP, my advice to you would be to discuss this with guys that have thousands of coyotes to their name and do not have anything for sale

Lots of guys measure success differently. Most guys are happy catching 15 or 20 coyotes in a season and then come on the internet and speak as experts. Nothing wrong with having an opinion, but I take these with a grain of salt, especially when they contradict what big numbers guys with nothing for sale will tell you. Beware of guys that spend more time behind computer screens and trail cameras than they do pounding steel in the ground as well.

All that being said, I am not one of those huge numbers guys, but I do well enough. I have definitely had more success with some baits than I have had with others, and I have never been steered wrong by the opinions of a man who has to kill coyotes to feed his family

Slipknot, Ive got a few that that particular batch of critters likes. Whats most important to me is seeing what doesnt work (bought or homemade). I hate wasting time on less than attractive baits/lures when I have traps out. I know some of them would catch in the fall, but I am looking for the ones that seem to provide the most attraction. Im sure it backfires sometimes though. I sold some lure that got 0 interest in front of a camera last summer to Wannabe and he has had very good luck with it from what I understand.

Wannabe, not for sale east of the Mississippi.... just kidding. Ill use it heavily this winter and see how it stacks up against the commercial ones I use. What I saw when I tested bobcat bases both fresh and tainted was that it ranked pretty low in attraction here. Ive spoken to some other guys who feel the same. I ended up with some of the cat meat from MTP and have caught some critters on it, but have decided to go other routes with anything I am making currently. I have a couple gallons of fresh frozen cat meat in the fridge I need to do something with though so maybe I will start experimenting again.