Getting ready to make up another batch of long call for fisher, martin and bobcat. One of my key ingredients is lovage oil......does anybody still use Lovage and what are your thoughts and purpose for using it...... if anyone is interested I will share my recipe and why I add lovage oil

I used it in a coyote gland lure that I made 6 or so years ago. It was back when I first started playing around with lure making and I was using the spray and pray method. The throw a bunch of stuff you read about together and see what happens.

The lure was decent enough to catch a fair # of coyotes on it and I sent it to another trapper out west to try. He seemed to like it.

But I have no idea if the lovage helped the formulation or hurt it or what it did for it. In other words I learned nothing that helped me in the future with other formulations.

I actually have been pondering making another batch of that formulation because it worked what I thought was good at the time. Maybe test it along the way one ingredient at a time and see what makes it tick. Maybe now with more knowledge it might be as good as I thought at the time....??

I do remember coyotes would dig for it if I tested it down a hole which is a pretty good level of attraction for a coyote gland lure from my experience

Never use lovage oil but would be interested in your thought and experience on using the material.

I have some, and have contemplated adding it to a gland lure, but have not done so. It is often listed as a passion ingredient used for similar purposes as asoefiteda, but it has a totally different smell.

I've often wondered about the title passion ingredient. Seems kind of hokey to me. How in the world would you know it simulates passion. I mean if it caused a breeding response towards what object you put it on I guess you could label it that. But I've never seen that response towards asafoetida and I use it pretty heavily in a formulation or two. But in all seriousness how would one know it's a " passion" ingredient? More I think about the more hokey it sounds.

Lovage is an amber to olive brown colored liquid of very powerful and rich, intensely sweet 'root like' odor. Its odor reminds me of celery with a touch of parsley....but on steroids. The root material is far more potent than the distilled leaves and stems. And a good synthetic is a very potent material. In respect to penetrative odor, this oil ranks among one of the most powerful.

Lovage's chemical make-up is: a-pinene, b-pinene, sabinene, myrcene, a-phellandrene, a-terpinene, b-phellandrene, p-cymene, y-terpinene, linalool, a-terpineol, linalyl propionate, a-terpinyl acetate, geranyl acetate, linalyl valerate, thymol.

I've often read and heard from other trappers' that Lovage is often touted as a "Passion Ingredient", which I find it hard to stretch my imagination into believing. However, from what I have found out by using it in formulation with glandular and natural animal materials (ie: fish oil, skunk essence, ect.) that its value shines when used as an enhancer. Used even sparingly it has the ability to enhance the odors of certain materials its mixed with. Used in slightly larger proportions it adds heft / weight to a lure causing the odor to hover and linger nearer to the ground as the scent disperses and penetrates the area. I've never used it as a dominant odor but have found its useful purpose as a layer in a couple of my concoctions.

The listed formula is a very good long distance call

1/2 pint sun rendered skunk fat
4 ounces sun rendered trout oil
1 ounce shellfish oil
2 ounces stout Lovage root tincture or a good synthetic
1 ounce skunk essence pure quill

mix a couple weeks before use and use during the season.....the skunk essence stays potent in the mixture for about 8 months in the jar.

Thank you for that information.

Thank you for that post. I use lovage in my concoctions heavier than most I’ve heard suggested in the past but not as generous as your formula. I’ve been wanting to go heavier in one and I’m going to now. At times I’ve been afraid I’ve overdone lovage and Asafoetida in castor but after a few months it comes back around to where I like it. I’m just and always will be a piddler. You guys that test and test methodically, send out for others to test all over the country, develop formulas for commercial sales and keep it consistent over the years are to be admired.

Mr kytrapper, Please understand that I use a heavy shot of Lovage in the above listed formula not strictly for its odor although the odor is attractive all on its own. The lures dominant odor is obviously skunk with the other ingredients adding subtle undertones which is not only enhanced by the Lovage but the Lovage's characteristic's bring the concoctions penetrating odor down to hover and disperse at ground level as this concoction is usually applied up high near a set location. .

PB
How do you learn if an ingredient causes an odor to rise or fall ?

Thanks Pappabear!
Interesting how ingredients can interact with each other?
I have some coyote gland lure ready to use now. That has some lovage, valerian, & asafoetida mixed into the aged glands.
The lovage powder I have seems pretty mild to me. I'm still trying to figure out the best way too use it? Or not use it? Always nice to hear how other's are using a ingredient.

Mr. Yes sir, In a nutshell: think ROOTS!!!........For many years I have been dabbling in Lure building and Herbal and Alternative medicines........Always noticed that many of the essential oils, powders and botanical materials that we trappers use also have medicinal value. Though I thought that was interesting I never researched the connection between the two.......Six years and two months ago my wife was diagnosed with advanced small cell lung cancer and we were told she would be lucky to live another three years. To complicate matters she had type 2 diabetes, was at max medication and had recently been started on insulin. When we got home that afternoon, I pulled out my notebooks which I had previously wrote down several alternative cures. The next five days and nights I spent with little to no sleep, researching the "chemical components" in the herbal supplements and essential oils I was about to acquire for maximum potency and purity. She started her natural home treatments for cancer and diabetes about the same time she started chemo and after the third of twelve scheduled treatments she was sent for a CT scan to see if the chemo was working....Her oncologists were shocked, there were no detectable traces of cancer they could see on the scans and they stopped the chemo, but we continued the home natural treatments.....I later discovered that the home protocol (supplement, herbs and oils) she was using had enhanced the chemo treatments and while at the same time was detoxifying her from the chemo poison. As of yesterday's CT, scan she is still cancer free, is on NO medications and her diabetes issues are still resolved.

Why the above story........It took an act of necessity to push me to do more thorough research......from that point on I started looking deeper into the chemical makeup of essential oils/ lure ingredients and comparing similarities of the components and try to connect and understand why certain components may hold or spark a critters interest. For example take Valerian Root and canine glands....the common component is valeric acid. In my mind it stands to reason why they are compatible, and why Valarian would enhance the gland odor.

Why think ROOTS, most of the better grade root oils I've worked with ( ie: Lovage, Valarian, Orris and a couple others ) that have been properly distilled or stout tinctures from plant roots have a more intense, earthy to floral ranging in odor, tenacious persistence than oils extracted from the above ground connected plant material. My thinking is that the chemicals components are more concentrated in the root and allow for a denser molecular end product when extracted (thus heavier)........When testing if the ingredient has heft is merely a matter of applying it at different heights. Applied in a dirt hole.....stand back some and see if the odor rises, then crouch down and see if the scent cone is hovering at ground level. Next place it higher and see if the odor cone is at the level you placed it or is the odor more intense at a lower level or ground level.  Keep adjusting the height of application until your confident that the odor will drop and that the airborne contact point is down at the level that the critters are. You may also want to test with different weather situations.ie: wind and rain.

I am by no means a chemist nor make any claims to be an expert. Lots of research and testing, trial and errors and always, always, always let the critters show me what works and what doesn't

Remarkable story and great explanation Papabear!, thanks for sharing it all.