I’m familiar with both tinctured buds and the straight oil. But I’m not familiar with how good they work in beaver and ‘rat lures. For those of you who make beaver lures, do you add it to territorial lures, food lures or what?

I have never added it to a lure, but I have used it straight when I would run into beavers that seemed to have had some previous education to castor lures. I poured a little on a piece of green wood and used it as a bait. It was very effective.

I've made and used it straight for two years on beaver sets. They kept getting clogged up with rats so I now use it only for rats.
I've used it in small doses with castor and didn't see much of a difference than straight castor

I had one old female that would not approach anything with castor or sac oil. She had dropped a poplar in the pond months ago and I finally got her with a foothold beneath a poplar limb freshened up with fresh poplar bud oil. I felt like a real beaver trapper.

How do you make a poplar bud tincture??

In the spring when the poplar buds get sticky. I harvest them and pack them in the crock pot and cover with a neutral oil like grape seed oil. I let it go on low until the next morning. I then strain it and bottle