I'm sure there are tons of ways to ruin a batch of lure, or ways to waste your costly ingredients.

anyone care to share their mishaps?

Animals getting in lure making room and rolling glass jars of muskrat glands off and breaking jar. By the time I found it a lot of useful ingredients was lost.

But overall buying low quality ingredients has probably been the most costly
Did have several buckets of horse meat I was aging in summer heat and for what ever reason I couldn't get the aging stopped at the point i wanted. Added sb and mp several times but it went much farther than I planned. Still useful but not as I had planned for it.

Capping off too soon and blowing up the bottles. Either didn't give it enough time after adding preservatives or not enough

buying poorly harvest glands... I used to purchase glands then clean them- lost a lot of money doing that. I've been taught to clean them and pay for clean product once that amount has been determined. Worst case of poorly harvested glands was when I received a gallon freezer bag stuffed full, when it was thawed I discovered that the contents of the bag was only 6 anals with all the attached tissue from within the pelvis along with quite the path of fur and fat/meat and 12 inches or more of intestine.. there were 6 sets of this that filled this bag, I was so upset I tossed it all in the trash.

appreciate the replies.

this may help others avoid some of the lessons that y'all learned the hard way...

Definitely mine.




The problem in the industry is the wide variance in ingredients.

A lot of junk out there a guy doesn’t know is junk until he buys it.

Think I told this story already BUT....Had a pile of glands.... several small buckets of skunk pods, coyote anals, castor, sac oil, muskrat glands (and fish oil...tail oil) working up stored in an old dark (cool temperature) barn that I got permission from land owner. One day I'm driving by the place and I look over ....bull dozer had taken the barn down and had excavated the site for a new subdivision......nooooooooooo! No telling how much money I lost. Land owner had been placed in the hospital for a terminal illness and kids stepped in ....sold the land

I must say in my earliest years in our business late 60's-early 70's quality ingredients & knowing what those were when you got them was my biggest challenge.

I was learning the hard way and spending considerable amount of $$ on items and things. I was trusting in someone else to be as honest as I was in giving me what I wanted and was paying for in a quality product.

It was a long learning curve for me. I would not put together a bunch of tinctured materials ( what I can the tea bag process ) and sell it for authentic material as I was sold back in those days. It was very bad as I found out in later years.

Many had little to no odor and a very small percent of actives per volume of product. I have come a long way since those days.

To this day that doesn't sit well with me. Buying bulk processed glands from others was an eye opener. You didn't know what you were getting. I would never buy any processed glands after that experience. It is best to collect your own or buy raw glands and prep them yourself.

It was all about the profit margins back then and there are some still doing the same thing from what I am told from others in the last few years.

Made a beaver lure that was one of the best I ever used, didn't write the formula down---could never get it "right" again! Spent a lot of time and money trying!

I agree Tom, I learned along the way to write down every ingredient and amount used or added along the way to making any product. We can't remember every detail of what we do. I have done that since my early years and learned I can't remember exactly what I added and how much. Is it fresh, aged, putrid or in between.

I learned to document everything that I do and I have index cards of dozens of formulas and procedures in making a product. You will find there will be different steps to making each product.

If your formulas are basic and simple that is usually no problem. However with some formulas and certain ingredients it may require multiple steps and procedures to get it where you want it to stay consistent and turn out the same every time.

Also date each product that you make on the container and tape over the label to help prevent fading of the ink over time.