For those who make lures and baits how long do you allow a lure or bait to test at a location before you are satisfied with the results?

Are you looking for a predetermined amount of animal visits before calling it good or bad?

Do you test the same lure or bait at multiple locations at the same time?

Just curious how anyone else goes about it.

This is my method for coyotes. I take a stake and drive it in the ground and use it to wallow out as deep as a dirt hole as I can, if im doing comparison testing I'll make another about a foot and a half away. Don't need the hole real wide just wide enough to get whatever your testing at least 8 inches deep. Make sure you dont dribble any of the formulation outside the hole and dont put it on anything the animal can get out of the hole, coyotes are better at it than most would think. Usually make these on the edge of low maintenance roads where I can check them without getting out. We have a good population of coyotes here and I probably have at least a dozen proven spots that are pretty much always good for testing. Ill check them at day 3 for signs of digging and somewhere around day 5 to 7. And im pretty much done with that test after second check. Usually replicate this same test on 4 or 5 different locations at least a mile apart. Have worked on a grab and die formulation that I used dowels wrapped in felt and wired to an anchor so I could see how much they chewed on it after they pulled on it. Testing is like trapping there's a learning curve to it and you have to develop your standard of what is a poor reaction, average reaction and a great reaction. I test everything because all the information you get in books or the net isnt always correct. And when I am developing a formulation I test it one ingredient at a time. Takes more work but u end up with a better product, way more information and it shortens the learning curve to becoming a good lure maker by a lot.
I use some cameras but probably 90% of my testing is without cameras. Cameras take just the right setup to function properly here, so they greatly limit locations. When using cameras on coyotes your adding another big variable to the test set and in my opinion there's a learning curve to them so complicating the testing process for a beginner. I went through at least 8 different models of cameras and about gave up using them before I found one that worked adequately.
Plus I can sometimes have 15 test sets out at a time and that's a lot of cameras and good locations that work with a camera. Cameras can cause issues a beginner or someone not that observant won't notice. I found cameras very frustrating for several reasons. First a lot of models can be detected by the coyotes and influence their reaction, the sun and wind here limits what locations work for them, and lastly a fair number of models miss more smaller animals particularly if they are moving slow than most people realize. Very frustrating to regularly see dug holes but no footage of it. Theirs my 2 cents

I find it as fun and rewarding as trapping and a very important step in lure making but doesn't trigger much discussion or intrest. Do know some lure makers that trap year around or guys who make huge catches that just do most of there testing behind a trap and it works for them but a trap can definitely influence an animals response and is just a much slower process for gathering the information I want.

I really only need one response per test set on coyotes but we got enough coyotes that rarely happens. After one coyote works a set it leaves its scent there and that influences the next coyotes response.

For me when developing a formulation it might get put out at 50 test sets before im ready to put it behind a trap.

I test any and all of my lure/bait formulas only on the trapline and in trapping season. What ever the attraction is meant to do, I test at that type of set. Food,territorial or curiosity. I test from day one through the end of my season.this is usually from mid october through February. It is a gamble as not all my formulas work to my expectations. The reason I test this way is because I want real time and real results on the line and in season. It can be a significant amount of time befor a predator comes by my traps and it gives me an idea of the staying power my bait or lure has. If I was to test out of season,I might get a whole different response than in season. So this is why I do it the way I do.

Ive heard concerns about different parts of the year changing how an animal responss to a formulation and i haven't really seen enough difference to discourage me from doing it. Biggest difference is some seasons coyotes are just more responsive than others as a whole which can make a mediocre formulation look better than it is. That time of the year is when there is a lot of the pups on there own. I will say when it gets real hot here like staying in the 80s at night I usually dont test much because it gets real hard to get any response at all. But pretty much in comparison testing the coyotes will show the same preferences year around for me.i can take skunky long distance lures if they have a really high up close attraction and get very strong reaction even in June.

Thanks for the response gentlemen. You've answered questions I didn't think of asking.

The biggest factor in testing in my area is animal population density, especially for coyotes. So getting enough test set visits to see the results takes a while. But the information you've given is a big help.

Yes sir I see your point that after the initial visit by a coyote, test results will be skewed some. I'll keep that in mind for sure. And you're correct about it being as fun as trapping, or a close second anyway.

I like the way yes sir goes about his testing.

You learn a lot more that way.



I don’t do it that way. Haha


All my “testing” is behind a trap, or on a getter head. Being payed to kill coyotes I don’t feel I should be “messing” with them without trying to kill them.

And, that is ultimately the final test anyway. Like yes sir said, the trap changes things. But, you’re going to learn a lot more about just how attractive stuff is without the trap.

Is it fair or accurate to test single lure ingredients down a dirt hole? For example, 5 drops of imitation Tonquin musk in one hole. In the next test hole use Vanilla etc.etc.
I would think many of them will not have good responses when tested this way?
It would be a fast method of eliminating the none producing ingredients. I should test some and find out.

From my experience some ingredients need to be tested with other ingredients to grasp their attraction. Some ingredients value are mostly as very slight secondary ingredients. By themselves they dont generate much intrest or may even have a negative reaction but used correctly they can improve a formulation. Even when trying to determine what bases for a bait have the most attraction I'll usually add an ingredient to each base and do a side by side test to see which gets more intrest. By themselves they dont always have enough attraction to create a digging response. But add equal amount of good fish oil to several different meat and I usually always find a clear preference. And some ingredients well just increase how far the odor carries, lasts or holds up to weather. If I can find an ingredient that does those things and does actually add to the intrest of the formulation i get real excited. One advantage of building and testing a formulation one ingredient at a time is you really learn more about each ingredient. I find a lot of the man made stuff or other products that dont derive from an animal usually need tested with other ingredients. But there are a lot of ingredients I do test by themselves to start with.
There's single ingredients that can get a strong response by themselves and these i usually refer to as top shelf ingredients. These are ingredients you could actually probably have a decent catch rate with by themselves and I usually like to have at least one of these in each formulation

This is why I will never be a lure maker. I like to play with it, and I have a couple, well three if you count my beaver lure as a lure it is just castor with enough oil sac oil blended in to get the right consistency, that I am very happy with and use extensively. But I tend to test like Boone, behind a trap, and do not do the extensive testing that Seth does.

I will say I once came up with a lure, by putting a number of good ingredients together, without testing individually ahead of time. It proved to be a decent (not top shelf) canine lure that I quit using because it was bar none the most effective raptor lure I have ever seen. I did more extensive testing on ingredients individually and in combination on that lure afterwards, trying to find out what was attracting the raptors than I have on any other lure. And was never successful, none of the individual ingredients or combinations of two or three of them had the attraction to raptors that the finished product did. That told me that sometimes ingredients in combination get a totally different response than they do on their own. But the slow and steady process of testing that Seth goes through will undoubtedly give you a better understanding of what each ingredient does and help you immensely when you go to formulate your next lure.

Yes Sir, thank you for sharing some of your testing results and methods. Most of my testing has been with traps. The problem with this is the catch circle destroys most of the evidence.
I have been testing some new base materials and sun rendered oils. This has been a real eye opener for me. So far, I have not had the patience to build a lure one ingredient at a time. Ha, Ha, I might be making a bunch of three ingredient lures?
Seriously, I have no doubt's testing is time well spent when developing lures / baits.