How many of you believe from experience that using a canine lure containing skunk musk calls skunks excessively to ones sets. Personally, I have used and experimented over 40 different canine lures and never noticed a significant difference in the skunk catch whether the formula had skunk musk in it or not. If I was trapping in area with an excessive skunk populations I would catch skunks on every lure including plain urine at post sets. Asa

skunks are caught on every lure put out i agree with you

I use it at all my cat sets and I haven't noticed a lot of skunks being called to them, last year I may have caught 3 at my cat sets, and on fox sets I don't use it and I am catching skunks a lot there. Come to think of it, my nephew has caught 5 of them at one stack yard and there wasn't any skunk used there.

I've never noticed any difference Asa, but I've never put the two together either. I will pay more attention in the future as to what lure catch the skunks. Always seemed to me it didn't matter what the lure was, if it smelled it caught skunks if they were there.

One thing i've noticed with a skunky lure is the attraction of deer!
Skunks heck, They check out ANY stink they walk by!

I use a lot of lures with skunk essence and I haven't caught a skunk in several years. Although, I'll probably have 3 of them in the morning now that I said that. LOL

I quit catching skunks in my k-9 and cat set when I learned about pan tension. But never noticed any different in the lure that caught skunks. They all seemed to work quit well on skunks. When I need a skunk for the essence, I just use what ever I grab first in the way of a food lure. You brought up a good question. Now I'll have to experiment. When there is a problem skunk and house cats around I use marshmallow it seems to work well enough.

IMO...no. I don't think skunks actively seek out skunk essence odor. IMO..they are much more interested in food smells than skunk smells.

Asa, as I use your lures and sometimes even add a drop or two more essence, I have not noticed any more skunk activity. I have taken as many skunks on early season lures as late season. Just my experience. Tom

Hello, Skunk musk as far as a skunk is concerned is a defense mechinism not an attractant. It stands to reason that skunk musk initself would be a determent to skunks. what attracts the skunk to the set in my opinion is the digging activity , bait smell, or other lure used, not the skunk musk itsself. Ed

I you put any attraction down on the ground it won't make a difference to the skunk. They are called to every thing.
Just my thoughts.

Mac

agree with buzzard here........did i just say that, wow, time to wake up i think.

Working spring/summer contract work Ifeel a set is better if a skunk was cought there before. I think a skunk will check out everything and anything until you want to catch them all.

Skunks are traveling son-of-a-guns..if you have skunks in your area you'll catch them in your predator sets with most anything. Buzz and Josh do bring up a good point...cage trapping for a ADC skunk I want every option in my favor...use of skunk based lures just enhances odors to the set. Fur trapping wise....haven't seen any patterns to tell the difference Ace....do I see a Super All Call skunk lure coming out in the future??? lol

Well sometimes stink is stink... an old skunk lure is rotted down worms or nitecrawlers.... that can rate right along in smell with skunk essance. Cant say ive caught more skunks with using a lure with skunk essance in it. As the informal poll shows it sways that skunk essance doesnt enhance catching skunks.

Yep guess Ghandi doesnt love me LOL....

Thank you for all of the opinions, I appreciate it!
If I were reintroducing a skunk lure it certainly would have skunk musk in the formulation, not because I believe necessarily that skunk would be more attracted to it but for the same reason anyone uses a call lure for any animal, to attract animals from longer distances and to hold up better in cold weather. There are certain ingredients that will definitely call more skunks for longer distances than an average lure, that being asafoedita, eggs and liberger cheese from my observations and experiments. My Dad took asafoedita out of his original canine lure formulations for that reason. I'm sure one might catch a few extra skunks when using a skunky call lure simply because the skunk likely smelled it from a longer distance, not only because skunk musk is strong smelling but it also serves as a carrier of other ingredient odors in the formulation. It would be a trade off, one would likely catch more target animals too especially if thier set locations were no precise.
The reason I asked opinions is I had the first complaint I have received in years and a complaint makes me feel real bad. The trapper seemed upset that the Coyote #2 Super Range All Call has a skunky odor and said all he caught was skunks with it and never caught skunks using other lures and baits. I told him he should have ordered the Coyote #1 Super All Call or Coyote Nature's call instead of the #2 Super Range if he didn't want a skunky odor. He lives in the South so probably didn't need the extra strength of the Super Range where temperatures are much warmer this time of year compared to the Northern tier of States. I also told him that I had harvested probably 5000 coyotes over the years using Super Range All Call Summer and Winter and never thought that I harvested skunks excessively even in the hot Summer months.
Any more opinions will still be appreciated! Asa

ive caught skunks on just about every lure, even sets without lure. BUT, the less skunk essence, the better to keep them off your traps!

I've caught skunks on different lures and sometimes only bait.

The mistake was the customers and not yours Asa. Trapping is about learning from our mistakes not blaming them on others. Sharing our successes and learning from others mistakes is what this site is all about. A brotherhood of trappers, not a country club of snobs. Bob

The biggest difference I see is the regional temperatures,down south the guys are wearing insulated coveralls and think they are freezing at 40 degrees,northern guys are still in shirtsleves working in 40 degree weather. I don't beleive that it really gets cold enough in the southern teir states to need a long range call lure,up north when temps hit 15 to 30 below zero is when you need the extra smell and carrying ability of the skunk essence,In Nebraska I rarly feel the need for super skunky call lures except for a couple weeks out of the year when our temps stay below zero for a extended time,if I use a long range call lure heavy on the skunk in warmer weather it will attract critters near but then they refuse to work the set as the smells coming from it are overpowering,I've seen this in the snow when the temps are around 30 degrees or so,but then get a catch if the temps drop to say -10 and weaken the scent.just my .02