I posted this in the trapers forum and realized I might get a better responce here. I'm wanting to make my own lure / bait for skunk. I have my own yote and coon lures that wrork great for me... Just wondering what you guys use that you made yourself for skunk? Didn't see much in the Archives..

I expect about anything strong will do. You might consider eggs with a bit of aging...

That seems to be a popular idea... I'll try some mixtures of FE and other scents ...
Thanks
Anyone else have any magic ingrediance? I'll be nice and share my test with ya...

I have had luck with cat food, jack mackeral, and several flavors of jelly in ADC work.

Peanut Butter

Little Debbie Cream Cakes

Okay, now you guys are just making me hungry...

While I have caught skunks on a number of baits and lures, including sardines and all types of cat food, the two lures that I highly reccomend for serious skunk work are from Jamesons Ultra Blend and Blackies Blend. Jameson also makes a traling scent for skunks(and other animals) that is top notch! I would reccomend you try them. I also use marshmallows (mini's) trailed into the trap as it seems to divert their attention from the trap and focus on the odor and bait. They seem to just follow the trail of marshmallows and eat their way right into the trap. I have also used the larger marshmallows to "calm down" otherwise hyper skunks for transport. Amazing what a little "candy" will do!

Thanks for all replies.

Burnt Bacon works good also.

Vanilla Wafers for Coon & SKUNKS.

GRASSHOPPERS!!

Raw hot dogs work great!

whats best way to trap them?

friend has lake cottage.

I just want to reiderate (sp?) that I was just asking this as I have used other baits, but wanted to make my own. When I do skunk jobs, I usually have my truck full of cinder blocks and plywood and 1x1 wire and 1/2x1/2 wire (and some traps too)... Bait is not necessary most of the time, but I do use a little lure or bait as well...
sorry felt like I told too much so I edited that...

hot wings,peaches & cream, are good bait / lures for skunks.
home made lures normally aren't as good.
summer bait use wasp nests( larva)under trigger/pan of trap.
peanut butter will catch some but it's better too use commercial products.
bob

not sure on this, but how do cats and dogs react to SFE and eggs for bait? thought about trying them, that is where sardines has turned into a bust for me.

SFE when used with care in a formula can produce very good results for skunks.

Typically skunks are trapped with skunk sized traps by most professionals.Therefore even though domestic animals may have a slight interest in that fragrance ingredient they would not be able to make entry into a cage of that size most likely anyways unless very depraved then it wont matter the cage size they will attempt to investigate the odor.


I personally have never caught a dog in a cage trap to this day using our commercial products. But that is not to say it cant happen at some point. I have caught an occasional cat in a coon size cage but a very minimal percentage. Maybe 3 in 35 years.


Trapping in urban settings is all about target specific setting. That includes the appropriate sized trap,location selected and the best lure and bait and eye appeal presentation available for targeting that specific animal.

Many try initially to home remedy (lure or bait )an animal which can be done to some degree as witnessed by some of the posts I read. But to have the confidence and ability to know that you will catch what you are after specifically to a degree of 95% or greater accuracy most of the time in a short period of time requires some knowledge and experience one will find.

There are always some exceptions when dealing with nomadic creature habits ( skunks and groundhogs especially )that require more time on site but besides those exceptions speed and efficiency are important.The professional presentation that you are showing your clients is important. This includes your appearance as well.

Vanilla wafers and ho ho cakes just dont give out a good signal to your customer when using that sort of baiting routine in my opinion whether it may work or not. Guess who might be doing their own control work next time around after spending X amount of dollars for that job you just finished.Some folks will watch your actions and see what you do and emulate what you show them.

Of course there are those that will still tend to use this kind of baiting routine on control jobs but in time it will not serve you well if you are in this business for the long term.

I agree with your post whole heartedly, and I use tried and true lures on all of my jobs, without fail. Either bought from a professional source or carefully prepared from years of expirience.

However when I read this next part...



I need to come clean. The fever that I have that pushes me to be a trapper burns just as hot or hotter to tinker with baits and recipes and lures and such. The drive for self-reliance that pushes me to learn to trap also pushes me to not "want" to be dependant on a lure maker.

I understand that there is no way in this lifetime I will be able to amass the knowledge of even a % of alot of the lure makers. I consede that the Dobbin's and the Lenon's and the Jamesons and the Jepson's of the lure industry know more about lure making then I and mosty likely would if I dedicated the rest of my life to it.

However reason aside there is a burning passion inside me that is only quenched when I hear that early morning jingle that is a direct result of my personal blend and brand of lure. That is my personal problem with insanity... but didn't God invent "Fur" trapping season for the year round ADC guy to do research and development?

Besides who knows... maybe a well known lure maker that I have become dependant upon will up and sell his recipe to some guy in Witchata and he will never make or market that recipe again Then what?

My meaning in the post regarding home remedies for lure and bait I should have been more explicit. I was referring to the sardines, cookies, chicken, cookies, cakes, pies etc.This is what I was making reference too and the possible impact it has on clientele and your image in general as a wildlife control specialist.

I was not implying one should not experiment with other types of formulated lure and bait presentations.Those types of products would also be very professional in appearance if bottled some way and used for application is such a manner.There is nothing wrong with that what so ever.

I would encourage anyone to experiment and work up their own formulated products to catch a specific target animal. That is one of the inspirations that helped to get me started some 40 years ago. The motivation, pride and sense of accomplishement from capturing animals with my own concoctions was to say the least quite invigorating.

You continue to work with the things that interest and challenge you as I have. It is a very challenging and rewarding profession. I do hope several others will pick up where the oldtimers like my self leave off and to keep the fires burning so to speak.

Bob,

I agreed with your post I just have an obsession with tinkering with baits and lures, have had since I was a kid. I guess it gets in your blood or something. At times is seems more like an infection.

I guess if I was trying to make any point other then just confessing it would have been that I aknowledge that it would certainly be a lot cheaper and easier to just use commercially prepared baits and lures. (most likely get better results too.)

But I just cannot do it. LOL The best way I can relate it is the same reason I did not kill a bear while bear hunting in California. I was living out there as a software trainer/developer and decided to go bear hunting. In CA at the time you could not bait bears but you could use dogs. Well, as a software trainer/developer it was a little short on bear dogs. I could have paid a guide to let me ride in HIS truck while HIS dogs ran and HIS dogs treed a bear, then I could get out of the truck walk up to the tree and shoot the bear. Yeah!!! then I would have been a big time bear hunter/killer, look out Davy crockett.

Instead I went out every weeked after work and spent the weekend camping out of my truck and scouting for bear. I found alot of bear sign, and had the time of my life spending the weekends in the Sierra's... (which was alot of fun for a midwestrn farm boy)but alas I was a failure as I did not get to shoot my guides bear. Note the sarcasim in that last sentence.

I was just curious on the eggs because, if cats/dogs were not interested I was going to try these for targeting skunks early in the fur season. Also use these around farm buildings where cats can be a problem, but coons and skunks need to be removed.

Nothing is fool proof, but sweet lures and baits are even better than eggs for coon and skunk IMO... Bob makes some good skunk lure... I have only bought coon lure once and it worked fine but not better than my own stuff so I just use it. Have caught 1 cat only in the time I have used it, and I have used many "other" things that most people have tried for coons, including cat food, but obviously I don't use that stuff anymore.

I use what works- for me. It may be a commercial bait; it may come from the grocery store; it may be something of my own formulation; or, it may be no bait at all. Some peanut butter, sunflower seeds, oatmeal, (maybe some nut oil) and food coloring mixed together and put into a non-labeled (or computer generated labeled) jar will work for many species of rodents. However, I probably do more "no-bait" cage trapping than I do using baits or lures.

I don't have any woodchucks in my area. I understand that many folks recommend various fresh vegetables to catch them though. I would think that it is difficult to disguise broccoli, cabbage, clover, etc. Yes, there are commercial baits available, but do they work better? Other folks use body catch traps (with no bait); still others use unbaited cage traps.

I have very few skunks here too. If using bait, a chicken or fish based bait is hard to beat. Again, I seldom use bait for skunks. Problem skunks, around here, are found under homes. If they went under, they have to come out. I close all potential entrances except the main one. The setup only allows one way out- into the trap(s).

I have heard though, that the best skunk set-up is make the best coyote, bobcat, or fox setup that you can. Use the most expensive bait or lure. Use absolutely scent free procedures. Leave no indication that a human has ever passed that area. In the morning you should have a skunk or opossum.

Ron Fry

Always worked for me...(LOL)

I would think that skunk scent would work the best. Back when I fur trapped in skunk country I would often move into a new area and have skunk problems so whenever I caught a skunk I would make sure that it sprayed then remake the set. Every skunk in the country was attracted to the set and often I would catch a skunk each night for 5-10 nights until they were gone.

It took me several years to develop a consistent and universal skunk bait and LTS lure.Skunks can be caught on many different things at different times as with other wildlife. It does however depend greatly on the setting where you are going to use it. This will determine your product ingredient selection to a great degree.

If using your product in fur field trapping conditions only, a combination of food and animal gland by products and essence will work very well.If nuisance work is the main focus things must be very different in your product ingredient list.Due to subsequent odor related issues.

If you are using it for control work you are usually on that job call because of an odor problem most likely in the first place. So using a product that is containing essence is not always a good choice.

There have been many homemade cookie, cake, pie and bakery shop items mentioned on this forum and others. However there is much to be desired with respects to professionialism when using such baiting procedures for hire.

This topic has been discussed before in detail on one of these forums I recall not long ago.