I know a couple guys that do this and hey say they have seen no difference in reaction. Tell me have you tried this and what were your observations? I use ambrette but for a different lure purpose. Let me know what you think..Im somewhat skeptical

I have noticed that there is a marked difference in reaction from musk amberette and authentic muskrat musk. They both have their place, but in my opinion, they aren't interchangeable.

Kinda figured that. Thanks. Ive noticed several places list amberette musk as a substitute for rat glands. Ive always been skeptical of this myself, but Ive never tested to see a difference myself. Good rat glands are one of my very favorite ingrediants.

Authentic rat glands is one of the finest lure ingredients you can use. Beaver castor ranks right up there too - lol.

I agree ... it's not much that doesn't show interest in the heavenly aroma of castor & rat glands

To my nose ambrette had a "sharper" order compared to nice mellow sweet smelling rat glands

possum skinner, you ever notice that when grinding rat glands that they smell like cardboard after a gallon or two, but if you come back a day later to smell them they have that mellow wonderful rat gland smell????

I just noticed that today. I harvested some a few days ago. Boy they smell fine....I make a lure for myself that is based with rat glands and castor. Ive caught just about everything on it.

KY, the spring rats should be putting on their finest glands starting now. Its a great time to harvest them, but most states don't have a trapping season when the glands are at their best.

I know. Our season ends the 28th of this month. Ive got a few small ones in the last couple weeks but the ones I got the other day where big and full. Id sure like to have a quart or two of them,LOL...I cant find anywhere to buy glands in bulk to get a decent price.

Are they just starting to fill out is ky, Paul when are they the most prime. One of the early dec rats pod had just a little bite like the size of two matchheads.

Decent price for rat glands? There's no such thing. I've been paying just under a hundred a quart,

Well Paul your beating my price by a bit. I did just find some a lot cheaper than I was paying but im still out around $52 for 16oz but I usually only buy around 4 ounces at a time. I dont go thru them like you do,LOL

My biggest supplier gets $340 a gallon for them. I bought 2 gallons last spring and will probably get 4 gallons this coming spring. They're a necessity in my formulations and I just gotta have em.

Yea, I understand that. I use them in about everything I make. I just dont make near as much as you do,LOL...I really need some red fox glands but I gag when I think about having to buy them by the ounce.

lol ... you fellas sound a lil too familiar with sniffin cardboard

i haven't hit the rats yet this year ... only caught a few here and there ... the drought has really put a hurtin on a few of my "go to" locations for easy pickens ... i'm gonna be wishing and wanting for some rat glands myself if'n i don't nail'em in the next couple weeks ... still got about a pint and a half i'm sitting on

ky- too bad wal mart don't have a lure ingredient section ... "great value" brand rat glands bargain priced

pint and a half you suck,LOL ..Weasel glands are something else that hurts bad. I dont use a lot but at $6.50-$7 an ounce I cant stand to...man they work though.

Im gonna be hurtin for castor this year from the looks of it. I lost about 10 pounds when a freezer went down and the drought really hurt the beaver harvest around here this season.

I'm hurtin for castor too.

How much red fox glands are you needing KYBOY?

I can get by with a pint Paul, maybe even a bit less. I know that sounds funny but even that gets expensive when you have to pay $4 an ounce for it.

I can take care of you at less than that cost.... if you like the way my glands are put up. They work great for my formulations, but I don't know about yours.

LOL, Im sure if they work for you they'll work for an ameture like me. Ill Pm you.

Cletis the glands are at their best in this area in March.

We should be the same, I,m 55 mile n of Ark and 30 e of KS, but our season closed Jan 31. Thans Paul

Paul wrote....Authentic rat glands is one of the finest lure ingredients you can use. Beaver castor ranks right up there too

I agree 100%. Both are what my Dad used to term "commom sense lure ingredients."
Musk Ambrette is a fine ingredient too, its attractive to every animal species I can think of and is a secondary replacement to 'rat musk in canine and bobcat lures but one isn't going to fool a muskrat with it.
KY Boy, you didn't specify which animals you were refering to when you asked the comparison question! Ace

Good stuff for a "rookie" lure/bait maker...me!

I would love to see a pictoral on where and how to remove rat glands...Kyboy any possible way you could do that?

Asa are their any rat glands in that rat gland you make? You know that one that smells so good you could spread on toast in the am..lol

MChewk, next one I catch Ill do that. Ace I was refering to predator lures, thanks.

MChewk asked...Asa are their any rat glands in that rat gland you make? You know that one that smells so good you could spread on toast in the am..lol

Yes, pure yellow musk in the formulation, its what makes the lure the golden color it is. The 'rat musk is also the ingredient that probably makes the Muskrat Super All call so attractive to mink and fox. Ace

MChewk - This might help ya

Thanks Guys...still learning.

I've for the past 5 years tried the Artifical Rat glands first introduced to me by Dave Edwards, while I didn't take to them right away they are as good as he said they were, I'm pretty much done with real Rat Glands, except for 1 or 2 lures that I haven't had a good chance to test the "fake ones" out in yet, I'm down to buying 2-3 pints of the real ones a year....B...

I sure would like to get my hands on Dave's formula for those artificial rat glands. That product worked great. I still have about a pint of it left, but probably will never use it.... cause it was Dave's.

When I tested two of my canine lures long ago, I tried substituting ambrette musk for rat glands. The lures with the ambrette musk still attracted the canines, but they didn't seem to have that digging reaction like they did with the lures with the rat glands. For my formulations, the genuine rat glands work better for me.

They're expensive as heck, but I like how they work.

Thats what matters. When your supplying a product to satisfy a consumer even if it costs a bit more its best. Id guess having happy customers is a absolut must in the lure buisness. Without repeat customers one would have no buisness.

KYBOY wrote...Id guess having happy customers is a absolut must in the lure buisness. Without repeat customers one would have no buisness

I guess that must be what happened to hundreds of lure makers that have come and gone over the years I've been at it. I suspect that most had inferior lures and/or poor service and some that just rode the fair weather fur boom of the late 70's early 80's and onward to more lucrative persuits. Ace

Glycol is usless as far as I'm concerned. I tincture with 100 proof vodka. In some of my paste lures that call for ambrette I use the crystals straight, the odor like dried castor will permeate the lure's base when aged for a year or so. Ambrette is a very mild smelling ingredient at face value but will fool one who adds too much in a formuala once it has aged for a while. All one will smell is ambrette when too much is added even though other ingredients in the formula seem much more powerful. Ambrette is very permeating, I suppose that is why it is used in expensive perfumes. Ace

LOL - Asa, I made that mistake of using too much ambrette early on, and is a lesson I won't forget.

ttt.

Great discussion!

Glycol is not a good tincturing material.I agree quite unamimously regarding ambrette musk crystals.

Very good topic I will try the vodka. What about ketone and tibetene crystals? Will vodka be better than glycol?Thanks for tips guys its great the way you all give out info like this.

Take some real rat glands and some ambrette and dip a seperate q-tip or what ever you want in each pure mixture... put outside exposed to weather elements. After a month or two , go up and see which one you can smell with the human nose!

Well tell us...dont leave us in suspence what is the longest lasting?

Everyone cover your eyes I'm about to show my ignorance,are the glands you refer to the yellow sacks in the pic, kinda look like fat lumps in the groin. And how should they be preserved,I'm not a lure maker and don't expect to be in the near future but the more I can make/use from an animal the better,I don't have a problem with cutting out parts and freezing or drying or what not,just need to know how it's done and what pieces,I trap a bit of everything short of bobcats,pa has issues with that right now. But if I can make some extra and save you guys a few bucks I'm all for it, phil.

paredneck: The rat glands I get from trappers every season have either been frozen until shipment or preserved by layering them in salt.
Yes, the rat gland are the yellow sacks full of musk shown in the picture.

THANKS, Paul, Asa,Brian, Bob,Possum skinner, and you Ky Boy for your inmput and starting this thread. I'm enjoying this

Our rat gland pods are a tan color here it seems they may vary in color a bit from region to region. I dont recommend storing in salt. Salt is an astringent and will sear the glands and draw out some of the musk then when you go to use the glands you have to deal with removeing the excess salt with the brine and will lose some musk. I prefer frozen glands until use time.

Bob, Paul or Asa...have you noticed any difference (quality) between glands from different areas of the country?

Bob, are our rat glands anywhere CLOSE to being ready when the season is still in?

Thanks!

I've found then when using freezing as a way of preserving raw rat glands, freezer burn can be a problem if left in the freezer too long. They will turn an orangish color and won't be nearly as potent as when fresh.

I've been grinding them as I get them, and add a bit of glycerine before putting them in the freezer. I've found that this seems to inhibit freezer burn quite a bit. It will also keep the ground glands in a semi liquid state to make it easier to use right out of the freezer.