would like to get the group's take on having a no-longer-made lure analyzed, with the goal of approximating it for my own use...NOT for sale.

Please understand that I realize that some of the ingredients may no longer be available. I ALSO realize that even if I did have access to every ingredient (in its original strength/form); that it would be near impossible to re-create the lure, due to individual processes, aging differences, etc.

just thought it would be cool to breathe new life into a little bit of [no longer available] "history".

[don't beat me up too bad...just thinking out loud]

I personally have no issue. My question is how much would that cost to have a lab analyze a lure and give you the list of contents. and would the contents of said formula be broken down to the point of unrecognizable compounds.

I've got a small lab here in my small town that could do it and I'm friends with the guy. My fear would be as 3fox pointed out that they could tell you what's in it but it would be broke down so much you never know what ingredients they use to get those compounds in there. For instance if it said it 3% short chain fatty acids , did that come sun rendered seal oil, aged bobcat meat or deer liver. I've always wanted to run a bunch of bobcat urines in there along with what I've took from the bladder and see how they compare.

Ethically if it's not being produced and/ or your not selling it, I don't see a problem with trying to copy it.
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Jlord did this through someone he knew. I asked if the breakdown could be interpreted to tell what ingredients were used in the lure, and he said yes. You may want to get with Jlord and tap his brain on this.

appreciate the replies and all y'all's thoughts.

This is sort of like patents, just because you can see the layout, doesn't mean you will nail putting it together in the right order, at the right temp, in the right environment and after reading a lot of comments on here aged appropriately. I am sure Lure manufacturers do this, we do it with a lot of defense manufacturing where we will add things that have little to no effect, but hopefully serves as a red herring to prevent full reverse engineering.

Im assuming you're talking about doing something like a mass spectrometry/gas chromatography of a lure?

Not sure it could tell you what glands/ingredients that might be involved in the lure, at least not directly. It would spit out the compounds that are in the lure so if you knew wht the unique compounds are, which aren't hard to research.

that's what I was thinking.

also wanted experienced lure-makers opinion on what they could detect by smell...

NWRC has done this with many of the best commercial lures which ranked high in their years of lure research. What they discovered was the lures that worked the best had in common pretty predictable group of chemicals. They also found which chemicals were likely to produce the best trap lures verses M'44 lures. From a behavioral stand point it is fascinating how inclusion or exclusion of certain chemicals can change to response so much. Those chemical formulas can be made with the actual chemicals if one has access to them or by selecting ingredients with those chemicals. There has been a lot of chemical analysis of various lure ingredients and that information can be researched also. The "problem" with natural ingredients is that there are many other chemicals in those ingredients and also that you don't know the concentration of the chemicals you most desire to provide attraction in the product you are making. This is one of the reasons it takes so much experimenting to get a lure built with natural ingredients just right.

Lure making is quite an adventure and once bit with the bug your mind seems to constantly dream of your next formula possibility.

NWRC has done this with many of the best commercial lures which ranked high in their years of lure research. What they discovered was the lures that worked the best had in common pretty predictable group of chemicals. They also found which chemicals were likely to produce the best trap lures verses M'44 lures. From a behavioral stand point it is fascinating how inclusion or exclusion of certain chemicals can change to response so much. Those chemical formulas can be made with the actual chemicals if one has access to them or by selecting ingredients with those chemicals. There has been a lot of chemical analysis of various lure ingredients and that information can be researched also. The "problem" with natural ingredients is that there are many other chemicals in those ingredients and also that you don't know the concentration of the chemicals you most desire to provide attraction in the product you are making. This is one of the reasons it takes so much experimenting to get a lure built with natural ingredients just right.

Lure making is quite an adventure and once bit with the bug your mind seems to constantly dream of your next formula possibility.

and I need another "obsession" like I need a hole in my head...

z
You and me both, Don! I'm trying to get rid of some of mine!

I figure by the time I put another lure formula together and test it properly I will be to old to reproduce it in large amount. I still have 1 lure and 1 bait in the final stages . And it takes so long to age for large batches and find enough of the ingredients. Cameras is a waste of my time old school with a trap is for me.

just now checking back in...

LOL at Lee!

(glad I'm not the ONLY one!)

We need to start a support group, Lure junkies anonymous LOL