Call or email Jeff . Make him aware of your situation.more than likely he will make it right.

read some where johnny thorpe said mix skunk essence with peanut oil to preserve it..did this in 2014 . wanted to juice up some old lures this fall and smelled like i just got it out of the skunk.dont remenber what the ratio was

I'm pretty sure my bottle was just some old stock that sat on a hardware store shelf for to long. I certainly didn't want to imply fault or blame towards the lure producer. The reviews of hellfire that I've read are all top notch,most people raving about how strong it is. Thanks everyone for the responses. Learn something new every time I'm on trapperman.

I’ll second this. Pretty sure he’s in Iowa still but Sarah’s posting on Facebook about everyday so I’m sure they’d get back to you pretty fast

What bob jameson said is spot on

Bob and others nailed it.

Skunk essence is very volatile and impossible to fully lock down in a formula.

There isn’t a skunky dope out there that’s not gonna fade after a year. Even in a sealed, waxed bottle. Essence finds a way out!

Kill a skunk and add a drop or two of essence to your bottle, it’ll charge it right back up.

That skunky smell definitely will decrease over time in formulation. I have a few customers who will buy Skunky Backbreaker and put it on a shelf for a year, because they like it to be a little "calmer" when they use it.

I know Jeff and he probably would " make it right " but is it really his obligation? It was wasn't purchased directly through Jeff and who knows where or when, this amazon seller got it. It's great that peoples eyes are being opened to the reality of how skunk fades over time. Why is it that so many people swear by a certain brand LDC and others are disappointed in it when they buy it? Best advice I can give is buy it directly from the lure maker and buy it as close to season as possible, keeping in mind it will only be that strong for 1 season. Trappers are fascinated with skunky call lures so the market demands we provide them but they are a blessing and curse at the same time for lure makers.

To be clear in my previous post-I’m not dissing on Jeff. It’s just that I probably won’t purchase LDC again as it’s not something I generally use. I often purchase something different just out of curiosity and to try. I prefer a bit milder call lure for fischer and marten like Cavens tree climber or Krause 40 below.

I tried some night owl lure this year and had good success with it on coyotes. I’ll be back for
more. Also bought a first time lure from F&T that wasn’t to my taste and won’t get again.

World is full of choices and we all have our own expectations of product. Anyone willing to make an honest go at it in the lure/trapping business gets a level of respect from me

I've learned to use up all my skunky LDC type stuff the year I get it. Most of them lose a lot of punch once you open them up.

Plus you don't have to store the stuff

Another Tid bit of info related to any product with Skunk in the formula. Each and every time you open that container by removing the lid, a boost of essence vapor is released into the air. How many times a day do you do that. For how long during the season?

Then as the lid threads and the jar threads become coated with excess material more vapor is released more easily. It is like a pin hole in a tire always bleeding air. Notably at a faster rate due to losing the virgin seal as when the product was newly bottled. All this chain of events equates to a continuous release of vapor and increases the essence bleed rate continuously.

So, in understanding this ongoing evaporation process will help to educate some as what typically occurs with many products containing skunk over time. Some bases / ingredients hold the skunk odor better than others. However, when worked into a more well-suited base the essence will still have a good footprint of skunk and will hold it better and longer. It just will not possess the burn your nose odor that may have been there when first opened for the first few times. Those odors will be softer and very musky down the road. But still a good product.

Will say the first bottle I got was not only weak and very disappointing however after contacting the producer they made it right by sending a replacement and their bottle was what I was expecting, figure was "overstock" from trapping supply house

When you want an LDC, you want an LDC, but there’s a lure I use that I absolutely love to use once the skunk wears off. Hellfire I don’t believe would be one of those but there are many out there.

I don't feel it's right for me to contact producer to "make it right. the fault doesn't lie with him,in fact, after the information I've reviewed from this post, it just seems to be the nature of the beast. The pure quill fades over time.

Just opened up a bottle of Hellfire and has a very weak smell. Not like the one I purchased last year. I won’t use it.

I bought a bottle of Hellfire last year or possibly the year before and I took a whiff of it the other day and it's still fairly stout.

Here's something else to think about. Just because we can't pick up a strong skunk smell doesn't mean the coyote can't. His nose is way more sensitive than ours.