thought I might add to this string, if both of you don't mind....and please, my word isn't by any means gospel or anything either.
my trapline notes and my experiences whenever I caught a skunk at a canine set, and the skunk fully sprayed its load after I dispatched it, that catch circle itself went "dead" for me for an average of 10 days or so after I remade it. But, a nearby post-type set would connect within a 2-3 days if I made the post set nearby immediately after a skunk catch.
I have no true knowledge of why this was effective for me. My theory was always that there was a fine line somewhere in skunk essence between "attractive" and "offensive", i.e. a drop or two in a lure concoction seemed to be "attractive" while a full spray is very offensive to my old whiffer, let alone a very sensitive canines. Again, I don't know how true that is, was just my own take on this.
I did read in Charlie Dobbins' book about canines habits of rolling in something that stinks to high heaven...followed immediately by an urge to urinate on something nearby. He used to test it on the neighbor's dogs (as he explained in his book) by squirting skunk essence and sun-rendered fish oil on an old rag and tossing near his truck when He got out over at his neighbors' house. When they sipped coffee, he kept an eye on the rag out of window, and sure enough sooner or later the dogs would come visit, roll on the rag, and then go off about 10-15 paces and urinate on something immediately afterward. I started employing his technique after skunk catches by immediately constructing a decent post set or two nearby the skunk catch circles, and also remaking the skunk catch site itself also. My post sets consistently connected on both coyotes and foxes within a few days. The skunk catch circle took much longer to connect.
Again, I'm not an expert but thought I would share something that has been a useful technique for me for several seasons now.
jim-NE
