A lure question

[coyotero]

I used to smear lure on the dirt in a dirthole set.It seems to me that dirt is the enemy of lure,the smell disapates more quickly than if I use a lure "holder".I found out I can put a jar of skunk essence in a container with damp peat moss all around it and the peat moss will mask the odor.I wondered if the bacteria broke the lure down also.I never use over a bean sized chunk fo lure.Don't relure every often.I've been using pieces of hides,eggshells and feathers as lure holders at sets to keep the lure from getting smothered(?) by the dirt.Was interested in thoughts and experiences along these lines.I always try to pin the lure holders down.I also think using the holders helps with eye appeal.

[Bogmaster]

 Some of the castor mounds I make for beaver,are made from sand(no mud available).As the sand dries out,it seems to suck moisture from the lure.My thoughts are the same with lures and dirt.
 I am sure Asa has checked this out over the years.
  Tom

[Asa Lenon]

Common sense says its likely always best to protect the lure from dirt and weather. However, I break my own rules a lot by just taking a stick and  smearing a little lure around the upper lip of a hole and then just throwing the stick and remainder on down to the holes bottom right into the dirt. I haven't seen where this method compromised maximum harvesting so will assume the animals can still smell the lure quite well even though the moisture has been leached into the sand. In fact, when I visit old hole and flat sets the next Summer coyotes and fox are many times still digging out the scent sticks.  Also, my Dad did it and I do it sometimes too at dirthole sets for canines and cats and at pocket sets for mink, reach about half way into the hole or pocket and pin the scent stick into the roof of the hole or pocket. This way it does not touch the dirt. Ace

[catdaddy]

use a rag or cotton balls for lure to stick in the hole,that way it wont disapate

[wormbobskey]

I've got some of those green tubes that florist use for indidvidual flowers. It has a little soft rubber cap with a hole in the top. I just use a stake to poke a right size hole and insert the tube into the ground. Holds the lure real good and I have even been able to use them in remakes as long as the critter doesn't chew them up to bad. Worm

[OldCoon]

I my expirences canine trapping I alwasys found that any applied scent, lure or urine, lasted longer if applied to a cotton ball.

[jim-NE]

I make my own lure holders from a 35mm film canister (cleaned by running through a dishwasher cycle with light detergent). I take a 1/8" drill bit and perferate the canister about every 1/2" or so all the way around the canister, top to bottom, but through the canister's sides only, not the bottom area. Then I take a 10" length of stiff wire and make a tiny loop in one end only. This loop acts as a stop. Take the other end of the wire (usually slightly sharp from the wire cutters) and push this end through the canister cap first and then out the bottom of the canister. To open the lid now, you have to work the wire back up out of the canister a bit. Put a couple of dry, clean cotton balls inside the canister and it is ready to be loaded at the set location. I make a bunch of these up ahead of time during the off-season.
When making a set, just slide the wire up a bit, open the cap, and apply lure or urine, or even bait, to the cotton balls inside the holder. snap the cap back on and pull the wire down through it snugly. The extra wire coming out the bottom of the container can be worked into the ground at the set...pushed in with help of a pair of pliers, or you can also use this wire end to wrap around a clump of grass, post set "post" material, or can even use this holder for call lure and wire it off to an overhead or nearby branch or fence. The lure holder helps keep the rain off of your lure, the perferations help the air currents flow through the container across the lure inside. Reluring if needed is a snap.
After a catch, sometimes the holders are chewed up too badly, but most of the time they get worked off to the side and are reusable for remakes. The wire support/holder also helps keep the cotton ball from "running off" when a coon tries to steal the holder without getting caught.
Anyway, just thought I would pass this along. I can't take credit for the concept...I saw Rich Kaspar of Crete, NE use them once in a trapping demo and I remembered how many rolls of film I usually go through in the off-season, and the concept seemed to make sense to me. I've used them for many seasons now and really like them. I use them at castor mound sets also by putting them on the backside of the mound, and have had very good success on beaver with them. Black film containers seem to generally match the black muck from our local stream/lake bottoms here. I have also used the white and clear film containers too and have not seen much difference in them compared to the black. I do think the black absorbs a bit of sunlight which may help a little during day hours and freezing temps, but probably not a factor after hours one bit.
Jim

[MChewk]

I use those film canisters like crazy too Jim...hard to find them after making a catch or three...lol  Coyotes and coon eat them up. JC Conner, C.Dobbins and others recommend using grass wads to attempt to keep scent off ground.
Wind up some dried grass make a small, mouse looking nest and position in the back of your hole apply scent and go.

I like using dried droppings to hold my gland /urine smells. Other times its a chunk of fur that gets the lure and then pushed into hole.

I sometimes get lazy and just throw lure stick or squirt some down hole.

[Asa Lenon]

I make a lot of blind scent sets for coyote constructed at outstanding clumps of grass. At these sets I use a plug as a lure holder for my liquid Nature's Call lures. The wooden plug is about 1" in diameter, 4" long,  pointed at one end for driving into the dirt and a 1/2" hole bored a couple inches into the other end. Urine is sprinkled around the grass clump so the odor an carry in the air current and the plug with lure is placed just inside the grass clump on the trap side of the clump with about 1" showing above ground and facing outward at a 45 degree angle toward the trap. This ensures that just like a dirthole set that the animal must come around to the trap side to investigate the hole and lure. By facing outward at an angle the lure is also protected from a moderate rain. Once these wooden plugs are used again and again they lure soaks into the wood anyway and they will still do their job even when a hard rain washes them out.  When possible, I use natural larger hollow knots for counsructing post sets. These knots, hollowed out with age, about a  foot long and 4" in diameter are are found all over the forest floor in my area and are the remnants of past forest fires. These are also faced at a 45 degree angle facing the trap with the lure placed inside and ensure the animal comes to the trap side to look into the knot. One can utilize anything natural to the area the same way, corn stalks in a farm field, old bones on a Western ranch, etc.  The reason I don't generally use a scent holder like a film canister at a dirt hole set is that when a fox or coyote can see the gob of lure on a natural looking stick at the hole's bottom, they generally try to get it up and out of there and seldom can achieve that without hitting the trap pan. When they do manage occasionally they either drop the stick or run off with it. Because I use drag hooks at all land sets I can use the same set over and over, year after year without the set being destroyed. By using a stick I can reach down the hole with a tool I fashioned from a barbecue fork and retrieve the stick when remaking a set after a catch so I can dig up some more dirt out of the hole for reconstructing the set. The first trowell full of dirt that has been contaminated by the lure soaking in is set aside on my kneeling cloth and removed from the area so the lure odor isn't covering the trap bed. A lot of trapper I know smear the lure on grass clumps, pieces of moss, etc but when one does this they will not be able rertrieve the lure to dig more dirt from the hole.  Ace

[MChewk]

Asa, BUT if not dragging the animal..staking...is the method you described really worthwhile? I ask 'cuz I am not in a dragging situation alot...flat open cornfields, soybeans,etc. Scent from animal is at catch circle lure/bait all over.

[Asa Lenon]

Never staked a land set in my life Mike so any comments about the technicalities of staking would be pure conjecture. Ace

[MChewk]

Rookie...lol

Kidding I assure you!
I might guess here that it wouldn't make a difference for the reasons I gave....whole catch circle area is ODORED up.
Now for the next question ...regarding dragging...When the animal drags off and becomes entangled...have you ever set that particular entangled spot up?? 

[Asa Lenon]

No Mike, I replace the trap back in the same spot.  I'm doubtful, even with the hot animal odor around the entanglement spot that one could entice a wary Michigan  coyote into a thick area with poor visibility around him. Also, drag entanglement spots are not likely as hot smelling as a staked trap spot because most coyotes, bobcat and fox fight very little or any at all once they are secure in heavy concealment. Ace

[RdFx]

Ive found same circumstance  as Asa with trapped canines and cats  with drags with them being calm when tangled up in brush or  in something that provides concealment.  I  did have a dog one time that chewed off every tree shrub up to   1 1/2 around him.  Had more trouble releasing him than i ever did with wolves and he was smaller.  Owner later euthanized dog as was chasing deer and killing  neighbors tame rabbits in pens.

[Asa Lenon]

Every once in a while a coyote or bobcat will topple 1 1/2" trees for as far as the chain will reach but most entanglement areas have minimal chewing or none at all. Trappers put so much emphasis on trap types and modifications to hold animals. When using drags and adequate chain i've used just about every trap and size, both large, new and strong traps and older weakened traps and pull outs are not a problem when animals don't fight hard. Even the fighters stay put because the drag and/or chain is generally secured on something movable like a small tree, old log, brush, etc that serves as shock springs or prevents the animal from jerking soundly on thier foot.  Drag usage is easy on both traps and animals feet.  This includes 'coon too, they seldom chew their feet when they can get into concealment so they feel less vulnerable. Ace

[MChewk]

Good info Asa...I see new BMP testing on drag use coming out in the future...lol
Seriously, info from veterans like yourself is very valuable for any type of QUALITY testing to be done on traps and their holding/damage capabilities. I just wish the BIG BOYS would open their minds up a bit and LISTEN to us trappers...instead of spending all that $$$$$...lol

[skidway]

I've always compared using a drag and a good length of chain to sort of an extra long shock spring.Whatever the drag hooked on usually bends or moves just enough to take the strain off the trap and the coyote. If possible drags would be all I used and I look for sets with that in mind. Unlike Asa I think I've driven miles of stakes but in this Michigan sand it's easy in and easy out with the right tools.