Why use lure?

[trappnman]

since about anything attracts about anything-

why do you use lure?

If all lures are "the same" why do we stick with certain types or brands?

Does lure add to the catch?

[17HMR]

#1"why do you use lure?" Easy, simi quick, can use it high or low, and beats the heck out of catching coyotes in pure blind sets with footholds.
#2Lures are not all created equal many are better than others.
#3 yes

[Yodog]

1. To increase my catch...Your missing critters if you not using them.
2. They are not "equal"... Northwest predator lures have produced best for me.
3. Certianly.

[trappnman]

Wouldn't you catch as many in blind trial sets?

[walkercoonhunter(Aaron L.)]

#1 i use lure for attracting critters and to give more of a focal point...
#2 not all lures produce on my line as well as other so you have to find what lure your target animal will respond to the best....
#3 yes lure def adds to the catch.....
you may be able to catch as many yotes in blind sets but you would have to set way more traps per coyote caught.....

[billmeyerhoff]

Because they work, From looking at close calls I know that with lure you have more chances to get a critter to place a foot on the pan than you do in a trail set. On a catch I can't tell you if it was the first step or the fourth step that caught it.

You develop confidence in a lure and it takes confidence to keep going.

Yes, because of the confidence factor.

I'm always trying different lures but this year I only used a couple of them and next year I'm only going to buy two lures. Getting way to old to remember whats were and I hate record keeping so sheep's wool will get one and feathers the other.

Off subject, this morning I caught a mink in a blind set under a bridge. That trap has been there for about two months and only caught one possum to date. The reason I caught that mink was because I had enough confidence in that set to leave it until it produced. Last year that same set took four mink. Maybe next year it will take five, who knows, one thing I do know is that it's a good set and it will produce if given the time and the population.

[trappincoyotes39]

blind trail sets require exact location, using the wind and good lures makeup for exact location. Also durring the spring female coyotes with pup's inside are a sucker for a good food lure as they are looking for as much protein as they can get and show a good reaction to such.

all lures are not the same nor do they all give the same response ot trigger the same thing in a coyotes brain, that is where many lures fall short on m-44's the lack of response needed.

[Bob Jameson]

Interesting topic.

In some areas with little terrain change,big country, lacking natural guides and trail routes many catches would be considerably less without the use of lure/bait or scent of some kind. Take away the scent trails that are wind or thermal assisted it would be difficult to determine how much it would affect the bottom line. But no doubt it would.

How would it be if someone would trap a whole season with out scent use and inform us all as to the final result compared to years past. With some animals I believe you could get by and do quite well with blind sets. Like for cats, mink and even coon in some areas. But coyotes and foxes I think you would be down in numbers to a large degree. Snaring in good cover again without use of baits, lures or other scent assistance or draws of some sort would certainly cause one to do much more scouting and planning your set placements then when useing scent.

I dont think there is a question that lures have a significant effect on our catches. There are lots of good attractants available some deem one is much better or less effective then another. In the hands of a seasoned trapper I think most well built lures would perform well under the same conditions. It comes down to your favorites, conditioning, word of mouth influence and of course what has happened to work well for you. Some just like the name or the individual making the product or have a vested interest economically in that product. Pick your reason for selecting a product. We all drive different vehicles for our own reasons. They all get us where we want to go but what is the determining factor of your choice of vehicles.?



A good blind set man/woman is usually a much better scent use trapper overall in my opinion. Work ethic impacts the end result as well. Scent makes it much easier for all of us. Good, better,best, marginal or what we consider poor quality scents each has a tremendous impact on the bottom line and our trap site visitations under certain conditions.

Utilizing holes, eye appeal ie.feathers, fur, fiber fill,bones etc. considering the impact of a fresh dug hole and the smell of fresh disturbed dirt working for you at a set etc. would result in visitation interest as a result of curiosity and catches no doubt.

But even with those possible scenarios I would find it difficult psychologically and practically speaking to imagine taking to the field with no scent of any kind for assistance. No lure, bait ,urine, trailing scent,food products of any kind just you, your traps, snares and your knowledge of the animals traits, their frequented areas and know and identify the most effective squeeze, funnels and trails to depend on making your catches.

No doubt it would require some fine tuning and adjustments on your trapline but I am sure with enough field work you could put up some good numbers if the populations and weather were in your favor.

[trappnman]

Good posts..

was talking to a young man in NE a couple years ago- late teens, early 20s.... about coyotes. He wanted to try some lure, as he had never trapped coyotes using lure. The year before, he had trapped 32 (if I recall right) in trail sets using no lure, bait or attractant.

I thought (and said) my friend... you are going to LOVE lure.... I got a followup letter from him, and he was very happy adding dirtholes to his line.

JC told me something interesting once- "I'm not bragging, but I've caught enough coyotes, that they are just too easy using lured sets- so I set almost all of my coyote sets as blind trail sets."

A good blind set man/woman is usually a much better scent use trapper overall in my opinion.

Interesting. And I can see your logic in that being successful w/o lures, one doesn't over-depend on them.

We have often talked about one lure vs another- and I agree completely, that any good lure in a good trappers hands, would probably produce the same if used enough. Trouble is, we usually test lures side by side with our "best", and the new ones suffer. When such testing occurs, we are quick to drop the new stuff.

Because for sure, in side to side tests, some lures consistently outproduce others. Not to say the secondary lure set wouldn't produce, but it wouldn't have a chance most times. And that well might not be that one lure is inferior, but that one lure invokes different (and quicker) responses.

I also think what lure one uses, depends on when in the bell curve of knowledge (skill) it was used. Something used when nothing brought much success, today could well be the best lure you ever had.

Confidence- does it matter to success? We touched on this a while ago, but left it unsolved...LOL

I don't think that it does in and of itself. I can say NOW, that when I set a trap, I EXPECT to catch the intended target. I don't always of course, but more yes than no- thats confidence but its confidence built on success, not visa versa.

No one is more confident than a new trapper that sets 20 traps and envisions 20 animals in the morning. Even after the truth isn't quite that, he still has confidence for a while- but that slowly wanes.

If he IS a trapper- and I don't have to explain that- he will return next season bowed but unbroken, determined to BECOME a trapper. And slowly, if he sticks with it, he will become more successful.

For example, he sets a few muskrat traps and take a mink. Hes wildly enthused (at least I was) and tries to take more. For me, it was a long curve- accidental mink turned into on purpose mink, and more things became clear and suddenly, mink were no longer a mystery and my confidence became high- I could set mink traps, and know I would be catching mink.

Let me share a conversation Zags and I had. We were talking on the phone, and I said "got to go, I have coyotes in traps" and he laughed and said "remember when?" meaning remember when you went out and hoped you had a coyote, and now you just don't know how many.

confidence- earned by success I think....

[billmeyerhoff]

I called that wishful thinking when I started trapping.

The guy starting out setting blind learns the animals habits first instead of relying on lure and sometimes blaming it for his failure. When he picks up that first bottle of lure he's ahead of the curve.

[trappnman]

I water trapped through my teens, doing a little land trapping mainly for skunks (man, used to love ot catch thme for that $2 bounty) and a few fox and coon- but never used lures indeed, didn't even see a lure bottle until my late teens, and then it was that bottle of Hawbakers ordered from a FFG ad.

[trappngreys]

My neighbor catches around 30 greys a year in blind sets. He is mainly a water trapper so he just throws in a set where he sees a trail. I have been wanting to tag along with him to see how he sets for them.

Not all lures are equal and I believe that not all work in all areas, atleast not for me. I have tried several different lures that some swear by, I ended up swearing at them. Some of the major flops have been from names like O'gormans, Carmens, JC Connor, Dobbins, and Milligan. I have had very good success with these guys other lures. I hear all the time about some guys catching the fire out of them on one lure and I try it and get nothing. Is it me, the lure, or my location?

I mainly blind set for coons. It's not hard to figure out where every coon that walks the creek is gonna walk thru.

[trappnman]

I hear all the time about some guys catching the fire out of them on one lure and I try it and get nothing. Is it me, the lure, or my location?

I can't say I've ever used a lure that didn't produce decent for me on canines, but sure saw a difference on coon.

I'm curious- when you say nothing, what exactly are you saying?

Do oyu mean that those sets were producing nothing, while nearby sets were? Or did you lure a lot with the same and none of them produced. Or do you mean relatively nothing?

I ask only because I too wonder about what you said- how can a lure I know to be good, and the vast majority of those that also use it thinks its a good lure- do a few people do poorly using it?

Some I know is people with little or no experience doing so, but I know thats not the case here-

whats your best guess?

[trappngreys]

trappnman said:

I'm curious- when you say nothing, what exactly are you saying?

whats your best guess?

I used one lure makers lures for a whole area and had a very low catch on certain lures but others really did well. I usually put in 2 or more sets at one loction. Seemed like two lures were the ones that caught most of the fur.

In another location I had three sets two with the same lure, one with a different. The sets with the same lure caught three coyotes and the other set caught nothing. I had a rain come threw so I change out the lure at the set not producing and bingo had a big male coyote the next mourning. It wasn't for the lack of coyotes either. This was a major travel route I've caught coyotes at this location for several years now. I just didn't have the weather nor the time to catch more at these sets. I haven't caught a single animal on this lure while I see post all the time about people bragging about it.

I tried several new lures last year and some of them just bombed out while some seemed to get worked at every set. Most of the lures that worked good have castor, mink, and muskrat in them. They are mild unless they have skunk in them. It seems like the strong rotted smelling lure attracted alot of possums.

I did a test with Gusto against GHII and GHII out performed Gusto by a long shot. Here again some people love Gusto but I didn't do good on it. I use several of Tim's lure with great success and I expected the same out of Gusto but it didn't happen.

I don't go out testing lure but I do know what works for me and what don't. I am like you or anyone else, I want to catch fur. I would use roofing tar if it worked!

[trappnman]

a puzzle for sure....

[ColdSteel]

Talking about a puzzle for years I used 3 brands lure that worked good for me.I mostly trapped on weekends and could go back the next weekend and the holes would be dug out big as a basketball which gave me that goodfeeling man I got something down that hole he wants.All of a sudden I started getting more and more pattern misses andless digging at old holes.Could this be lure burnout perhaps but I don't think so.I switched lures last year and started using others .I think its all about confidence .Idon't use a lot of lures only carry 4 in my lure bucket. Lure kinda reminds me of fisherman who has 50 different color crankbaits and plastics he is gonna use 3 or 4 and they are the ones he has faith in which really is what its all about

[Jeffrey]

If you read on a lot of lure bottles and adds, some say killer early season, some say great late season some may say good all season, as if I'm not confused enough!!! I say mix them all to gether and you will have the best all year lure, sounds funny but probably would work just fine. What we really don't know is if todays response to a lure may be 180 deg. response the next time around. Today the yote could be full and happy and tomorrow hungry and sassy, so I would think a great lure has the ability to change there mood to get a favorable response most of the time.

[Bob Jameson]

Be like trying to change a womans mood once she has her mind and attitude made up. Sometimes it works other times no.

[trappnman]

What we really don't know is if todays response to a lure may be 180 deg. response the next time around

I think lot of truth to that-

[Zagman]

New trappers always think there is some sure-fire lure out there that they dont know about, but that we do know about and wont share.......

In fairness, and with all due respect to lure makers, the advertisements OFTEN sure seem to point to magic in a bottle.

I've said it many times: give me just about any reputable lure makers products and I really dont think my catch changes, year in and year out. I just dont think lure-choice matters all that much.

It's the icing on the cake.......but its a little bit of icing on a big cake.

Lures that are in my bag now are there because, YES, they have produced for me.....but more than likely, I like the way I can meter them out at the set.

In other words, I like the texture, consistancy, ease of use, neatness, etc.

And to show you that certain things work differently for different trappers:

I once complained to Stef that while I loved Cachottier, I HATED how thin it was, dripping down the side of those brown bottles.

Before you knew it, the bottle was covered with lure, it was on my gloves, or worse, dripping off the bottle and on to my trap pattern.

I pictured the same lure and smell, but with the consistancy of peanut butter.......nice and thick, easy to grab a chunk with a stick or whatever and throw 'er down the hole.

When I told Stef about my idea, he laughed, because Gappa wanted it thinner!

When I told Gappa how messy the stuff was, he told me to slow down!

Many times, when I post pics, especially with several dead coyotes or whatever, I get PM's from new trappers asking me what set and lure I use. I really don't think they believe me when I tell them its readily available for purchase themselves.

Zagman