# fox bait



## trapdoor (Feb 25, 2007)

does anyone have a good recipe for fox bait?


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## Mongojoe (Nov 2, 2006)

I just copied this from where I had posted it at another forum some time back....

If you do much predator trapping, you are going to be needing a goodly supply of bait. And if you have bought it, you know how expencive it can be, especially if you use it by the gallon... Instead of buying it you can make bait that works just as well, for a fraction of the price. Here is one of my favorite recipes for chunk bait....

Items needed:
1) Your meat for bait... rabbit, muskrat, deer, groundhog, ect... or my favorites for chunk, bobcat or beaver... And fish chunk can be done the same way, just gut your fish, then cut into egg sized chunks...
2)A sharp knife to cut the chunks with
3)A spoon or something to mix with
4)A large bowl to mix in
5)Jars with lids to put your bait in
6)Sodium benzoate, or plain(not idoized) table salt... Sodium benzoate can be bought at any trapper supply house, and many larger grocery or drug stores, or chemical stores, and I do prefer it over the salt. It comes in a powder, or small flake form, and is generally used as a preservative.

To begin I will cut my meat into chunks about the size of a walnut to a medium egg, and remove any fat, then allow to taint at room temperature. I don't want it rotten. I only want a slight taint. The point where it has just a slightly unpleasant smell, and is grey colored, but if cut into is still red and juicy inside. After my chunk bait has reached the stage of taint that I want, I put my bait into a bowl, and sprinkle on a goodly amount of the sodium benzoate, and mix it up. I want to completely coat my chunks. If useing salt I do the same, but I use the salt a bit heavier than the sodium benzoate... I'll let it set a few hours or over night, and kind of "soak it in". Then I check and make sure that all the chunks are still coated good and not showing damp or "soak-thru" places, and if so I add some more sodium benzoate or salt and mix till it is all completely coated. I then loosely pack it into jars until about 3/4 full(No fuller than 3/4, as gas will be forming that can cause pressure). Sprinkle a lite covering of sodium benzoate on top, or a couple of spoonfulls of salt, and fill it with water to just a little above the level of the bait so that everything is just covered, and put on the lids... Just to be safe, I will check the jars every day and loosen the lids to release any gas that may have formed. I will do this every day until it stops releaseing gas when I crack the lid... I then check on it and crack the lids every couple of days or so after this, just to be sure. And if it is not still releaseing gas, after a week or 10 days of this, I store it back till trapping season... For a bit of variety a little beaver castor can be added when I put it in the jars before adding the water. If the chunk is to be used in extremely cold weather, a drop or two of skunk essence added to it helps the smell to carry.


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## trapdoor (Feb 25, 2007)

Thanks alot for your reply, I appreciate it. I will definitly try it.


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

I've been using the same formula for a few years. except for water I use propolene glycol for water. It keeps it a bit more freeze proof. You can also put in a bit of mink glands, it gives it a bit different flavor. You can also use a bit of urine, not to much, just a little shot of fox. it'll work for both fox and coyote.

You can also make a ground bait also. just do everything that Mongojoe has explained but instead of cutting into walnut size chunks, just grind it up in a grinder. I usually do mine twice for a great consistancy.

There is also nothing wrong with adding fish and other meats together together. just something different.

Just experiment, and have fun. 
xdeano


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## smitty223 (Mar 31, 2006)

http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/scents1


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## Mongojoe (Nov 2, 2006)

Something else here that I will toss in... I used to run a "mouse trapline" in the house, and the barns, when we lived in the country... I would save the mice in old, clean gallon milk jugs in the freezer... I used many of them straight and whole... But, for a paste type bait I ran some thru a blender with a few spoonfuls of sodium benzoate mixed in...(Get your own blender from GOODWILL or a garage sale, your wife will not understand your useing hers...trust me on this.).... For a bit of a change-up you can toss in a little beaver castor, or for colder weather a drop or two of skunk essence... This makes an excellent all around predator bait.... I used to do this, blend it, with trout for a paste type **** bait also.


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## neb_bo (Feb 3, 2007)

i used to go to the bait shop everyday all summer and get the dead minnows from the tanks and freeze them. granted i didnt trap fox, but i thought somebody might make use of it. put 1 at the opening of a pocket set, and pin 2 or 3 in the back, add lure, and youll nail any **** that comes in sight of it. the minnows seem to make an excellent visual attractor.


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