Trapping Lure Formulas and Recipes You Can Try

Trapping lure formulas are the stuff of modern folklore. Or maybe witchcraft. Nobody talks about their formulas. All is secretive. Popular lure makers cling to their formulas and take them to the grave……and that’s for good reason. You can make big money with a lure formula that works. And if you’re a good marketer, the combination of a scent’s effectiveness and human psychology can result in tens of thousands of dollars of profit each year for a lure maker.

Is it all bull****? Mostly, yeah. At the risk of being alienated by much of the trapping industry, I’ll give you my personal opinion. If you had the formulas of every major lure maker in the business, I think you’d be surprised at how simple most of them are. It doesn’t take a PhD in chemistry and a hundred thousand furbearers to come up with an effective lure formula that will catch piles of fur.

So, why all the secrecy? You can’t blame the lure makers. They are giving the customer – the majority of trappers – what they want. Magic in a bottle. A guarantee of results. The edge on the competition.

You see, consumers have a weakness in everything we buy. We want easy answers, quick solutions and purchased confidence. Since you don’t know what’s in a lure, you are buying the story, the reputation of the lure maker, the claims of others, and what you think is a shortcut to success. Can’t blame the lure makers for selling folks what they want.

Early on in my lure making, I tried to be different by exposing every single ingredient – and quantity – that was in the lures I made. But that’s not what people wanted. There’s no magic in that. So, like every other lure maker, I started concealing the ingredients and methods of production, putting a cloak of darkness over the entire process. And guess what happened? Yep, lure sales picked up fast. And when people started catching fur with those lures, they bought more, spread the word, and became believers in my lures. I suppose we have to give the customer what they want, as frustrating as it can be.

But let’s assume you’re different, and you don’t buy into the hype. Let’s say you want to try making lures on your own, and you’re looking for a few formulas to get started. Below I’m going to lay out a few recipes you can try. Each comes from professional lure makers who were big names in their industry. And just because they are no longer a secret, doesn’t mean they don’t catch the heck out of critters. Give them a shot, and prove to yourself you don’t need magic in a bottle, purchased confidence or a story in order to catch fur.

All around predator lure
1.5 oz ground muskrat glands
0.5 oz ground beaver castor
0.5 oz ground mink glands
1 oz fish oil

Raccoon lure
1.5 oz ground muskrat glands
0.5 oz ground mink glands
0.25 oz tonquin musk
2 oz honey
3 drops anise oil

Bobcat lure
1.5 oz ground beaver castor
1 oz ground muskrat glands
1 oz fish oil

Fox lure
1 oz fox urine
2 oz fish oil
1 oz tonquin musk

All predator lure
1 oz ground mink glands
1 oz rotted fish juice
10 drops rhodium

Fox lure
1 oz fox urine
2 oz rotted fish juice
1 oz tonquin musk
1/2 oz asafoetida

Coyote lure
1 oz ground beaver castor
10 drops pure valerian oil
2 oz fish oil

Raccoon lure
1/4 oz tonquin musk
1 1/2 oz ground muskrat glands
1/2 oz ground mink glands
2 oz honey
3 drops anise oil

1 oz canton musk
2 oz honey
5 drops anise oil
1/4 oz phenul acetic acid
1 oz rotten fish

Skunk lure
1 oz beaver castor
1/4 oz asafoetida
1/8 oz skunk essence
3 oz rotten fish

Weasel lure
1 oz beaver castor
1 oz muskrat glands
1/4 oz weasel glands
3 oz rotten fish

All around predator lure
4 oz rotted fish
4 oz rotted liver
2 oz cod liver oil
1/2 oz ground beaver castor
1/2 oz civet musk
1 oz tonquin musk
1 oz muskrat glands

Beaver lure
4 oz tinctured beaver castor
1 oz tonquin musk
1 oz tonka bean extract

4 oz tinctured beaver castor
1 oz tinctured asafoetida
1 oz tonquin musk
5 drops birch oil

1 oz beaver castor
1/2 oz nutmeg
1/4 oz cinnamon
1/4 oz clove oil

1 oz ground beaver castor
1/2 oz beaver sac oil
2 drops anise oil
3 drops poplar bud oil
2 oz glycerine

Muskrat lure
1 oz sweet flag oil
1 drop anise oil
6 drops catnip oil

1 oz anise oil
1 oz spearmint oil

1 oz anise oil
1 oz sweetflag oil

1 oz muskrat glands
1/4 oz tonquin musk
10 drops apple extract
2 drops catnip oil

mint toothpaste 🙂

Otter Lure
1/4 cup fish oil
1/4 cup glycerine
1 tablespoon anise oil

These are just a few formulas out of the thousands of different combinations that have caught untold numbers of furbearers over the years. I hope these simple recipes will help you get started in formulating your own lures, testing them, adapting them for your traplines and coming up with what works best for you. There is no magic in lure making, just good quality ingredients, basic formulas that make sense, attention to detail and trial and error. Good luck!