I've never read or seen anyone use cardamom in lure making, it surprises me a bit. Cardamom is warm, spicy, and sweet, with complex notes of citrus, mint and eucalyptus, plus earthy, woody, and balsamic undertones, creating an invigorating, aromatic, and slightly camphorous aroma. Does anyone know why cardamom is so little used/described in lure making?

Have you used it? I have to be honest I am not familiar with it. The description you gave makes me think it would be great in a sausage recipe. I can't imagine it would not get some response in a bait of some sort.

There are many things that are not written or shared with regards to use of different ingredients in formulation. That is like sharing one of your productive hunting, trapping or fishing areas with another. A smart man never shares such things. A dumb man pays the price.

I’m so old I remember “ Macys doesn’t tell Gimbels”.

Yes its been good for me, I grind cardamom pods and mix it with castor, have great succes in marten lures.

Thank you, NorwayMarten.

Do you use the green or black pods? Would you mind sharing the ratios that you've found successful?

Green cardamom pods, I use 3 pods per 1 oz castor.
I like to make a lurebase of raspberry jam/honey. And than mix castor with cardamom in the lurebase. 70% lurebase and 30% castor with cardamom.

Many Thanks, Sir!!!

I got my hands on some pods, they certainly have a powerful presence, I chewed on one and they are packed with flavor too! Very interesting ingredient to be sure. Thanks for sharing.

I remembered that a couple of years ago I took some kitchen scraps with me to make a mini-bait pile, because while we have marten, the population density is very low - at the end of the season, when most residents have been caught, they start moving more during spring dispersal, and it's common to see just a single incoming/outgoing set of tracks going more or less in a straight line across the whole trapline area, so anything that keeps them interested in the place is good. Marten trapping is very different here from what it's like in more forested areas.... requires personalized attention to each marten

One week I saw one such set of tracks, a big hybrid male, who ran without stopping past several boxes (apparenly attracted in the lure, but too cautious/not hungry enough to commit). He then came across the little bait pile and while he ignored things like dead pigeons and cooked bones, he found and dug up several scattered pieces of baking paper left from brownies heavily spiced with cardamom pods, and ate each of them completely, leaving just one piece stuck to a chunk of ice. The next check I had him in the nearest box.





I'm thinking it could be several substances that are readily available in pure chemical form worth investigating here. I'll name three:

cardamom aldehyde, giving cardamom most its smell;

caramel furanone, which is a very tasty, sweet-smelling substance that occurs naturally in many foods and baked sweet things in particular because it's a product of the Maillard reaction;

and Filbert pyrazine, which smells like burnt milk and all roasted/baked foods at once, and is also a super-common natural product of the Maillard reaction. In nature, these substances form as products of ripening and decay (not necessarily rotting) of foods with high nutritional value (with lots of proteins AND sugars) so they must have plenty of signal value to many animals.

Burnt protein smell seems to be attractive to marten/sable, sable trappers use burnt moose skin chunks and feathers a lot and claim it's far more attractive than raw skin/feathers.

Interesting information....thanks for sharing. To me when I heard the odors...I thought muskrat, beaver and coon.

The burnt protein thing reminds me, I have heard charred horse hooves, basically keratin or protein, being attractive to K9s too. Very interesting, I thought about testing deer hooves for the same response, I can source a lot more of that than horse hooves.

Good thinking Joe...wonder if deer hooves smell different than horse to critters?

I use both Horse hooves as well as deer Hooves i place both in clean glass jars and fill with creek water then place on the backside of the barn in the direct sunlight to allow it to catch as much heat as possible
over time this steeps to a black tea that i pour-off into small more workable containers when it reaches this point you do not want to accidentally drip so much as a drop on anything (Gloves..or Equipment) except down a hole
this definetly will trigger a rolling response once you originally pour this off the hooves can be used many times just re-fill the jar with creek water and allow to steep once again
i have also had luck using this tea on mock scrapes for Whitetails

I have to take the sawzall to the bait pile now...thanks Bob!!