Badgers

[mtmuley]

Antelope or badgers?

Both normally. The old shoot as many as you want limit. mtmuley

 

[MTLabrador]

Antelope or badgers?

Granddaddy killed em off for a reason.

 

[Wildabeest]

 

[TheJason]

I shot my last badger about 17 years ago. I was bow hunting deer with a buddy along the Smith River. The badger was sitting on his burrow, and I put the arrow right under his chin. I could see fur in the burrow, so I poked it with an arrow. Nothing. I reached in the hole, and right about when I had a handful of fur, my buddy goosed me in the ribs and yelled “raaaaahr”. I just about shit myself, and had a heart attack at the same time.

I got even about seven months later with a rattlesnake prank.

They are such cool animals. I’ve had run ins with them when working on fences and water developments, and I always yield the right of way. I don’t have any need to shoot one again. We have a mutual peace accord.

 

[NEWHunter]

About 10 years ago I was driving my Dad up to the cottage along the back roads in northern WI. It was about 11 pm when this guy darted out. Missed him with the Jeep but unfortunately the trailer caught him. Died instantly. Threw him in the trailer and called the DNR the next morning. They looked him over and issued a salvage tag.

 

[ashersdad]

I see a handful every year. Killed my one and only when I was 12 and had it rugged. Still love looking at that rug all these years later. It's front claws are bigger than any of the black bears I've taken over the years. Really cool animals to watch.

 

[MTTW]

Years ago we were glassing some sagebrush country for mule deer and saw a coyote and a badger traveling together probably 20 to 50 feet apart. We watched them for a while and they were obviously together. It seemed odd at the time, but it turns out that it is not unusual for a badger and a coyote to pair up to hunt. That is the only time I have seen it though.

 

[wytex]

A couple decades ago I worked on black-footed ferret reintroductions. Ferrets have a pretty unique eye shine, so easy to spot if you hit them with a spotlight. One night I had some volunteers hit me on the radio that they located a ferret. They were going crazy so I headed that direction in my truck. I got the play-by-play on my way there and they were freaking out that the ferret went down a prairie dog burrow and was throwing dirt 10' into the air. I slowed down.

The not so rare, badger ferret. Eyeshine is very similar, but you can usually note a slight separation of the eyes in the shine.

The good old days.

mtmiller my spouse worked on the BFF project in Wyoming for a few years, did you do any of your work in Wyoming ? Field work was in Shirley Basin but also worked at Sybille raising BFFs until they moved them to Ft Collins.

 

[brockel]

Very cool critter. Hell on hay fields and equipment though. Best way I’ve found to trap a badger is to make an awesome bobcat set. Stinkin basterds though when you go to skin them. One of the hardest animals I’ve fleshed. One time at work before phones with cameras I watched a coyote and badger seem to work as a team on a prairie dog town. It was pretty cool.

When I was younger i seen tracks in the snow of a badger going down his hole. I put two traps just outside his hole. Went home thinking I’d have a badger by morning. Go to check it in the morning and it looks like a D12 cat has went to work on the bank he’d dug into but there was no badger in sight. For some reason I decided to start digging through the soft dirt looking for my other trap I figured was still there. As I’m digging with my hands all of a sudden the ground comes to life. Out boils this pissed off badger coming right at me. I’m scrambling backwards dropping the hammer as quickly as I could on my single action 22 revolver. Damn thing ambushed me. I wish someone had been there recording

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I saw a badger chasing a prairie dog on I-90 today.

 

[Elmacho]

I've seen a few in the deserts---NV, UT, WYO....most in Wyo.

Best was when my 13 yo son was with me antelope hunting. On the drive back at night, spotted one in the headlights, just off the road. Hit the brakes and watched him go from hole to hole trying to get baby cottontails as they bounced out ahead of him about 10 feet to the next hole. Everytime he tried to catch-up, they would bounce into the next hole and repeat. As we drove by realized it was a juvi badger no bigger than a slightly large cottontail.

 

[thusby]

Had a badger poking around a dry creek bed while we were cottontail hunting in Montana last year. I thought the badger smelled uncannily like a skunk. Then two skunks popped out of the brush next to him.

I'm with Oak, I can't see the need to shoot such a hapless animal. It would be like gunning a porcupine out of a tree.

 

[Poke 'Em]

Got in a fight with one once and knocked it out cold. Eventually it came to and ran away. True story.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Just popping in to see how the Badger thread is going.

 

[mtmiller]

Found another badger last night, but by the time I explored a little farther down the road he was gone. I did find a swift fox den, so it worked out ok. Hopefully pics of both this weekend.

 

[noharleyyet]

Goat whips HoneyBadger....true story

 

[hank4elk]

I see them often & like them on my place. Anything that eats rodents is OK in my book. They can dig like a storm. I run into them walking around & usually they will leave me be. But they can be a bit aggressive. Even had them charge my truck.
Rio & them have come to an understanding. Leave each other alone and go for the rodents.

 

[CGeminski42]

Ok

 

[jtm307]

They are EVERYWHERE in Wyoming.

 

[Cootmeurer]

Just like otters - one and done for me. This one came out of NoDak