Badgers

[Walkathon]

I've run into them in Eastern Mt. and NE Wyoming while hunting. I've left them alone and they've left me alone.

 

[mtmiller]

That is a stellar picture! I would love to watch them in the wild someday.

Thanks. Seems like before I got into photography I was able to get very close above ground. Now that I have good equipment it seems they go down a hole and I can only see them a couple feet down the hole. I will keep trying.

 

[LuketheDog]

They're cool critters. Last one I saw was in the I-70 median in Salina, Utah. As I was driving by at 80 he was going the other way with a fat roadkill prairie dog in his mouth. Coming back through about 5 days later, there he was again harvesting roadkill prairie dogs in the same spot, like it's his own personal buffet.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

A few years back I was deep up a random drainage setting up a veg transect and these two badgers let out the most gawdawful screams at eachother; biting, clawing. It was kinda neat, went on for a few minutes until one ran the other off.
We had some trouble with them getting into chickens around the house/barn when we lived way out, otherwise I let them be. One of the coolest animals out there IMO. I do wish I'd have kept a pelt or two, I always picked up the furbearer license but never got motivated to get them tanned.

 

[Western Traveler1]

This one was on my fence line hunting gophers last night. I really like their look and how ferocious they act but this guy and possibly a couple others have flat torn up my place and neighbors the last couple of months. As close as 50 feet from our cabin. I am on the fence about killing them but it sucks when the grass gets high and someone steps in a hole. If I had horses here he would definitely be at risk.
He is safe for now.

 

[BirdManMike]

I have seen a few. One memorable one was one that I ran into in the Lamar Valley walking out to fish. It wasnt interested in me in the least, just living its life while I watched it scurrying about. Have pictures somewhere, will try to find.

I still have yet to see a wolverine. That would really be something.

 

[Oak]

This is a terrible photo from years ago, but I wondered if the Red-tailed Hawk was taking advantage of the badger's work.

 

[mtmiller]

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.

 

[MarvB]

Was sitting and glassing last season in ID when I heard kind of a combo whine/growl behind me. Stood back up and here was a den full of teeth staring right back at me! Was too slow getting the phone out for a pic (just got his house) but quickly came to the conclusion that I was about as welcome as the Watchtower at his door and I moved on...

 

[ZBB]

I shot one several years ago with my recurve in South Dakota. It was a shitshow, I thought I hit him well with the first arrow, but after a few minutes of him growling at me I decided to shoot again. Well, with only a judo point left I didn’t know what else to do. Bounced the judo point off his forehead and ran up grabbed an arrow with a broad head and had to shoot him from like 3 feet away. I felt terrible, and it really soured me from impulse predator hunting. They’re cool critters, every one I’ve seen since then has gotten clemency from me, probably always will. Their skulls are pretty cool, it’s amazing how much muscle is on their little heads. SD badger.

Colorado badger

 

[RobertD]

Everybody,

Thanks for blowing up this thread with badger stories. This is more info than I could've hoped for, haha.

Also thanks everyone for the great photos. @mtmiller I hope you get some good shots of your badgers next time you're out.

One note about hunting them - I definitely didn't mean to orient this thread too heavily towards hunting them, but rereading my post I see how it may seem like I did. Just want to clarify that the sentiments many expressed about leaving them be are appreciated and respected.

The taxidermy side of me would love a nice winter pelt from one, especially if I lived in an area where they were plentiful. But I think if I stumble upon one on a future hunt I'll just watch and enjoy - maybe the badger won't cuss me too badly.

Thanks again everyone for the stories and photos!

 

[antlerradar]

I see maybe a dozen a year on average. Most memorable was a few years back. I was glassing from one of my best spots when I heard something below me. About 50 yards away was a badger working his way up the hill. I sat back and just watched him go about his business. He just kept getting closer and I wondered how close he would get before he realized I was there. It was cool just watching him. At 6 feet I decided he was close enough and let him know I was there. He puffed up growling ad bearing his teeth. Wasn't much back down in him and we had a little standoff for a while. Eventually he started backing up and once he had put about 20 feet between us he turned and hurried off in a fast badger shuffle.

 

[Durango Mike]

Badgers are cool animals. I have never seen one in the wild, only on video or in photos, etc. I would like to though. I'm wondering who here has experience with badgers, as I'd like to know more about any of you who hunt or trap or just enjoy looking at them.

Anyone hunt or trap these angry little guys? Any good badger tales? Recipes? Grip and grins of Boone and Crockett badgers?

I guess this can be the badger thread. All of the above welcome here.

Had one in the bottom pasture hunting and digging up gophers, big holes worse than prairie dogs a little problematic with some high priced horses in that pasture we tried to trap him to move him, but he was too smart for a live trap. Saw him a few times, cool character right up with wolverines.

 

[Oak]

I saw one at about 12,500’ elevation in unit 76 once. That was kind of surprising.

 

[SaskHunter]

+1
I've only seen one in the wild. Ran into it pronghorn hunting in southern Wyoming. Some think nothing lives in the sagebrush sea. Alas, we know this not to be the case.

Stumbled upon two antelope doe carcasses and a very territorial badger in NE Wyoming. That little f*cker followed me for a while!!! Pretty cool

 

[grizzly_]

I saw four in one day hunting sage grouse in northern Utah. I had a coyote gun with me but didn't care shoot one for a rug because I didn't know if furbearer season was open. One of them was walking down the road in front of the truck with a ground squirrel in his mouth... that would've made a cool full-body mount.

Once I got back to cell service I found it was legal and I'd missed my chance.

 

[shrapnel]

I have never met a rancher that didn’t want coyotes, porcupines and badgers shot. They can tear up a field in short time digging up gophers.

I have trapped a few, but I made the mistake of thinking they only ran down the hole when trapped, as all that I had previously trapped, did just that, but the trap was staked down. This time I attached 2 double sprung leghold traps with a chain to a 8 foot 2X4 stud. When I checked the traps, the badger, traps and 2X4 were gone. I know he didn’t drag it down the hole.

Sometimes it’s just best to shoot them...

 

[diamond hitch]

Killed one with a hoe in the 70s while hoeing fence line in eastern washington. It was strictly self defence. It attacked me and I instinctively hit him in the bridge of the nose. Killed him instantly. Took a while to get my heart slowed down. They are a fur coated buzz saw with a bad disposition.

 

[mtmuley]

I see them all the time where I antelope hunt on the Hi-Line. Farmers hate them and want them dead. I don't screw around killing them when I am antelope hunting. mtmuley

 

[mtmiller]

Farmers hate them and want them dead.

Antelope or badgers?