Badger fights to the death.

[mcr-85]

I've trapped a few. I usually don't catch them that often but we've caught two this year.

A govt trapper friend of mine has a dog that will kill badgers in the trap. He gets a hold of them by the back of the neck and shakes til they quit wiggling. It will kill coyotes in the trap as well if he catches one on a drag and the dog gets there first.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

 

[3forks]

I’ve come across many badgers while bird hunting and haven’t found them to be as vicious as their reputation proceeds them to be.

Whenever i come across them, their first inclination is to try to retreat to a hole or they flatten themselves out and start hissing, but I’ve never had one chase me or my dogs and I’ve stood within a few feet of them.

My dogs wouldn‘t mess with them, and would just move on to find birds after they pointed the badger for a minute or two.

One of my dogs actually ran over the top of the badger in the photos attached to this post. I was taking pictures of the badger after my dogs had moved on to find birds, and after about 10 minutes, one of my dogs came back to where I was. When my dog was coming in, he ran over the badger.

I expected some sort of calamity, but was surprised the badger just snarled and I got the dog on his way.

Anyway, obviously if you provoke a badger - you’re going to get a fight, but I just haven’t had them come after me or my dogs (yet).

 

[Mt Al]

Did you tan the pelts? Got any pics?

No and I regret it. They were shot mostly in the summer quite a ways off the road. Hope to get one in the near future and tan the hide, clean the skull.

 

[Cameron.25]

I saw ny first 2 in wyoming in October, this one got pretty close before it saw me. Very cool and powerful creatures for sure, i have no doubts my german shepherd wouldnt stand a chance

 

[TradArcher]

I’ve come across many badgers while bird hunting and haven’t found them to be as vicious as their reputation proceeds them to be.

Whenever i come across them, their first inclination is to try to retreat to a hole or they flatten themselves out and start hissing, but I’ve never had one chase me or my dogs and I’ve stood within a few feet of them.

My dogs wouldn‘t mess with them, and would just move on to find birds after they pointed the badger for a minute or two.

One of my dogs actually ran over the top of the badger in the photos attached to this post. I was taking pictures of the badger after my dogs had moved on to find birds, and after about 10 minutes, one of my dogs came back to where I was. When my dog was coming in, he ran over the badger.

I expected some sort of calamity, but was surprised the badger just snarled and I got the dog on his way.

Anyway, obviously if you provoke a badger - you’re going to get a fight, but I just haven’t had them come after me or my dogs (yet).

Same experience here with my old bird dog - badger came out of it's hole/den and made like it was gonna charge us but then just bitched us out and ran back into it's den.

Helps greatly that my older bird dog did not care about the badger so paid it not much attention I am sure.

Was a pretty cool experience getting to see that badger! I guess the moral of the story is don't badger the badger...

 

[3forks]

Same experience here with my old bird dog - badger came out of it's hole/den and made like it was gonna charge us but then just bitched us out and ran back into it's den.

Helps greatly that my older bird dog did not care about the badger so paid it not much attention I am sure.

Was a pretty cool experience getting to see that badger! I guess the moral of the story is don't badger the badger...

I had a video of me touching a badger’s head with the barrels of my shotgun, but can’t find it.

The badger never didn’t anything more than snarl and hiss at me.

I’ve also have a buddy that works for Northwestern Energy in MT, and him and a guy on his crew found a badger while they were working. The guy with my buddy whacked the badger in the head with a shovel and thought he killed it.

He threw the badger in the back of the truck because he wanted to skin it out later.

You can probably guess what happened next.

A few minutes down the road, and at the next stop - when they open the tail gate of the truck to get their tools, they find a snarling badger.

This time, they push the badger out of the truck with a shovel and it slowly moved off into the grass after it was on the ground.

 

[Mike 338]

Been around lots of badgers. They all growl. Get close enough and many will false charge, only to back straight up and defend their back. Run into one and it's just as apt to give you a quick growl and trot off in the other direction.

Interestingly, seems like just about every guy I talk to about them has some story about seeing one biting a tractor tire and flipping around as the tractor went on. I guess they must be selling tractor wheels that come with it's own badger attached now.

Unless I'm instructed by a property owner to eliminate their badger due to damage, I just give them their space. I'm way past popping something just cause it's moving.

 

[ianpadron]

One of the spots I bird hunt in E. Washington is infested with Badgers. In addition to me worrying about snapping a dog's leg or my own in their burrows, I'm always on guard in case I see one of those crazy lil bastards out and about.

Had a staredown with one on the side of the road and thought he was going to attack my truck based on his body language, they really do not GAF.

 

[ianpadron]

I was today years old when I figured out that Dachshund is German for “badger dog.” No wonder they are so psycho.

Oh ya, that lil tail is bred into them as a grab handle to get them out of a badger hole if things go south haha. They are all a$$holes for sure.

 

[ianpadron]

"He had the craziest look in his eye"

 

[Marble]

An acquaintance backcountry elk hunts every year in the same general area. This year he visited his kill site from the previous season and found the skeletons of a black bear and badger. The skeletons and skulls look like they died around the same time and near each other. The theory is that they fought to the death over the elk carcass. Crazy scene to think about but I kept thinking maybe there was an alternate explanation… until yesterday.

My wife’s coworker had been missing her German shepherd mix for about 48 hours until the UPS driver found her dead near the side of the road next to a dead badger. It appears they had a fight to the death.

I have never seen a badger in the wild but it’s true that they really don’t give a $h*t. These stories make me want to learn more about them. Does anyone have any crazy badger encounters?

I live in far Northern California. I typically see them during archery each season. I don't mess with them.

They get into the alfalfa fields and burrow big holes that break the pivot equipment.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

I was glassing for deer last fall ENE of GF MT....saw 4 coyotes waaaay out on the prairie...like barren flat dirt prairie.....thought they had a late dropped pup in the crew (Probably a mile away with a Spotter). Sure enough it was a badger tagging along. They all tolerated him well. And he seemed happy to be included. The dogs curled up on the flat dirt for a quick nap in the sun. Badger just dicked around for 15 minutes.....when the yotes woke and moved on.....Badger got right back in the group.

Watched a Coyote snatch kangaroo rats from the offside hole of a digging badger in New Mexico. Badger woulda dug all day as the yote quickly swallowed the K Rat and moved on.

One of my most favorite critters.....I don't see them often even though there is a den on my commute. Look every spring for new earth in late March. Every other year or so I catch them out.

Have badgers on camera in some very non badger thick mountainous Grizzly/Elk country in NW MT too. I guess there are enough timber ground squirrels to keep them in the area and healthy enough to make more badgers.

 

[DisplacedHusky]

My old man was a farmer and hated badger holes in the field. He would kill them often. He said the secret is you gotta make them really mad....then they stop running away and they stay and fight.

This is a true story and I saw similar versions play out on multiple occasions. We saw the badger out in a field and jump out of the truck and ran it down. As soon as the badger turned on him he would kick it square in the nose. Now the badger was pissed and there to fight and would stop running. One day I watched him kill a badger with a 15 inch crescent wrench. Crazy!!

I haven't killed one in 30 years. Cool critter.

Great story. Can this be a scene in your origins story movie?

 

[ethan]

Years ago, I was hunting pigs in south Texas and saw a small one cruising through the brush, obviously heading somewhere. I started calling by kissing on the back of my hand, figured I didn’t have anything to loose. He immediately ran to me but he would get to about 10 yards facing head on, wait a couple of seconds then turn and leave. But he was always facing directly towards me or away from me. The third time I squeaked at him he didn’t come running in, but turned just a little face quartered away. The arrow caught him right in the back of his head. Ended up letting a friend of mine mount him and he had the skull cleaned with Beatles with the broad head still in the skull.

 

[KsRancher]

Several yrs ago I had one digging in the ditch in front of my house. He was digging holes everywhere. I got tired of it and all I had handy was a snare. So I found the one it looked like he was using the most and set it. The next day I had him. Learned real quick I had messed up BIG time. Those snare cables are 5ft long and that sucker was 5ft deep and backfilled himself the whole way. I dug and dug and dug and then dug some more. I had him by a back foot so his head was over 6ft deep. I finally got him dug up and shot. Beautiful hide on him. I had him tanned with the claws on. It looks great.

 

[elkhunteralta]

Pound for pound they are tough, but to kill any decent sized black bear seems a bit out of the norm, one dog I can see, but our farm dogs would go at them every so often and fair ok. But not sure how they would kill a bear.
There's a few videos of guys catching them by hand alive, so long as you have them by the back of the neck they are kinda helpless.

 

[DisplacedHusky]

Several yrs ago I had one digging in the ditch in front of my house. He was digging holes everywhere. I got tired of it and all I had handy was a snare. So I found the one it looked like he was using the most and set it. The next day I had him. Learned real quick I had messed up BIG time. Those snare cables are 5ft long and that sucker was 5ft deep and backfilled himself the whole way. I dug and dug and dug and then dug some more. I had him by a back foot so his head was over 6ft deep. I finally got him dug up and shot. Beautiful hide on him. I had him tanned with the claws on. It looks great.

You mind sharing a pic of the hide?

 

[DisplacedHusky]

Pound for pound they are tough, but to kill any decent sized black bear seems a bit out of the norm, one dog I can see, but our farm dogs would go at them every so often and fair ok. But not sure how they would kill a bear.
There's a few videos of guys catching them by hand alive, so long as you have them by the back of the neck they are kinda helpless.

I wondered that too. The guy was hunting in an area that is on the edge of Wolverine habitat. Based on the skull size it could have been a wolverine, which are much bigger than badgers and are known to hunt small bears. The wolverines have a sagittal crest on the back of the skull that badgers don’t but I can’t see the back of the skull on any of the pics that were shared with me.

 

[3forks]

I was glassing for deer last fall ENE of GF MT....saw 4 coyotes waaaay out on the prairie...like barren flat dirt prairie.....thought they had a late dropped pup in the crew (Probably a mile away with a Spotter). Sure enough it was a badger tagging along. They all tolerated him well. And he seemed happy to be included. The dogs curled up on the flat dirt for a quick nap in the sun. Badger just dicked around for 15 minutes.....when the yotes woke and moved on.....Badger got right back in the group.

Watched a Coyote snatch kangaroo rats from the offside hole of a digging badger in New Mexico. Badger woulda dug all day as the yote quickly swallowed the K Rat and moved on.

One of my most favorite critters.....I don't see them often even though there is a den on my commute. Look every spring for new earth in late March. Every other year or so I catch them out.

Have badgers on camera in some very non badger thick mountainous Grizzly/Elk country in NW MT too. I guess there are enough timber ground squirrels to keep them in the area and healthy enough to make more badgers.

That must have been pretty cool to see.

I don’t know if you’re aware, but badgers and coyotes have been known to cooperate while hunting.

Spotted! A Coyote and Badger Hunting Together | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

www.fws.gov

 

[KsRancher]

You mind sharing a pic of the hide?