Help with Hunting Badgers. Best place to go?

[Jeffusmc]

Hello Everyone, I have hunted all over for many species but have zero experience with Badgers. My son is nine years old and he started hunting with my about a year ago and is really getting into it and is getting very good with a rifle. We watch hunting videos on YouTube together sometimes to get ideas of what we want to hunt next. We watched a guy in North Dakota shot a bunch of Badgers and both my son and I decided that we really want to pursue Badgers. We live in Florida so obviously we are going to have to travel somewhere. Can anyone offer any expert advice on when and where we can go to have a high degree of success on this animal? I have no problem paying a landowner for access or even paying for a guided hunt if it's a good quality hunt. Thank you

 

[go_deep]

Any prairie dog town will likely have badgers in it or by it.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

They team up with coyotes to hunt quite often. They tend to be nocturnalish when they hunt though. You can catch them in ground squirrel/prairie dog/heavy coyote country out and moving during the day.

They also like to come out of their den and catch sun periodically, that gives you a good shooting opportunity. You’ll see them like this…



Most of the badgers I’ve killed have been aggressive ones that get curious and come up to the horses or even the ATV while doing land management/depredation.

 

[JFK]

Probably not worth the trip out here but I see them pretty regularly out here in Ca on central coast public and private. Saw three big ones at once last year working a field for ground squirrels. I don’t mess with them. No idea how you’d target them either.

 

[LongWayAround]

Never heard of a guided badger hunt but I've seen some big suckers in the sage. One thing I have always wanted though is a badger rug.

 

[Dos Perros]

You can identify badger holes driving around. I'd think one of the best spots to see them would be in winter wheat fields where they stick out in the sea of green. I can't imagine a landowner not granting access. I've heard of people calling them. So like find a hole, get access, setup, call, and when he comes out shoot him with a 223.

 

[Superx3]

Here in panhandle of Texas most often find them around prairie dogs or sandy hill sides. They are also found being destructive around irrigation wells. I probably average 3-5 per year mostly stumbling upon while spotlighting coyotes around our cattle.

 

[manitou1]

Just go pheasant hunt South Dakota! We have stepped in badger dens about every day! (a person in the group).lol

I have been lucky to big game a bird hunt several states and North-central SD is where I have seen the highest numbers of badgers by far.

I see several a year here in Wyoming while big game hunting, but not a lot of them... two or three a season.

Badgers are not social/colony animals from what I have seen, so you won't get into groups of them.

For more bang for your buck, I would do a parairie dog hunt for your son and there is a likely chance you will encounter a badger or two.

 

[jfvhpilot]

Montana and South Dakota have a lot of badgers. Especially near farmer's fields.

 

[wytx]

Pick a state where they are predators, in Wyoming they are fur bearers and you need that licenses to hunt them. The NR fur bearers license is not cheap in Wyoming.

 

[Magma]

Don’t mean to detail the thread, just wondering how many of you use calls

 

[Pony Soldier]

I can't imagine hunting them. You just shoot them when you see them. They can destroy a hay field.

 

[Montana Matt]

One thing to remember when scouting... A badger digs a hole everytime it wants to eat. (They dig up gophers and ground squirrels) So finding a bunch of badger holes doesn't necessarily mean that they are still in the area. If you find fresh digging after a new snow, set up on that hole at least a hundred yards away,downwind, and watch. Occasionally predator calling may bring them up for a peak if they aren't too deep in the hole to hear. I've never had one come to the call, but lots have come up for a look.
Badgers are just an occasional opportunity in our area. I certainly wouldn't plan a trip planning to get one. You might get lucking but they spend most of their time underground.