Ok so a friend of mine's family says that they have a badger making holes out in there cattle pasture and asked if I want a crack at trying to trap it and get it out of there. In my part of the state we are allowed two badgers a year, now I have never seen or tried trapping a badger before and I'm wondering if anyone has any pointers? I'm planning on stopping out this week so they can show me were they are having the issues and to find out if there any cattle using the pasture and if there would be any chance of dogs running loose or not. It looks like most people I see catching badgers are getting them in yote sets and I haven't seen many people go manly after badgers before. My plan is to make some of my yote dirt hole and flat sets around were they are active and see what happens. Any one ever try targeting badger specifically?

I think they move a lot unless their is lots of food around.If their in the area a dirt hole with some stinky bait or skunky lure will catch more than you really want to catch.

If you can find the hole he is currently staying in you can snare him (be carful around the cattle), or coni him. 220 will do the job. If you can’t find his hole make some dirt hole sets where there is fresh sign. I always make sure and use urine at the dirt hole when targeting badgers. They really like to work edges on small inclines, ditches etc...

Maybe Law dog will chime in

A good coyote gland lure really gets their attention.
I would recommend not setting traps near the road or two track unless they have a skid steer to do repair work.

Snares and body grips set in the hole are illegal in Illinois. I have caught a few. Will work coyote dirt hole sets IF still in the area. They do move around a lot. Here today gone tomorrow. maybe be back in a week or two.

One word of advice would be to use a regular jaw , I’ve had two pull outs this year on offset jaws !

I use Bridger #3 OS and I wish my Badgers would have pulled out. The last one I released was a real hoot. A good catch with a Catch pole cable on a wedge is difficult.

Thanks Jim I have a one track mind and didn’t mention anything about legal equipment. I forget how restricted some states are

Badgers do a semi-hibernate thing in the winter do they not? I've only caught one and it was relatively early in the season. I baited and lured an old badger hole and set a trap on top. Had him in a few days.

Badgers are active year around here. They like anything stinky. In my experience the best way to catch a badger is to make a picture perfect cat set. The next check it will look like you caught a D8 on steroids.

Badgers will semi-hibernate at times. I like to use a 220 at an active den. Problem is, they dig a lot of holes and sometimes finding the active one can be a problem. Best time to locate them is after a snowfall and just look for a fresh dirt pile on the snow. One way to tell if a den is being used or not is by ears of corn laying around the dirt pile. (at least in my area.). Another way to tell is if the hole is plugged with dirt. A lot of times when they are in the den, they will push dirt behind them when going down and plug the entrance. Sometimes I will place a piece of of carpet or cardboard over a den, blocking the cold, and tricking them into thinking it is warming up and they come out sooner. I had one 3 years ago set up, and it took 19 days before he decided to come out. The 220 zapped him good as he never ever knocked the trap off the stand after being caught.

If one is in the area they aren’t too hard to catch. Any good coyote set should work. I like longer chains for badgers. The catch circle will be around for years to come.

would a 160 work?

I guess I managed to jinx myself. Had this fella today. He managed all this in 48 hours with a #3 on a front foot and a #3 on a back foot. I had a nice walk through cat set between the two trees in the top of the photo.

How much are those badgers worth this season?
I saw a few dead on the roads on a trip out west with the family. I wanted to stop and pick one up to skin, but my wife didn't like the idea of a badger skin sitting in the same cooler with our food for a couple weeks.

Sold one this year to the country fur byer for $5.00 last year sold two of them one for $10.00 the other for $5.00 these are on carcass prices