Thanks for the timing suggestion MJM!! I think I get paid out for my unused annual leave about then. Plenty of gas money to run the gravel roads north of me

I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t like to cuddle a baby badger. That has to be the cutest thing in the world.

Buddy raises them so they can be handled gets a great price for them.

I’d love to find somewhere I can drive to & catch a few next year. I’d just love to have a few tanned. Such an interesting, pretty animal.

Not hard to catch them they are pretty bold not trap shy much if at all. The biggest issue is finding the active holes they are using that moment they are constantly moving in most cases. The ditches have a lot of digging going on in places your best opportunity is to locate what I call a master mound in the high point of a field. They are larger than normal and can have shucked ears of corn on them often.

Yes corn they do eat corn even had some eating sunflowers before I find a lot of salamanders when sifting dirt off of their digging mounds well half of the salamanders. LOL

Snares and foot traps are go to traps of choice the skulls have value so save them.

We are allowed one per season here, and they even completely closed the season for a few years back when I was a young guy. It reopened close to 30 years ago. I have only trapped a couple, but would mount them for customers every now and again. In the western U.P. and northern lower peninsula our season is short....only a month (Oct 15th - Nov 14th), but the southern lower gets from Nov 1st -March 1st. The prime Badger from the later southern lower are unbelievably heavier furred than the ones trapped before mid November in the rest of the state.

No closed season here they are considered a varmint.

Had no clue this one was around when we caught it, remade the set and caught our biggest bobcat in it, 39 lbs. It started as a bobcat set too.
Had the badger by 1 toe.

Nice action!!

I've never trapped on, never tried to. But a couple years ago I heard something in the tall grass coming towards me. I was downwind of it, so I just pulled out my phone and started recording. After the badger came out of the grass, I made clicking noises with my mouth and it seemed curious until I talked to it.

https://rumble.com/v7570zy-badger-doesnt-want-to-say-hi.html

Bloomy19, go west young man. I catch more not targeting a single hole. I am unaware of any good coyote/cat bait they don't like. I snared one at a hole. Often they come out backwards. Went back down the hole still alive. Made a coyote set on a pond dam once. Used about a ten foot limb for a drag as could not get a stake in. Had about 10 feet of chain. Badger was able to dig a hole. Like to never got him out of that hole.

Always coyotes, badgers and kit fox around prairie dog towns in short grass prairie. Badgers start digging when caught. Usually at the end of the chain. Pile up dirt on the stakes. I would not use a cable stake only 6-8 inch's in the ground. Plenty strong enough to hold one but they dont always dig where you expect them to.

Set a snare and leave some slack in the cable (not recommended) then try to pull it out of that hole alive if you can’t get a shot on it they ain’t easy if they are dead let alone holding on.

The silver colored ones are pretty. You got to give respect to an animal that will dig a hole through concrete and not even blink.

It's not hard to catch em if ya got em.

I hear a lot of folks that say I must of caught a huge badger it destroyed my cage trap! I just laugh tell them nope a big coon is more like it, a badger ain’t built that way and digging is their thing.

In my area, I’ve seen a population explosion. Even seen a bunch of mama’s with a pair of babies in tow. Used to rarely encounter them.

Guy here raises them after they are born it’s a totally different critter

Montana.