I’ve laid eyes on one on my Throckmorton property and have seen his den but haven’t been able to get him yet. Anybody had luck calling in a badger? If so, what calls do they tend to respond to?

Saw my first year before last on my old lease near Freer, tx. Pretty sweet. He was chasing a yote off of something. I read they eat squirrels, rats and such. If you can find those sounds on tape that might work. Or rabbit sounds. Then you may decide to just shoot the badger with a camera ilo a rifle unless you have plenty. They are neat to see.

Why would you kill a badger?

why wouldn't you kill one ?
i wouldn't want any badgers digging big burrows in my
pasture for my stock to break their legs in, or to sink
a tractor or implement tire in and break some expensive
hub or axle

So the big holes breaking equipment I got. Plus they’re mean as, well, a badger.

They eat ground nesting birds and eggs. Quail. That's good enough for me.

I was hoping it was more than a killing or a trophy kill. They would make a good mount.

I only saw three badgers in all the years I lived in Throckmorton. It was the mom and two little ones. I had never seen a badger before so I got out for closer look. Well, that really annoyed mom. I left.

I’ve never saw one but would like to one day

Like maximum said, they are prolific diggers. They don't just dig a burrow, but a whole system of tunnels. In the pecan groves where I used to hunt, you could high center a truck or piece of farm equipment (tree shaker, for example, as per the owner) by driving over a burrow system and having it collapse.

Their burrowing can even threaten the structure of dams...
https://www.lagrandeobserver.com/ne...urrowing-badgers-threaten-prineville-dam

If a saw a badger it would be dead.

I've heard of people being able to call in badgers, they were using cottontail in distress. I've had more luck chasing them to their dens and then coaxing them out with a small mouth call. Be ready, they move with a vengeance.

^ ^ ^
for those that don't know, if a badger gets ahold of your arm or hand and gets down
it's hole, you'd best pray to God that someone will soon be looking for you.
they can pull you by the arm down that deep hole harder (way harder) than you
can ever pull back no matter how many years you've been going to the gym.
if someone doesn't come after you, they'll find what's left of your carcass right there
with your arm down that hole.

I had one come out of his den for a cottontail in distress call. The guy that guards my safe I snared. He left a hole that looked like a backhole was there.

How did you get him to lay so still?

That's a great looking badger....very nice blackbuck too....

Some good pictures of a badger are on my hit list. I see about one a week and see new digs daily, can't come up with one good reason to kill a badger! We have badgers and prairie dogs here on the ranch and still can't confirm a leg injury to a cow was due to either.

We've seen a couple. Not enough to worry about them tearing up the pasture compared to the hogs. I was told they eat rattlesnakes so they are on the no kill list currently.

I dropped a front tire in one, then had to walk 5 miles to the house to get the tractor

There's never been a reported case of a cow, horse, buffalo, anything with a leg injury to a prairie dog hole. It's all an old wives tale, they've coexisted forever.

FYI: The staple food of badgers is usually earthworms which generally make up around 80% of their diet. They can eat several hundred worms each night. ... They will eat nuts, seedBadgers are carnivorous. Their dominant prey are pocket gophers, ground squirrels, moles, marmots, prairie dogs, woodrats, kangaroo rats, deer mice, and voles.s and acorns along with crops like wheat and sweetcorn. Badgers are known to eat small mammals mice, rats, rabbits, frogs, toads and hedgehogs.

In the United States, the American badger is found from the west coast to Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. It is also found in southern Canada in British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.


How deep is a badger sett?
A sett or set is a badger's den. It usually consists of a network of tunnels and numerous entrances. The largest setts are spacious enough to accommodate 15 or more animals with up to 300 metres (980 ft) of tunnels and as many as 40 openings.

They burrow fields and roads and yes will damage vehicles when you hit the holes. Might not break a cows leg but if you step in a hole you'll be hurtin'. I once watched a young bull elk step in a badger hole and go end over end, feet sticking straight up in the air before he could get back up.
They burrow irrigation canals and generally mess up our hay meadows.
We have tons up here and they are on the hit list of every rancher and farmer we know.