Saw this one about 200 yards out in the pasture yesterday - it is still there!

223 and 40 gr V-Max through the heart/lungs - bang flop DRT

Drover: Good work on that Badger and great photo!
Thanks for sharing.
I have not shot a Badger yet this season but 2 of my fellow Varmint Hunters I've been hosting have.
Both were kill't with 17 HMR Gopher guns.
One is being flown back to Florida for taxidermy work and the other was taken to the local taxidermist here for rugging. Speaking of taxidermy work - in my estimation the costs of taxidermy services is just to damn high!
The last Badger I had "rugged" was less than one half what it costs now???
Keep after'em - theres more out there.
Thanks again.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

That's one I don't have desire to kill. Same with bobcats so I guess that's two.

Love whacking badgers. Big game for varmints.

Kill several Badgers every year, they dig big holes in our roads and pastures, and are predators on our Quail eggs and nests. Rio7

They are hard on pastures for sure. There seems to be more than usual here this year but I am slowly taking care of the problem.

drover

Tough SOBS, I’ve seen one shot by a 300 WM/150 PP. it didn’t even blow him up.

Bad motor scooters had one that lived under a 1000bbl oil tank when I worked it he always chased me to the truck.

They can be tough for sure. I remember shooting one at about 50 yards with a frontal shot from a 308 and it took 3 shots before he decided to die. I have killed them with a 17 HMR which didn't do so well since it also took 3 shots, quite a few with a 22 LR and a lot with the 223. The 40 gr seems to dump most of its energy inside them like it did on this one - it was basically a bang-flop DRT.

drover


Entrance -


Exit -

Heck yeah they’re tough. My buddy shot one a few times point blank in the forehead to administer a coup de gras and when we skinned it, found the .22lr didn’t penetrate the skull!! The mushroomed bullets were just through the skin.

chitty ammo......

I don't have any trouble killing them with cheap .22 ammo, chitty ammo for sure. Rio7

One of my shorthairs loves to point them when we are pheasant hunting. Walk in to a point thinking rooster flush, and end up smelling these guys as they’re hissing and spitting.

2020



2018

I've shot many a sassy badger with just my pistol.

Saw three of them, I believe this years hatch couple weeks ago. Got two of them with a 17 fireball. Shot was about 150 yards. Both dropped in their tracks.

Did you pet him?

Neat critters, I’ve had a few run ins with them over the years. Trapped a few on purpose and a few as incidental catches, they can sure move the earth. Would sure hate to have one latch onto my ankle.

I'd rather one latch on to YOUR ankle, than mine.....

Many years ago I set a steel trap in front of a large hole in a ditch bank. I was just a kid, 12 or so years old. And had no clue what I was doing. Next day I found the hole full of dug up dirt that plugged the hole, with the trap chain tight and stretched through the freshly dug up dirt.
I tugged real hard on that trap chain and soon there was a pissed off badger, mouth wide open about six inches from my face. That’ll get your attention.

Mean SOB's

Diggin' SOB's

Bonus targets in the p/dog patch

Last one I shot was 5 or 6 years ago, over in Klamath County.... shot it about 350 yds, with a 22.250 and a 53 V Max....

The one shot put it down on the spot...

see plenty of holes out shooting Sage Rats, but you hardly ever see the Badgers that dug them.

Nocturnal

But when they smell fresh dead p/dogs they appear

Fun targets......ever have one chase/charge you ?

Heading out this morn....20-222.....maybe spot one (:

Huntin them at night after a hot summer day in the middle of a ground squirrel area can be very productive. Getting permission from landowners, sheriffs and Fish and Game to shoot at night is a huge PITA and as meant to be a deterrent from doing so. After one night shoot here in Idaho me and two of our sons shot 7 in about a one square mile. Cycles come and go with some of their food sources so it depends.

Farmers and rancher are usually accommodating as these critters can mess up irrigation plans and animal legs.

They can be tough to kill and I have got them with 22-250, 223, 22lr and archery gear. As a kid I remember using some of our Wyoming trips to buy some cherry bombs for putting down what looked like occupied badger holes and then waiting around like dumb idiots to see if anything came out. Many times it didwork.

Shot one the other day in the face with my 6.5 CD … 120 gr ballistic -tip….. lights out😁.

yep and if you have ever seen a horse with a broken leg from stepping in badger hole, you would kill every one