badger ????

[trace]

hey i live in southern new mexico and i figure i got badgers around here somewhere. i was wondering where to look and what to look for thanks, trace

[trappnman]

while its true that you can catch wandering badgers without seeing any previous sign- generally if you have badgers around you know it by the holes they dig looking for prey. You will have many holes dug looking for gophers, ground squirrells... as far as where they are- again, look to the prey...to have badgers you need prey- whatever is undergrgound and prevelant- look there first.

[Wackyquacker]

Trace you will have badgers for sure and T-man is correct as far as the food source goes and the holes.  However, you have rats, mice, gophers spread evenly, more or less, all over this country.  If I were forced to go out and find badger, the first place I'd look is in the arroyos, washes and draws.  They seem to frequent these areas more so than the open flats.  Watch for their tracks, they are often miss identified as a cat track especially after aging obliterates the claws and the pigeon toed trail.  If you find a big "cat track" (the front foot of a badger) walking with a "kitten" (the rear badger foot) you found your badger.  Fresh sign is easy to recognize.

Once you have located said tracks most any set will work.  I think a punch hole with some tainted bait and an all purpose coyote lure will be the easiest to put in and make work.  Walk throughs are a good choice...badgers just aren't too smart and you will have a good shot at the coyotes, fox and cats that may wonder along.

Hope this helps some.

[trace]

thanks guys

[jim-NE]

I catch a lot of my badgers in traditional predator sets, like dirtholes and flat sets. I've noticed from my notes that bait sets seem to draw more than post sets, but both have connected well for me. Location seems to be key. Farther away from the normal travel lanes I make sets, the fewer badgers I caught. I started making canine sets at least 20 to 30 paces away from fencerows, weedy draws, etc. Maybe badgers hug the "edges" more than canines do, I'm not sure and my results are certainly not scientific by any means. I started doing it to reduce my possum and skunk catches, and I've noticed a definite decline in the non-targets by getting a little farther off the good travel lines like fencerows, draws, edges of fields, mowed lanes, etc.
I never had good luck finding active dens or setting on diggings. I believe a hole dug by a badger is more or less evidence of a mouse or other varmint that the badger has already excavated and moved on. But, that's my experience though and maybe others are more successful at these setups.
Jim-NE

[trace]

thanks