Badgers

[Bobcat]

How many of you have called in and taken badgers.....aka, "Mr. Attitude"?

I have seen several while deer hunting and have had two come to the call. I have only taken one and there was not enough of him left to do much with. They are a tough animal!!

Bob

[elalto]

Bob,

I have killed a total of six Badgers, two in California and four in Baja California; I remember each one as if it was yesterday. Badgers are not very common in my part of the country so, they were rarely brought in by our club members for points or during our monthly competitive hunts. The two I took in California were targets of opportunity, not called in.

Of the four Badgers killed in Baja all were taken during calling stands, two were obviously responding to the call and the other two were “picked up” well into the call so it could have been curiosity or a genuine response to the distress call.

I tried to skin the first Badger I got, as he was a really big one with sharp markings and long claws but he was so tough to skin that I gave up and gave it away. A real interesting note; one was shot with a 6mm, 75grn HP, one with a 243, 75grn SP, one with a 222 55grn SP, and three with a 6x47 60grn HP and NOT ONE EXIT HOLE!! Badgers are TOUGH!

Marcos Parra
[e-mail]

[Bobcat]

Marcos,

They are extremely tough critters! They dish out a lot more than they take.

A taxidermist friend of mine did a great mount of a badger. It is a half-body wall mount with the badger holding his ground just inside his den.......could give a body nightmares. He won a state award with it.

In all of your calling in California, have you run across a character named Danny Batastini? He has been calling and teaching folks to call as well as winning calling contests out there for a verrrrrry long time. He is one of the top night callers in the country. Just curious.........he and I have shared a campfire.

Bob

[elalto]

Bob,

I have not had the pleasure, remember, I have not been involved in varmint hunting for over 30 years.

I really have to laugh when I read articles about the beginings of modern day varmint calling as I have met and hunted with some of the "fathers" of varmint calling. I had the pleasure of meeting the great Sam Dudley and his son at a National hunt out of Needles California as well as others who are now remembered as the first great masters of the art. I was very very young then, of course.

I have done more night calling than day calling, I have always felt that night calling was much easier than calling during the day. I suspect that today's electronic callers might make it easier but you still have a harder time seeing them and avoiding being seen by them. I made electronic callers back then out of "four track" auto players that worked quite well and I have made up a new remote caller that I am dying to try out in the field.

Maybe I'll bring it along on the hunt, what do you think?


Marcos
[e-mail]

[Bobcat]

Hey Marcos,

.....that goes back a ways! Bring your caller with you if you want. We will see what we can do. I can't promise anything though. We will also have both e-callers and hand calls with us.

I look forward to hunting with you,

Bob

......anybody else call some badgers?

[onecoyote]

Bob, not everybody knows me, almost though lol. ::)elalto, that's interesting, I've hunted Baja too but never took a badger out of there, killed a ton of coyotes though.

I've been around for about 40 years in this sport and I know of Sam and Bill Dudley and many many more of the old timers from Arizona and California, even a few from Texas.

I was a member of the California Varmint Callers for 25 years, that hard hunting took about 10 years off my life lol. :-/I think I had 20 badgers to my credit in the CVCA but never called one in, got most of them in Nevada and a few in California.

We have probably cross tracks before elalto, nice to met you.

[Bobcat]

Hey Danny, you ol' coot! Welcome to the Posse!! I was hoping you would find your way over here. I didn't have your new e-mail to give you a buzz. I really look forward to your input!

Make yourself at home.......

Good Hunting,

Bob

[elalto]

Hi Danny,

Nice to meet you, 25 years in the CVCA! Wow that is a long time to be up two to three nights a week spending all your (not so) disposable income. I was very involved for about four years then I had to try to save the marriage, earn a living and get to know my youngest child, the marriage finally failed but the son is doing great.

I hunted Baja for three years then got tired of the paperwork and the cost, Coyotes were everywhere down there. I did a lot of hunting just south of the Tecate area and that is where I shot all of the Badgers. The Badgers seemed to always be at the edges of pastures or hay fields and four over a three-year period is not a lot! Baja was the best varmint hunting area I ever hunted.

I used to hunt with Don and Bob Gilbert, Don was Bob’s dad and grew up with Sam Dudley in Arizona, I heard many great stories about getting through the Great Depression and the antics of the two of them as youngsters.

Look forward to meeting you in person.

Marcos
[e-mail]

[onecoyote]

Bob, I met you once in my life and had a great time, can't wait to do it again over a bud and a camp fire lol.

elalto, I'm only 60 years old, your talking depression days lol, I was not here yet. Bet we know some of the same people from years back. Your right about them hard hunting days, must of took 10 years off my life lol, but I killed alot of coyotes. God Bless and Good Hunting.

[Bobcat]

Hey Danny,

I know our paths will cross again at some point!

Good Hunting,

Bob

[ICMCumin]

I have heard of badgers being in South Texas (talked with a couple of guys that have said they've seen them), but haven't seen one for myself as yet.

Has anyone seen / called any badgers in S Texas before?

thanks.

[Bobcat]

They are all over south Texas.......

I have seen them near Goliad and Catarina. About the only place they are not found in any numbers is exteme east Texas.

Bob

www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/taxitaxu.htm

[buzzsaw]

I was hunting on the Rocky Ranch in Pearsall last November. I had killed a buck that morning and in the evening we were hunting coyotes. Just as we left the last stand and drove onto one of the ranch road there waddelling down the road was a young badger. We were in a high rack truck and able to drive up beside him. I let him go because he wasn't full grown. Sure was tempting though.
buzzsaw

[Odie]

I think I called one in with a Kimber 84m. (HUH what kinda call is that?) I was shooting pdogs in the Rita Blanco grasslands and he came out of his hole looking for the person making a banging noise. Well he found me and one 55 gr. Horn. vmax found him. No exit wound and no movement after contact. I am going today to pick him up from the taxidermy shop. I will try to post a pic or I will sent it to Bozo to post here. I was afraid that when I began to launch the bullet he would stare down the bullet cuz he did look mighty mad. Musta woke him up. Of course after getting him in the cooler I had to call DeadEye to rub it in.

[Bennie]

When Odie gets the picture posted don't hurt his feelings and tell him it really is a skunk, but it is a rather large skunk. Go along with him it will help in his treatments.