Skip to content 
Not everyone knows how to properly hunt this member of the marten family these days. It's worth noting that if you don't immediately kill a wounded or enraged animal, you could lose something vital. The fact is that badgers, like any other living creature, begin to defend themselves when threatened. They're not particularly tall, and they often target legs and the area between them. Therefore, hunting badgers requires careful and proper techniques.
Where and when to look for a furry animal?
Badgers are found throughout almost all of Russia. They are nocturnal, burrowing animals capable of constructing entire underground infrastructures. Clean individuals excavate individual chambers where they live and house their offspring separately.
Their cleanliness is evident in the fact that badgers don't even scatter food scraps, let alone feces, haphazardly. They remove everything from their burrows and carefully bury it far from their nests.
Although members of the mustelid family inhabit many parts of our country, you're unlikely to be able to shoot one on the Putorana Plateau trophy hunts. The taiga reserve offers spring goose hunting, which combines two favorite hobbies.
Until the ice melts in spring, hunters can sit over ice holes and fish for a variety of rare species. We've previously described how and where to catch taimen in winter. Only those caught that are listed in the Red Data Book must be released.
However, no less popular and tasty whitefish, lenok, salmon trout, and kunja, as well as many other fish from the salmon family, can end up on the hunter's table.
What does a badger look like?
This animal has a unique appearance. Badgers cannot be confused with other similar animals. This relative of the marten looks like this:
On average, an adult badger grows to almost 1 meter in height (95 cm).
- The animal is a large species, weighing between 20 and 30 kilograms. Before hibernation, it gains fat and can weigh over 30 kilograms.
- The animal's head is very small compared to its size. It has distinctive black and white stripes. There are three white stripes and two black stripes.
- The animal, native to Europe, is covered in thick, dense gray fur. It has short paws with long claws, which help badgers dig long, spacious burrows.
- The short, stubby tail completes the body.
- The animal's poor eyesight, keen sense of smell and excellent hearing compensate for this deficiency.
How and when can badger hunting be successful?
If spring goose hunting is common on the Putorana Plateau, then late autumn is the best time to hunt mustelids. The animals accumulate a lot of healthy fat, which is often used to treat various ailments. October is especially popular among hunters.
To keep badgers from noticing hunters, you need high-quality equipment. Scopes and binoculars equipped with thermal imaging for night vision can help you bag a large number of trophies. Bringing vinegar, ping-pong balls, and a syringe with a needle will make your hunt truly trophy-worthy. This life hack was shared by a seasoned hunter.
They make holes in the balls with a syringe and fill them with vinegar. They then toss them into the holes of their burrows. In these cases, the badgers' keen sense of smell plays against them, and they rush out of their burrows like mad, leaving the hunters with only a precise, accurate shot.
Briefly about the main thing
Badgers are also hunted using traditional methods, such as ambush, blind, or using burrowing dogs. Incidentally, hunting with dogs can yield many trophies, making it the most common and popular method.
The most important things are to have a hunting permit, properly prepare, and know the secrets of hunting. It's important to consider natural factors, such as the wind direction. Limit smoking and drinking, as the animal's keen sense of smell will detect the approach of strangers.
