Take 'em when you can...
I was parked alongside public land in Montana back in October waiting for a phone call when I spotted a coyote making the rounds in the distance. Unprepared, I had to put on all my hunting clothes and 20 minutes later the chase was on. I probably travelled over a mile, spotting it every now and then but headed away from me. Calls had no effect. I cleared a rise and saw something in the distance. I was stunned to see a badger walking on a shallow dam of a dried up impound pond. Then I saw another not 50 yards away from the first one. The second was quartering away from me and laying at the hole entrance with not a care in the world. I was in the wide open so decided to bee-line it towards them. Distances always look further out west but I stopped and discovered I was only 194 yards, so I got on my butt and sent a 40-gr VMAX from my Rem 700 VS .223, heard the hit and that was that. Small entrance hole and one tiny exit hole from a bullet fragment, so not bad.
It was a really long day and it got cold as I skinned it out. I was tired and opted to simply cut the feet off, though I did a good job on the face, tail, etc. Maybe just me, but their bellies seem to be really thin-skinned. I regret not keeping the feet on, but will get the pelt tanned. I also kept the skull and I'm getting ready to whiten it tomorrow. They are a bit stinky and I was surprised to see how much fat was on this male. I didn't see any ticks/fleas on this one, and not even sure if that's a thing for them.
Not much country to sneak up on critters here:
The sunset was really nice that day (at least for me):
They really are pretty up close: