Kenneth Hume, aged 54, spoke of his relief 15 months after being arrested with two friends as they dug into a bank riddled with holes on farmland between Wombwell and Worsbrough.
A five-day trial at Barnsley Magistrates' Court hinged on whether the sett was active when the trio, who insisted they were after rabbits, were detained.
Mr Hume said he had two dead rabbits in his possession when caught by police.
Mr Hume, Darrell Harper, 38, of Wellington Crescent, Worsbrough, and Anthony Fisher, 31, of Monksprings, Worsbrough, were acquitted of all charges.
Today, Mr Hume claimed he was the victim of growing national opposition to hunting - highlighted by a proposed ban currently before Parliament.
And he warned all hunters to obtain written permission from landowners before going after rabbits.
The unemployed dad-of-six, of Park Road, Grimethorpe, said the case had been a nightmare for his family - he faced up to six months prison if convicted.
"We could have gone to jail, it gets you down because that's all you think about. I was always confident we would be freed, I had two dead rabbits on me.
"I never knew it had been a badger sett, it was more or less the first time we had walked on there. We saw the police coming from two fields away and could easily have scarpered but we didn't think we were doing anything wrong. I have been rabbiting for 40 years but this has taught me to watch where I'm hunting.
"There's a clampdown going on and we were made an example of, but we were innocent victims."