6 days ago
Wildlife should benefit from wildlife management w/David Neils
Today’s guest, David Neils, has been tracking wildlife since he was six years old, growing up in the remote forests of Libby, Montana. What started as a deep curiosity about the hidden lives of wild animals has grown into a lifelong commitment to understanding and tracking apex carnivores, especially mountain lions. After a close encounter with a male lion in Colorado’s Never Summer Wilderness, David dedicated himself to studying this elusive species. Over the past twenty years, he’s spent countless hours in mountain lion habitat, developing a system to accurately map their activity across the western United States, Canada, and Chile. He now offers one-on-one Mountain Lion Workshops for those interested in applying what he’s learned from over 30,000 hours in the field. Through Wild Nature Media, David captures stunning, completely wild footage—no lures, no dogs, no helicopters, no tricks—just raw, unscripted moments that celebrate the wild we crave.
1 days ago
I’ve been a bowhunter and fisherman since I could purchase a license in the early 1970s. I assumed, like many sportsmen, that buying a tag actually went toward wildlife conservation. But for many species, beginning with bobcats and other furbearer species, nothing could be further from the truth. In Colorado, the majority of furbearer species have unlimited take during the hunting and trapping season. Hunters and trappers can kill as many as they want for the cost of a habitat stamp ($) and a small game license ($). To view the list of animals that can be killed each year, visit: Although CPW staff will claim that bobcats are ”managed” through hunting and trapping, that is not accurate. Bobcats do not require hunting or trapping to control their numbers. The hunting and trapping of bobcats is purely a recreational and economic opportunity for hunters and trappers. Bobcats do not benefit from this activity. Every wildlife species that is hunted or trapped deserves a rock solid wildlife management plan that is based on science and research. The plan, as its primary focus, should support the biological and ecological factors the species is dependent upon for a healthy population. If the activity, including hunting and trapping, do not support these factors, that activity should be called into question and eliminated as a management tool. Wildlife deserve better. Wildlife advocates deserve better. David Neils Wild Nature Media