Finding Wildlife Workshop

Female mountain lion crossing a stream, one of the best water sources in the valley. This is a place where all four natural factors are present that I use to pinpoint mountain lion activity.

Finding Wildlife Workshop
Saturday, February 1, 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm

Red River National Wildlife Refuge

150 Eagle Bend PointBossier City, LA, 71112 United States (map)

Workshop Registration (limited to 12 participants)

Curious About Nature?

Being curious about the connections throughout nature gets us more than 50% of the way there when it comes to filming and photographing wildlife successfully.

One of the main advantages of using trail cameras and DSLR camera traps is the ability to capture completely wild behavior of wildlife, something that is more difficult if you are there in person. I’ve been studying and filming mountain lions weekly for twenty years. Over 80% of what I’ve learned about this apex predator has come from plying this craft. And I’ve learned so much about other wildlife and insect species and the habitat they require for a healthy population. I’m excited to share tips and strategies for finding wildlife and then capturing stunning video and images.

This workshop is also valuable for wildlife photographers who want to learn some techniques to be more successful in the field finding completely wild wildlife without taking any shortcuts. For example, avoiding the use of lures, no conditioned animals to humans, no dogs, no helicopters, forcing yourself to understand the ecology of the animal you want to photograph, film and study.

Over the years my results using trail cameras have improved through a lot of trial and error. When I started I made my own trail cameras, buying Sony cameras off of Ebay, taking them apart and soldering wires to the common, ground and shutter points. Then I’d connect those wires to a control board, install a PIR sensor and put the whole thing in a waterproof Pelican case. Then I’d take Liquid Nails, create texture on the outside of the case to look like bark and then paint it. The images I captured were amazing but it was a lot of work! Now we have fantastic cameras available for less than $200. My favorite is the Browning Recon Force Elite HP5 as it records video in 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second. We’ll talk more about camera options. I’m also using a Sony RX0 for large mexapixel still images.

My goal with the workshop is to share things I’ve learned that you can’t find anywhere else. For example, every season of the year represents unique opportunities. Green grass and forbs growing in January? Streams and rivers beginning to freeze over in December? Wildlife migration to and from winter range? And when it comes to setting up the camera successfully, there is a lot of misinformation out there. There are a number of things you can do to minimize false triggers, leverage and create exceptional lighting, capture wildlife with unique, stunning and respectful angles and more.

The workshop will include:

• Why photograph and study completely wild animals?

• Advantages of filming and studying wildlife using trail cameras

• Leveraging this workshop as a wildlife photographer with a handheld camera

• Camera equipment, batteries and solar panels

• Prescouting using Google Earth, GaiaGPS, and state wildlife data

• Selecting camera locations based on seasons, topography, air currents, prey and predator density and more

• Camera setup to maximize results, including video and image quality

• Reducing false triggers or non-wildlife captures

• Keeping track of your cameras in the field

• Questions and Answers

A mating pair of lions just relaxing after copulation.

Looking for lion tracks with my dog Autumn, a French Brittany Spaniel.

MEET YOUR HOST - DAVID NEILS

David Neils has spent a lifetime studying elusive wildlife. Growing up in northwest Montana he was surrounded by grizzlies, wolves and mountain lions. He started venturing into the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness, without adults, for up to ten days at a time at the age of eleven. Wild grabbed him and never let go. Today he intentionally spends time, three times a week, where mountain lions are active. When he sees his first fresh mountain lion track for the day he can feel his heart rate drop because of what that track represents. His house in Loveland is simply a place to keep his boots dry for the next adventure. His home has always been in nature.

David has spent the last twenty years studying and filming mountain lions in some of the wildest country of Colorado and Montana. He developed a system, using four natural factors, which allows him to pinpoint mountain lion activity throughout the United States, Canada and Chile. He enjoys sharing this knowledge and supporting others to study this magnificent apex predator through a personalized Mountain Lion Workshop which includes mapping mountain lion activity in the client’s chosen area, up to 100 square miles.

In addition to sharing a passion for mountain lions and other wildlife, he enjoys supporting others to navigate boldly and safely in the backcountry. Through his Backcountry Navigation and Safety Workshop, he supports clients to leverage the Ten Essentials Plus system, which eliminates many of the factors that result in Search and Rescue operations. In fact, it completely eliminates the Search in Search and Rescue. He also provide hands on orienteering courses, supporting clients to have the confidence to explore the wild areas around them.

PRESENTATION: MOUNTAIN LIONS, ELUSIVE YET PREDICTABLE

When: November 4, 2024, 6:00 - 7:30 PM

Where: Red River National Wildlife Refuge

150 Eagle Bend Point, Bossier City, LA 71112  

Sponsor: Friends of the Red River National Wildlife Refuge

Presentation Registration (limited to 100 attendees)

This presentation is part of the Animals in Winter series at the Red River National Wildlife Refuge. Twenty years ago, when I first started studying and filming mountain lions, I assumed they were elusive and unpredictable. I followed their tracks in the snow to determine if there were any natural factors that would help me pinpoint how they navigated across the landscape. After about five years of spending time weekly in their home turf, I came to realize that yes, they are elusive and yet very predictable in how they hunt and navigate across the landscape. And during the winter months they become even more predictable in an effort to save precious calories. For their size, they are one of the most predictable animals I’ve studied in North America. This combination is unique for any wildlife species and makes the mountain lion a fascinating animal to study.

The presentation will cover the following:

• highlights of 20 years studying mountain lions weekly

• correcting misconceptions about mountain lions

• unique mountain lion traits among common predators (red and grey fox, coyote, bobcat, black bear)

• finding mountain lion activity (tracks, scat and scrapes)

• examples from the field, elusive yet predictable

• the value of mountain lions as a keystone species

All of the wildlife footage you’ll see during this presentation is of completely wild behavior of truly wild wildlife in wild places. No shortcuts were ever taken. No lures, no dogs, no helicopters, no GPS tracking. Successful wildlife conservation begins with accurate education.

MEET YOUR HOST - DAVID NEILS

David Neils and Jenny Jones, sauntering somewhere in Northern Colorado.

David Neils has spent a lifetime studying elusive wildlife. Growing up in northwest Montana he was surrounded by grizzlies, wolves and mountain lions. He started venturing into the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness, without adults, for up to ten days at a time at the age of eleven. Wild grabbed him and never let go. Today he intentionally spends time, three times a week, where mountain lions are active. When he sees his first fresh mountain lion track for the day he can feel his heart rate drop because of what that track represents. His house in Loveland is simply a place to keep his boots dry for the next adventure. His home has always been in nature.

David has spent the last twenty years studying and filming mountain lions in some of the wildest country of Colorado and Montana. He developed a system, using four natural factors, which allows him to pinpoint mountain lion activity throughout the United States, Canada and Chile. He enjoys sharing this knowledge and supporting others to study this magnificent apex predator through a personalized Mountain Lion Workshop which includes mapping mountain lion activity in the client’s chosen area, up to 100 square miles.

In addition to sharing a passion for mountain lions and other wildlife, he enjoys supporting others to navigate boldly and safely in the backcountry. Through his Backcountry Navigation and Safety Workshop, he supports clients to leverage the Ten Essentials Plus system, which eliminates many of the factors that result in Search and Rescue operations. In fact, it completely eliminates the Search in Search and Rescue. He also provide hands on orienteering courses, supporting clients to have the confidence to explore the wild areas around them.

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