Contacting a Biologist.

[Pro953]

Have any of you reached out to a Biologist when you draw a tag? I drew a AZ tag and would be interested in talking with the Bio but not really sure how to go about it.

Do I just call the local office and ask for the Bio for that species. I hear about folks recommending it, but I have never wanted to bother them. Have a couple specific questions in this case.

Any feedback or experiences with the AZ biologists would be appreciated.


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[Brock A]

Have any of you reached out to a Biologist when you draw a tag? I drew a AZ tag and would be interested in talking with the Bio but not really sure how to go about it.

Do I just call the local office and ask for the Bio for that species. I hear about folks recommending it, but I have never wanted to bother them. Have a couple specific questions in this case.

Any feedback or experiences with the AZ biologists would be appreciated.


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All the time. Email works great as they are usually pretty busy and tough to get ahold of on the phone. Most of their emails can be found on your states fish and game website.


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[One-shot]

I give the biologists a phone call and/or email and/or text every year and sometimes not during hunting season, just to find out how herd health is looking as they take their various seasonal surveys. All very nice people and they are there to help. Hunters keep them doing what they’re doing and they want to see us be successful to help the herd management etc. Many of those biologists also hunt.

I just happened to have cell service in the exact spot where I tagged the bull elk in this accompanying pic. The unit bio was the 3 person I texted and wanted a pic right away sharing my excitement.

Not sure how AZ works, but in NV there are game and non-game biologists. Game bios are assigned hunt units to monitor, so once drawn I contact the particular biologist for the unit. In my case it’s always 2 biologists and we’ve become very friendly, with them phoning me if they need info on some other issues I can sometimes help with.

You’ll find that you’ll get to know the scientists pretty well and learn a lot about range health and herd numbers each year.

 

[jaegle2]

My advice would be to sign up for elk101 or chris roe before talking to a biologist and get up to speed on elk behavior if you havent already done so. That will in turn help you come up with a set of questions for the biologist. My experience is that asking intelligent questions other than just "where are the elk in unit x?" will get you a lot further in your conversations and will be much more beneficial in zeroing in on the areas you want to hunt . Show that you are putting in the work and they will open up usually. And I usually just call and ask for the elk biologist and I get right through.

 

[805Bowhunter]

Good info here and also look through the search bar as there have been a couple other threads that provide some good information if I recall correctly.

Contacting biologists is one of my favorite things to do as it means hunting season is getting serious and is just around the corner. My advice would be to do as much "homework" on your area prior to hunting and have specific questions ahead of time written down. Over the years, I have found that there can be a huge amount of time differentiation that a biologist has to talk. Right around now is the best time to call. The closer you wait to hunting season, in my opinion, the less information/time youre likely going to get. If you catch a biologist at the right time, they may have an hour to give you. If you catch them in a hurry, you may get two minutes. Prepare for both scenarios.

The more homework you do ahead of time will also help you. Ask specific questions about specific areas as opposed to, "I'm coming from _______, where can I find the elk?" If you ask a question like that they will give you the same answer they give everyone and you'll be hunting with others. By doing the work ahead of time, you will get a lot of info that is specific to what you are looking for.

 

[Moondoondude]

I always make it a point to call them. I tell them "look, I'm a bit of a talker, I'd love to get a time that would be good for us to have a conversation, if you wouldn't mind".

I am even more into the science, biology, and ecosystem side of things than i am into the hunting. By tying those things into a conversation, you can really get some great details. I give them information about areas i hunt as well too. A lot of biologists and conservation officers are passionate about wildlife and the outdoors. Keep in mind in a lot of ways, your big fat out of state tag $ pays for their salary. They will be the first to tell you that also.

 

[Swede]

If I wanted to talk to a wildlife bio. that was familiar with the elk in their area/district, I would plan on making two calls. The first call would be to get the name of an elk biologist that spent a lot of time in the field. I would ask when I could call back and talk with him/her, or if they would prefer to call me. Too many biologists are mostly office people, and many do not work with elk much. They are dealing with birds, endangered species, budgets, etc. Worse yet many don't care a wit about hunting or hunters. Contrary to common belief many are not funded by hunting license or tag sales. Unless there is some cooperative agreement on something, I think only the State bios are funded by license/tag sales. Are you hunting State, private or Federal land?

 

[cnelk]

Call the area office and they will probably give you the biologist cell number.

Before you call the biologist, have your list of questions written down because they may or may not answer. Leave a detailed message

They will prob call you back within a day or so.

Do your research before hand. Ask basic questions Iike:

where are popular spots where guys set up camps?

what are the outfitters names that work the area ( this overlaps with the Forest Service)

Then ask about a specific draw or mountain that you have looked at.

Many times they will give the same vanilla info to everyone that asks, unless you ask about very certain topics.

 

[cman79]

We ran into the area biologist this year in Wyoming antelope hunting. I didn't call ahead of time but he was really helpful with advice & some direction. He gave us his # and told us dont hesitate to call beforehand if were coming back to the area. After talking with him I wouldn't hesitate reaching out to the local office beforehand regardless of the area / hunt.

 

[Pro953]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I am always hesitant to bug them as I am sure they get a million “where can I go to find the elk” type of questions every year. Just did not want to be that guy.

I just have a couple specific questions so hopefully it will not big them too much.

Thanks,
Phil


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[Milestone522]

Years ago when I hunted Northern California I always contacted the biologist to find out details about the zone I was deer hunting, usually C1. I would ask and be told where the high deer counts were in the zone and known changes to water sources. I would also ask about any big habitat changes due to fire, logging, etc...

I would always ask a bit about the biologist themselves to find out where they were from, how they became a biologist, and what they liked on/off duty. Then I would either stop by on the way home from hunting or make a special trip to the office to drop off a thank you package, coffee and tea basket, bottle of wine or booze, trail snacks basket, perhaps something unique from the area you live, whatever. Say thanks personally. Then every year when you call or message them, they contact you back right away because they remember you. After that talking to them is usually a first name basis and a year round source of information by phone.

The information received allowed for a successful hunt every year for someone in my group. I always had a handful of grids on a map to scout and later hunt, all thanks to the biologist.