My name is Nathan and I work as a wildlife technician all over the country. This job requires me to walk into deep woods alone on many occasions and potentially encounter dangerous animals, which includes humans, and being that I am a NJ resident on paper I cannot apply for a NJ license (we all know they have a quasi ban going on the second amendment). I have a non-resident CCW from Utah so some states respect my right to carry, but others require you to have a license in your state of residency so I am S.O.L in those states. I cannot wait to either move to a state that respects my rights, or see a drastic change in NJ.
When and where I can I carry a Springfield XDS chambered in a .45ACP. I choose that size because although the ammunition count is lower than a 9mm the stopping power (God forbid I ever need it) is there for larger mammals such as black bear, wild boar, or large predators in states that have them. I figure if they are actively trying to attack me if I don’t get it down in the first 3 shots I can pretty much kiss my health goodbye anyway lol.
Actually I visit mid-state Pennsylvania often and have lived just outside of Philly for a few years already. I agree it is a top choice to move to once I settle down, and also I plan to stay well clear of Philly. Thanks for the suggestion.
@MikeGoCommando, thank you for your service (even if it was in England) and please thank your wife for her service!
@MoonWolf, we’ve had a couple of conversations about self-defense against a bear in the Community. Here’s one thread that you might find interesting Bear hand guns.
To introduce myself here, I’m 58 and did 20 yrs in the Marines. Been working as a contractor with a company that has contracts with the military as well as international and US Customs & Border Protection. I’ve had my CCW here in Michigan since 2014. I do carry all the time when I’m not traveling to other states or countries. I’m always reading and learning and hope to get to know everyone here in time.
Greetings. My name is Jerry. I have been a member for a few years now and I am really pleased with all of the things that come with a membership.
I served in both the Army and then the Marines and I just loved being a Marine. I am a Viet Nam vet, two decorations and I am disabled. However, I have a lot more “ables,” than “disables.” Attitude, attitude, attitude. I have worked as a Police Officer, teacher and mental health counselor.
I am soon completing my 43rd year of Tai Chi Chuan and I will keep going. I was recently told that I am now officially within, “Geezer,” status. Proud to have come this far…
I wish you all a peaceful a peaceful day.
Hi, my name is John. I have had my conceal & carry for about 7 years now. I practice as much as I can. I read and watch a lot on training and scenarios since I don’t train as much as I would like. I hope to be able pick up tips here and hopefully can contribute as well.
Welcome to the group! I’m trying to picture what a wildlife technician does… do deer need transmission work? Antler cleaning?
What does your job entail?
A few years ago I got my hubby (also a Vietnam vet, special forces) a hat that says “Gareth of the Geez”… he wears it with pride.
The team I run at work is made up of two groups… engineers under 30, all from India and engineers over 50, all from the US. the other day one of my youngsters teasingly called one of the senior engineers a geezer… and then went on to explain that meant “stylish older gentleman” … we’re still working on getting our vocabulary right but I kinda like it. Maybe we’ll just go with that.
Hey Zee! It’s actually a cool job, and yes I actually am working with white-tailed deer and coyote for this season. Currently I work for a university in South Carolina until August. What technicians usually do is help the biologists and/or graduate students, who are running various studies, collect the data they need from the field. Early in the season (January-March) I would “hunt deer” with tranquilizer darts to put them to sleep so we could put gps collars around them in order to track their movements throughout the season. Also, we did the same thing with coyote to see how their movements overlap in this area with the white-tailed deer adults and fawns, but we used a professional trapper to capture them so we could “work them up” as we like to say. After late March we switched from adult deer to capturing the fawns using thermal scopes at night (just walking around when we got a birth notification) and put smaller gps collars around them. Currently in this stage of the season we have to sadly investigate all the fawns that die from predation when their collars go into “mort mode”, but it helps us determine how much predation the fawns are being subjected to by bobcats, coyote, starvation, even random pet encounters.
As for the desire to carry while out there, I am sure you can imagine potentially coming across a fawn carcass that is being guarded by a hungry predator who doesn’t like the idea of its food being examined.
As for next season it could be just about any animal I desire to work on in any state I apply to work in, a few I applied to already involve prairie-chickens, eastern cottontail, and hopefully in January I will get to apply to jobs working with wolves!
I had no idea that wildlife technician was even a thing @MoonWolf… I’m just gonna say Your Job ROCKS!
If I were 20, that’d be my dream job.
Do you have to go collect the collars off the fawns as they grow out of them?
What animal are you most interested in working with?
Well the collars for the doe adults have a built in device that when the date the study ends it sends a signal via satellite and it separates. For fawns they are pleated with thread that as the fawn grows it breaks each pleat. Then after a certain age the last pleat breaks and we go collect them. It is a blessing that I found this work when going to school for it at the age of 26. I am now 29 and would hope to work with wolves for a few years because they are my favorite animal of all, the one I am most passionate for.
@Jerry1 I carry that same model and love it. Have you tried it with the extendable mag at all? It only adds about two rounds, but it allows for the pinky to grip so it feels like a full hand grip.
but I kinda like it. Maybe we’ll just go with that.