Katie was born and raised in NE Kansas with a passion for the outdoors and wildlife. She followed this passion in her educational career, graduating from Benedictine College with a bachelor’s in biology and then completing her master’s degree at the University of Kansas in ecology and evolutionary biology. She worked for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for two years working with private landowners to further conservation of land and wildlife habitat.
What’s better than a big old bowl of steaming phở? The meatiness, the herbaceousness, the spiciness, the slipperiness of rice noodles?
Sometimes though, you don’t really feel like a huge bowl of soup, or maybe you don’t feel like spending hours creating a perfectly balanced phở broth.
What if I told you that you could have your cake and eat it too?
“The only thing that could improve it would be seeing a big ol’ boar,” I said after the elk had disappeared into the spruce forest. Billy and I stepped back onto the road in high spirits. As we slowly still hunted our way along, I suddenly felt something. Apparently, Billy thought it, too. When I turned around to see what had the hair on my neck standing at attention, he was turning back towards me wide-eyed.
As many hunters and conservationists know, in certain states winter survival for mule deer is essential to keeping the population at its objectives. Therefore, it makes sense why states wildlife managers collect this vital information year after year. In fact, winter survival and post winter population counts are vital to MDF’s prioritization of where it can focus its conservation efforts in coordination with state agencies.
Ella Hartshorn is a spatial ecologist who explores how wildlife navigate ever-changing landscapes and increasing human pressures using remote sensing and geospatial analyses. Raised in rural western Colorado, she grew up immersed in the daily intersections of human and wildlife activity—from waking to deer in the backyard to helping trap prairie dogs in agricultural fields. These formative experiences sparked her dedication to understanding and improving how humans and wildlife share space and resources.
The Mule Deer Foundation’s (MDF) and Blacktail Deer Foundation (BDF) are seeking highly qualified candidates to fill the role of Conservation Content Specialist (Specialist). This position will play a fundamental role in ensuring both organizations’ conservation message is delivered to all audiences in a way to provide better understanding to numerous audiences on what both organizations accomplish.
Turkey hunting may not have the appeal of 100-plus pounds of meat in the freezer and a set of antlers on your wall that mule deer hunting does. Still, the spring season makes it an essential time of year to better prepare yourself for success in the fall. If you found success filing last year’s mule deer tag in the early days of the season, It’s been almost six months since you went on a hunting trip. I don’t mean a day hunt or driving around forest roads to fill a B tag. I mean a real hunting camp out in the wilderness. Turkey season can be a great time to break out all the gear that I’m sure you put away in an organized fashion last fall and make sure everything is still in good working order.