Wildlife/Fisheries Biology?

[chevy01234]

Just curious what some of you folks "in the know" think about these careers?

Would you mind giving me a pro/con list for them? I am still doing some soul searching and have been really thinking about Wildlife or Fisheries field. I know its tough work and little pay without graduate level work but that is a possibility too. Just curious what you guys think.

Thanks!

[thurockk]

Damn hard to make it without the Masters. Pros - acutally enjoying going to work, feeling like you make a difference, your office is outdoors (these are just a few, there are plenty). Cons - the same as most places, POLITICAL BS! Other than that, you dang sure aren't gonna be a rich person.

[pondman]

Jody,

You know my background. I have done public, private, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and rivers of all sizes. Let go share a beer and we can talk.

Pond

[chevy01234]

Jody,

You know my background. I have done public, private, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and rivers of all sizes. Let go share a beer and we can talk.

Pond

Sounds good man, we'll get together soon!

[chevy01234]

Damn hard to make it without the Masters. Pros - acutally enjoying going to work, feeling like you make a difference, your office is outdoors (these are just a few, there are plenty). Cons - the same as most places, POLITICAL BS! Other than that, you dang sure aren't gonna be a rich person.

Thanks!

[Bonecollecter1111]

i was in forestry and wildlife mgt for 5 yrs, work was personally rewarding to some extint, but the pay was awfull at best and i started to hate having to go to the woods everyday, i quit cuz i didn't want it to affect my outlook on the outdoors.
i have some friends with their masters in wildlife and jobs are few and far between that pay much at all, mostly state and fed jobs, very few private properties will shell out what it takes to get the degree and knowledge base, and then they will cut you loose as soon as they think they know enough to accomplish their goals. best advise i can give ya, find a high paying career, work your booty off and retire early so that you can enjoy what you love when you have the money to do it

[DukGrl]

got my undergrad in Wildlife, just finished my Masters in Wildlife, specializing in waterfowl and wetlands. I knew from the beginning I would be getting my Masters degree and it helped keep me on track. I was always told that if you want to live on the same road you grew up on, between your momma and your grandmomma you won't get the job you want - you've got to be willing to move, at least for your first job. That advice held true for me - I'm moving to Louisiana (7+ hourse away from home) in October but for an AMAZING job with an NGO- 100% what I went to school for seven years for. I don't know how the job world will be - I haven't been there yet but we'll see.

Grad school was ... well, my research was great because it was the science side of what I was raised doing so it was close to my heart... the field work and the subsequent work in the lab stunk at times - okay a lot of the time... but ... now I've got a job and it was all worth it. Nerdy as it sounds, it is cool to accomplish something that a manager is now going to use to get more ducks.

Pros: outside, making a difference, working with farmers whom I respect, make connections with landowners that will let you hunt their places, job my brothers are jealous of, hunt on the clock, great opportunities to get some pictures, travel to the most duck "infested" areas of the country, got to go to school at Mississippi State, got a new family in the College of Forest Resources, worked with nationally recognized waterfowl biologist

Cons: never get rich, depending on who you work for - funding for your pet project can get pulled at the last minute, you've still got to deal with stupid people even though you signed on to work with the animals, have to work your butt off in school, didn't have time to hunt until grad school

just my $0.02...

[DanielB]

got my undergrad in Wildlife, just finished my Masters in Wildlife, specializing in waterfowl and wetlands. I knew from the beginning I would be getting my Masters degree and it helped keep me on track. I was always told that if you want to live on the same road you grew up on, between your momma and your grandmomma you won't get the job you want - you've got to be willing to move, at least for your first job. That advice held true for me - I'm moving to Louisiana (7+ hourse away from home) in October but for an AMAZING job with an NGO- 100% what I went to school for seven years for. I don't know how the job world will be - I haven't been there yet but we'll see.

Grad school was ... well, my research was great because it was the science side of what I was raised doing so it was close to my heart... the field work and the subsequent work in the lab stunk at times - okay a lot of the time... but ... now I've got a job and it was all worth it. Nerdy as it sounds, it is cool to accomplish something that a manager is now going to use to get more ducks.

Pros: outside, making a difference, working with farmers whom I respect, make connections with landowners that will let you hunt their places, job my brothers are jealous of, hunt on the clock, great opportunities to get some pictures, travel to the most duck "infested" areas of the country, got to go to school at Mississippi State, got a new family in the College of Forest Resources, worked with nationally recognized waterfowl biologist

Cons: never get rich, depending on who you work for - funding for your pet project can get pulled at the last minute, you've still got to deal with stupid people even though you signed on to work with the animals, have to work your butt off in school, didn't have time to hunt until grad school

just my $0.02...

Alisha???

[peewee]

i was in forestry and wildlife mgt for 5 yrs, work was personally rewarding to some extint, but the pay was awfull at best and i started to hate having to go to the woods everyday, i quit cuz i didn't want it to affect my outlook on the outdoors.
i have some friends with their masters in wildlife and jobs are few and far between that pay much at all, mostly state and fed jobs, very few private properties will shell out what it takes to get the degree and knowledge base, and then they will cut you loose as soon as they think they know enough to accomplish their goals. best advise i can give ya, find a high paying career, work your booty off and retire early so that you can enjoy what you love when you have the money to do it

x2, If you can find a job it can be good. You can also enjoy 12+ hour days for less pay than the folks you went to school with that didn't graduate high shcool.

[wingman21]

I guess since questions like this are what i am paid to answer i should type a book for you. Since the few questions like this is how i justify my time on here to myself i still think i should type a book for you. But i have talked to 27 highschool kids today scattered across central MS that all had the same question so I am going to give you my very short answer and tell you to come spend a day in starkville with me and let me tell you so much more.

Short answer is to me all the money in the world is not worth me being miserable at work when i could have the greatest jobs in the world for a little less money.

dukgrl gave very good answers(she works for me until tomorrow... stupid real job stealing my good help) and DanielB yes its alicia she can play on ducksouth too.

Jody, dan has my cell number and i keep it with me all the time give me a call and we can get together and talk more.

TR

[chevy01234]

I guess since questions like this are what i am paid to answer i should type a book for you. Since the few questions like this is how i justify my time on here to myself i still think i should type a book for you. But i have talked to 27 highschool kids today scattered across central MS that all had the same question so I am going to give you my very short answer and tell you to come spend a day in starkville with me and let me tell you so much more.

Short answer is to me all the money in the world is not worth me being miserable at work when i could have the greatest jobs in the world for a little less money.

dukgrl gave very good answers(she works for me until tomorrow... stupid real job stealing my good help) and DanielB yes its alicia she can play on ducksouth too.

Jody, dan has my cell number and i keep it with me all the time give me a call and we can get together and talk more.

TR

Sounds good! We'll talk soon.

[DukGrl]

I guess since questions like this are what i am paid to answer i should type a book for you. Since the few questions like this is how i justify my time on here to myself i still think i should type a book for you.

you?? spend time on ducksouth while at work? you mean you do that?? well, as long as you can justify it...

[MMallard]

I am a product of CFR and would change a thing I did. Get in and get to know your professors. Co-Op if you can and it will put you ahead of the rest of your class. Degrees help, but experience is priceless. Let me know if you ever need a Co-Op with the Corps. I Co-Oped for 2 semester and I walked into a biologist position 2 days after graduation and........ I aint doing bad at all. good luck!

[jclay]

I went the same road as MMallard and co-opped with the Corps during undergrad and graduated with a biologist job working in wetlands. I enjoyed the work but after a few years was ready for something different so I left and went to lawschool and just started working as an attorney.

My advice would be this- take a hard look at what you think you want to do and make sure it will be worth your time. It's great to be able to work in the outdoors, but it's not so great if you have to work another job every weekend to make ends meet.

[litlhitch]

Well you got 1 BIG strike against you from the get go- you are an Ole Miss Rebel!! Better join the bulldog world if you want to get somewhere in that field

I would not trade my job for the world. As someone mentioned, you hear talk about 'if you work in this field, some people lose their passion to hunt'..but I just dont see how that could ever be.

Even though you may get a job in wildlife mgt., you still have to do alot of people management. You dont believe that, just read the 500 posts on here bashing Matthews Brake NWR, MDWFP, etc. Nonetheless, you do whats best for the resource and work hard and it is a very rewarding field/career. One piece of advice I wish I would have had, if you get in the field..major in wildlife AND forestry. I pigeon-holed myself cause I was 'all about the ducks' and I think that hurt me when I was looking for jobs. Just ask your boy Dan about that.

Not to discourage you, but I got alot of buddies just finishing up grad school and they are having a very hard time finding jobs in the field right now.

By the way-I never repayed you for taking my buddy teal hunting a few years back-give me a shout this duck season and come bust some mallards with me. Bring that DanP with ya. Ask him bout the time he drove around Starkville for a month with a "I love gay sex" bumper sticker on his truck till some hot girls stopped him in WalMart parking lot and asked him if he really liked gay sexv