When the June heat in Arizona keeps us simmering at a steady 105 for days on end, our thoughts turn to . . . fall, and bird hunting in Montana.

For several years now friend Mike Spies has been bugging us to join his fall bird hunting trip to central Montana. This year, we plan to do it - our first chance to join a classic uplands hunt in a stunning location. Our usual fall hunting finds us beating around the thorny, hot Sonoran Desert - wonderful in its way, but no comparison to the northern plains.

We also look forward to seeing Mike and his dogs in action - Toby, Ted, Jesse, and Tommy. An avid bird dog trials competitor (see his blog Living with Bird Dogs - a great look at an fascinating field sport), Mike is also owner of AutohomeUS, importer of fine Italian roof tents that have been profiled in Overland Journal. 

We appreciate AutohomeUS’ support of the journal as a Charter Advertiser, and of the FJ60 Conservation Project (see Spring 2008 and Summer 2008) with a lightweight and sleek Columbus Carbon tent. And we look forward to heading out in the field with Mike and the ‘boys’ for some fine shooting, dining, and tales around the campfire.

At the end of May a group of people interested in big-cat conservation convened in southern Arizona to learn about the future of jaguars in Arizona.

Jaguars in Arizona? That’s right - for the last 13+ years there has been at least one male jaguar making his home in the wildlands of southern Arizona.

I wrote up this overland trip for the Summer 2008 issue of Overland Journal (due out in mid-July). It was a tremendous experience to spend time in the field with people like Jack Childs of the Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project.

I met Jack, who is one of the Southwest’s most exerienced houndsmen and wildlife trackers, about 7 years ago, when I was working with a group that was pioneering using tracking as a way to survey important wildlife corridors around Tucson, Arizona, to determine if bears and cougars were using them (and so we could save these corridors from the rapid urban and suburban growth). Jack was one of the tracking instructors for our program.

Over the years Jack and his wife Anna Mary (left) have become friends with me and Jonathan, and just before our Jaguar Trail trip, we had a chance to head out in the hills near our home to go tracking with them. We live in the Sierrita Mountains southwest of Tucson, and Arizona Game and Fish had gotten a report that two jaguars were seen just a mile from our home. They called Jack, and Jack called us.

It just so happened Sue Morse, from Vermont’s Keeping Track, was in town (Sue developed the tracking protocol used by groups all over the country to survey for wildlife tracks for conservation projects) and so she came along when we set out up the dry creekbed looking for signs of the mystery jaguars (everyone was pretty much in agreement that it was unlikely to be jaguars since the report was for two, a highly unlikely scenario since only males have been documented here since 1969).

We spent a few hours casting around, looking for tracks, scratches on trees (wild cats are just like your housecats: they will use trees and fenceposts as scratching posts and for spraying - photo at right shows Sue and Jack checking a tree for bobcat sign), and scrapes in the leaf litter and sand (again, just like a tabby, wild cats will scratch up the ground and urinate on the mounds as scent markers). Sue and Jack are amazing trackers; Sue, one of the most accomplished bushcraft practitioners I’ve ever met, is especially keen at detecting and differentiating scent markings. She checked out a couple spots that had bobcat markings but we found no big-cat activity.

The chance to get out in the field with people like Sue and Jack and Anna Mary is always something we appreciate - it adds enormously to our own bushcraft education. If you want to learn more about wildlife tracking and similar activities, check out the following resources:

Keeping Track - the organization Sue Morse founded and directs; “inspiring community participation in the stewardship of wildlife habitat”

Tracking and the Art of Seeing - the best publication we’ve found for teaching the bushcraft of tracking

Earth Skills - a really good bushcraft school in California

Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project - founded by Jack and Anna Mary Childs, dedicated to learning more about the lives of our Southwestern jaguars

Other links mentioned in the story include: Northern Jaguar Project, information about jaguars from Wildlife Conservation International, and information on the region of the trip’s overland route, which we called the Jaguar Trail - Coronado National Forest (Ruby Road) and the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

Zamberlan Boots has come on board to help us launch our new Partner Advertiser program.

Overland Journal Partner Advertisers have committed to an extended period of display advertising plus will be working with us to promote adventure stories, events, or conservation projects. Look for a complete list of Partner Advertisers on the main website soon.

Zamberlan is a supporter of the Jaguar Trail story, and will be working with us to help spread the word on the efforts of the Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project (see post, above). Overland Journal first reported on Zamberlan Skill boots in the Gear Guide 2008 - where they were featured as a Best of Breed product.

Three of us wore Zamberlans during the Jaguar Trail trip - mine were new (shown here demonstrating how a big cat - probably a cougar - used this log as a scratching post); Jonathan’s a year old; and Scott Brady’s at least three years old.

I’ve since worn them on about 15 miles of hiking - with very little break-in time needed for them to be comfortable - and these boots are going with me to Africa in early July, on a two-week exploratory safari in the Great Rift Valley, a project of the African Conservation Fund. Normally I would not think of taking a pair of ’serious’ hiking boots to Africa with me - not because I don’t need them (thorns, rough country, snakes - all a part of beating around the African bush) but because they are usually so heavy.  The Skill GTs are just 19.75 ounces each, but made from one-piece full-grain waterproof leather. I’ll be really putting these to the test, driving a vintage (1970s) Land Cruiser for 1000 miles and tromping through plenty of African bush. Look for a report in a future Overland Journal.  

Last month, Colorado Springs resident Jorge Carbo teamed up with his local Land Rover dealer, Discount

 Tire, Extreme Outback, and Overland Journal to offer a tire field repair course in Divide, Colorado.

Half a dozen people had the chance to learn from experts in the field, and also practice (in a relaxed setting) this important overlanding skill using the best tools available. 

Participants used tools provided by Extreme Outback (featured in the Fall 2007 Overland Journal), and received a copy of the Winter 2007 Overland Journal, featuring Jonathan Hanson’s Tire Repair skills article.

Overland Journal contributing editor Graham Jackson and his wife Connie Rodman (shown at right with another participant in the course) attended and shared some of their extensive overlanding experience (see Overland Journal premier issue, Through the Dark Continent).

Special thanks to Jorge, the folks at Colorado Springs Land Rover, and George at Extreme Outback for offering this great overlander education event.

In May I was fortunate enough to join an expedition into Mexico’s Sierra Madre, to locate a historical battle site in a very remote region of Sonora. We used horses (and a cool little donkey) for the first leg, to cross the river and get us up into the canyons, and from there we had to proceed on foot. (Look for this story in a future Overland Journal.)

On the trip I tested out the Tilopa camera bag by F-Stop (featured in the Gear Guide 2008). I carried a Canon EOS 5D, three lenses (17-35mm, 70-200mm, 50mm), a Speedlite 580EX flash, and some hoods, batteries and cards along with my little Canon A85 compact (in one of the pockets on the hip belt - brilliant), a Camelbak water bladder, my lunch and a first-aid kit.

It worked especially well. Everything is easy to get to and there is just enough room to be useful for an all-day shoot like this, but not so over-equipped as to be too bulky and heavy. I think F-Stop hit the mark, as this will definitely remain as my primary bag for any assignments that require footwork (hiking, skiing, climbing, etc)  or riding (horses, bikes, motorcycles, you name it). (Photo courtesy Shirley Durham)