Justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
Wildlife management, in the most common sense, is really nothing more than meddling with nature to prefer one suite of species over another. Funny how the preferred species usually have seasons and bag limits. (there, I'll be in trouble with you)As an emeritus career scientist, there are more methods to doing science than "the method". What we teach is a very simplified means of conducting excruciatingly simple experiments. If that was the only way science could progress, we would be quickly stuck. The Philosophy of Science is both a great study of the history of doing science and the methodologies, which vary extremely across fields. I am happy to recommend authors and titles for anyone that wants to tread in the deep end for a little while. It can be cool stuff.
I will add that, in my personal perspective, wildlife management is more like wildlife engineering rather than science. (There, that should get me in deep trouble...)