For a successful shoot, I have a few suggestions from past experience---

Keep everything handy. Photo vests are great for this. You can carry extra lenses, flash cards, film, batteries, etc. within easy reach. You will be able to bring your camera bags and backpacks virtually everywhere we go, but it’s often a pain to get things when you need them. Also, for safety reasons, you may not be able to bend down to rummage through your bag. (You’ll hear more on this from Jay Deist, the owner of Triple "D")

By far, the most common problem I’ve seen is dead batteries. Or not having enough back up batteries. Make sure all your batteries are charged. I’d also recommend getting at least one or two spare batteries. Sometimes we’ll be able to help each other out with spare batteries, but don’t count on it. Be sure to bring your battery charges too. The conference room at Triple “D” is a great place to recharge batteries between sessions.

Another common problem is running out of memory or film. If this is your first trip to Triple “D”, don’t underestimate the number of shots you’ll take. If you have a portable device for downloading images, be sure to have that in your photo vest as well.

The worse thing that can happen is equipment failure. This usually seems to be auto focus or other lens related issues. The most likely culprit is dirty contacts on the lens, teleconverter, or camera body. Some people use pencil erasers to clean contacts on the lens. I prefer using isopropyl alcohol and a Q-Tip. You need to be careful that no fibers get left behind. In the field, just wiping the contacts with your shirt will work just fine.

On occasion, a camera body will die or a lens will fail (or get dropped….). I highly recommend bringing a backup camera body. Having backup lenses is a bit more of a problem. Between all of the participants there may be backups available, but again, don’t count on it.

Speaking of lenses, zooms in the 70-200 mm, 80-400 mm range seem to work the best. Occasionally a longer lens is useful. And don’t forget to stick a wider lens in your vest as well for those “animal in the environment” shots.

Be sure to have your camera’s manual with you and try to be familiar with the various auto focus modes/settings/patterns that your camera is capable of.
 

Tripod or monopod?
Tripods offer the very best support and you don't have to hold on to your camera all the time. They take up space though and it takes extra time to adjust all those legs.
Monopods are quick and efficient to use. However, you can't let go of your camera to grab another lens or rummage for flash cards.
So why not bring both if you can?

Triple “D” has a great conference room at their Kalispell location. When I teach workshops there, we use it for between-session downloading, battery charging and relaxing. We’ll also be using it as a classroom space for teaching presentations. A Hi-Speed Wireless internet connection is also available. 

If this will be your first time at Triple “D” you’ll be pretty excited being so close to a wild animal. Chances are you’ll just point your camera, bull’s-eye the composition, and blast away. That’s fine. You’ll need to get that out of your system, I know I did. But after the initial excitement wears off (well, tones down at any rate), you can start thinking of compositions and avoiding things like amputating feet and tails.