2011 Pennsylvania Waterfowl Hunter Attitudes Survey 2011 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

2011 Pennsylvania Waterfowl Hunter Attitudes Survey

2011 Pennsylvania Waterfowl Hunter Attitudes Survey Survey Objectives Identify reasons for and barriers to Declining trends waterfowl hunters: participation. Opportunities for recruiting & retaining hunters. Measure season timing preference by Determine attitudes on season timing: duck and goose zones. Measure attitudes on issues such as Address other issues associated with electric decoys, tundra swan hunting waterfowl hunting: and migratory game bird hunting stamp.

Pennsylvania HIP Canada Goose Harvest Harvest Days Hunted 300 250 Thousands 200 150 100 50 0 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 Year

Survey Scoping & Design • Consulted with USFWS, PGC I & E Bureau and reviewed previous national & state surveys methods. • Mail questionnaire of 5,000 randomly selected PA waterfowl hunters identified by the 2009-10 & 2010- 11 HIP license questions through point-of-sale. • Post-stratified survey results by residency, hunter age, gender, waterfowl hunter type (i.e. duck only, goose only, both) and hunting zone(s). • A complete survey of attitudes on why not hunt waterfowl would include samples of non-hunters and other hunters that was beyond the scope of this survey.

PA Waterfowl Hunter Percentage of responses demographics. 3 9 Resident Non-Resident • 3,599 surveys returned for 88 No Response 72% response rate. • 88% indicated PA resident. • 3% indicate non-resident. • 9% did not indicate residency status. Percentage of responses • 97% male • 1.5% female 1.5 1.5 • 1.5% unknown gender Male Female No Response 97

Waterfowl Hunter age distribution Average = 45.5 years old, max = 93 120 100 Number of Hunters by Age 80 60 40 20 0 3 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 93 Hunter Age

Waterfowl Hunter Percent type? • 6% or 213 respondents were only duck hunters. • 14% or 510 were only Duck Only goose hunters. 6 Goose Only 14 36 • 36% or 1,301 were both Both duck & goose hunters. Neither • 36% or 1,352 didn’t hunt 36 waterfowl the past 2 seasons.

Duck Hunter Percent experience? • 28% hunted greater than 25 years. • 15% hunted between 16 > 25 years and 25 years. 25 28 16-25 years • 31% hunted between 6 6-15 years and 15 years. < 5 years 15 • 25% hunted <5 years. 31

Goose hunting Percent experience? • 24% hunted greater than 25 years. • 15% hunted between 16 > 25 years and 25 years. 24 25 16-25 years • 33% hunted between 6 6-15 years and 15 years. 15 < 5 years • 25% hunted < 5 years. 33

Why do you hunt Percent ducks? Very important • 29% was very important to them. • 23% had time to hunt. • 18% hunt ducks when not I had time 16 29 hunting another species. • 16% someone invited 18 them to hunt. 23 Hunt ducks when not hunting another species Somebody invited me

Why do you hunt Percent geese? Very important • 24% was very important to them. I had time • 22% had time to hunt. • 17% hunt geese when not 8 24 hunting another species. 17 Hunt geese • 17% someone invited when not 17 22 them to hunt. hunting another species • 8% there were a lot of Somebody geese this year. invited me There were a lot of geese

Most important duck Percent zone? • 61% South zone. • 20% Northwest zone. • 17% North zone. 3 South • 3% Lake Erie zone. North 20 Northwest Erie 17 61

Where did you hunt Percent ducks? Private • 32% Private land. Public • 32% Public land. 3 • 32% Both about the same. 32 32 Both about the • 3% Regulated hunting same grounds. Regulated 32 hunting ground

Did you hunt ducks Percent at Pymatuning or Middle Creek? • 9% Pymatuning WMA. • 4% Middle Creek WMA. Pymatuning 4 • 86% Neither. 9 Middle Creek Neither 86

Most important Percent goose zone? • 42% Resident zone. • 39% Atlantic zone. • 19% SJBP zone. RP 19 42 AP SJBP 39 SJBP zone AP zone RP zone Pennsylvania

Where did you hunt Percent geese? Private • 51% Private land. • 21% Public land. Public • 27% Both about the same. 27 51 Both about the 21 same

Did you hunt geese at Percent Pymatuning or Middle Creek? • 15% Pymatuning WMA. • 7% Middle Creek WMA. Pymatuning • 78% Neither. 15 7 Middle Creek Neither 78

Duck Hunter Percent satisfaction? Very Satisfied • 65% were satisfied. • 15% no opinion. Satisfied • 20% dissatisfied. 3 No Opinion 10 17 Dissatisfied 15 55 Very dissatisfied

Goose Hunter Percent satisfaction? Very Satisfied • 77% were satisfied. • 13% no opinion. Satisfied • 10% dissatisfied. 3 No Opinion 9 17 13 Dissatisfied 60 Very dissatisfied

Has the quality of PA Percent duck hunting changed? Much worse • 32% worse. Little worse • 38% same. • 19% better. Remainded 5 same • 11% no opinion. 11 11 Little better 21 14 Much better 38 No opinion

Has the quality of PA Percent goose hunting changed? Much worse • 19% worse. Little worse • 32% same. • 37% better. Remainded same • 11% no opinion. 11 5 14 13 Little better 32 24 Much better No opinion

Most important periods for duck hunting? Period LEZ% NWZ % NZ % SZ % Oct 1-15 5% 24% 26% 19% 24% 25% 18% Oct 16-31 11% Nov 1-15 16% 13% 12% 1% Nov 16-30 23% 16% 9% 14% Dec 1-15 11% 5% 5% 6% Dec 16-31 15% 10% 8% 17% Jan 1-15 11% 4% 9% 13% Jan 16-31 7% 3% 6% 13%

When did you hunt geese? Period SJBP RP AP September 63% 81% 63% Fall 99% 83% 87% Winter 61% 27% 100% Did you harvest geese? 96% 95% 100% SJBP zone AP zone RP zone Pennsylvania

Percent Duck Hunter Satisfaction More overlap of duck & Canada goose season? Very Satisfied • 84% were satisfied. Satisfied • 12% neutral. • 2% dissatisfied. 1 1 Neutral • 1% don’t know. 12 Dissatisfied 22 62 Very dissatisfied

Percent Duck Hunter Satisfaction Youth waterfowl days? Very Satisfied • 49% were satisfied. Satisfied • 36% neutral. Neutral • 9% dissatisfied. 4 5 • 5% don’t know. 5 34 Dissatisfied Very 36 15 dissatisfied Don't know

Percent Duck Hunter Satisfaction Motorized spinning-wing Very Satisfied decoys legal? • 56% were satisfied. Satisfied • 32% neutral. • 8% dissatisfied. Neutral 4 6 2 • 4% don’t know. 39 Dissatisfied 32 Very 17 dissatisfied Don't Know

Percent Duck Hunter Satisfaction Close duck season during Very Satisfied rifle deer season? • 21% were satisfied. Satisfied • 33% neutral. • 42% dissatisfied. Neutral 3 10 • 3% don’t know. 11 28 Dissatisfied Very 14 33 dissatisfied Don't Know

Percent Goose Hunter Satisfaction Open Canada goose Very Satisfied season during rifle deer season? Satisfied • 40% were satisfied. Neutral 3 10 • 39% neutral. 8 26 Dissatisfied • 18% dissatisfied. • 2% don’t know. 14 Very 39 dissatisfied Don't Know

Percent Duck Hunter Satisfaction Weekday versus Saturday Very Satisfied opening days? • 26% were satisfied. Satisfied • 34% neutral. • 36% dissatisfied. Neutral 3 • 3% don’t know. 15 21 11 Dissatisfied 15 Very 34 dissatisfied Don't Know

Barriers to participation Important Neutral Unimportant 80 70 Percent of response 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Regulations Place to Time More game Partner Bird I.D. too Hunt complex