MULE DEER HUNTING IN NEVADA Professors Nick Sanyal & Ed Krumpe - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

MULE DEER HUNTING IN NEVADA Professors Nick Sanyal & Ed Krumpe Research Assistant, Alexandria Middleton May 9, 2014

Introduction 2  Presentation of key points from the final report titled “ Mule Deer Hunting & Management: Experiences, Attitudes and Preferences of Nevada’s Mule Deer Tag Applicants,” dated April 17, 2014.  Unbiased representative sample of the Mule Deer hunter population of Nevada collected between January 10 and April 11, 2014  Accurate to better than ± 5% at a 95% Cl This report is available to download at: http://www.ndow.org/Public_Meetings/Committees/Tag_Allocation_and_Application_Hunt/

Study Objectives 3  Attitudes and opinions including:  “Quality” hunting (quality vs. quantity, congestion… )  Hunter behavior & satisfaction  Evaluation of potential management options  Season structure  Perceptions of “Trophy” Mule Deer  Hunter attributes (demographics)

Random Sample 4  57,249 applicants for big game tags for 2012 main draw  1,200 randomly-selected by NDOW  (People who had applied for Mule Deer tags in the main draw in 2012 & 2013)  Sample includes approximately 10% of non- resident hunters and 4% who only apply with paper applications  Response rate: 54.9% (638 returned of 1,162 delivered)

“Hybrid” Survey 5 Online Survey-68.2% Mail Survey-31.8% http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/muledeer/

2013 Methodology NDOW / TAAHC Contracts Univ. of Idaho to conduct survey of hunters 6 Nov.-Dec. 2013 Jan. 8, 2014 Jan. 10 Univ. of Idaho designed NDOW email to sample cover letters & postcards, Cover letter from NDOW announcing the survey in approved by NDOW. to sample of 1,200 conjunction with UI CSS Website for the online launching the online survey Department survey created. March 5 Feb. 6 Jan. 23 Preliminary report to Second cover letter from Post card from UI as a NDOW UI to non-respondents with reminder and to thank a paper copy of the those who had already March 21 questionnaire responded TAAHC review March 26 April 17 April 11 Final email reminder from Data collection for the Final report provided to NDOW sent to non- survey was terminated NDOW respondents

Results 7

Average Respondent Profile 8  Is male (88%) and 50.4 years-old  Is a Nevada Resident (72.5%) and lives in Washoe or Clark counties (27.9 and 23.7 %)  Is employed full-time (69.9%)  Has hunted in Nevada for 19.4 years and applied to the draw for 17.6 years  Hunts with 2.6 tag holders and 1.4 non-tag holders  Weapon of choice is “Any legal weapon” (82.9%) Q41, Q43, Q35, Q36, Q42, Q1, Q2, Q5, Q6

Preference of When to Hunt 9 Percent Time of Season I Prefer I Avoid Opening Day 61.5% 38.5% First Weekend 61.5 38.5 First Week 80.1 19.9 Any Weekend 71.0 28.1 Any Weekday 91.4 8.6 Last Week 87.9 12.1 Last Weekend 75.7 24.3 Last Day 71.9 28.1 Q7

Expectation to Successfully Draw a Tag 10 50 45 40 38.9 35 30 Percent 25 26.2 24.8 Nevada 23.0 20 20.9 Residents 15 Non- 14.9 13 Residents 10 12.4 8.1 7.8 5 3.7 3.6 0.7 2.0 0 Every Every 2 Every 3 Every 4 Every 5 Every 6 Every 7 Year Years Years Years Years Years Years Q8

A Quality Hunting Experience 11 Able to hunt with Family and Friends 4.1 Able to hunt #1 unit of choice 3.8 Seeing trophy deer 3.7 Low hunter densities 3.6 Harvesting large antlered deer 3.4 Able to hunt deer every year 3.3 Having a long season 3.1 Able to hunt and not encounter OHV 2.7 Able to hunt with OHV 2.6 Harvesting any antlered deer 2.6 Harvesting a doe 1.7 1 2 3 4 5 Not Somewhat Moderately Quite Extremely Important Important Important Important Important Q9 Mean

Motivations for Hunting Mule Deer 12 4 = Quite Important 3 = Moderately Important Being close to nature Keeping physically fit Bringing back memories Learning more about deer Teaching children to hunt Experiencing tranquility Viewing scenery Learning more about nature Seeing deer in natural settings Stimulation and excitement Getting away from demands of life Thinking about personal values Doing something with family Harvesting large antlered buck Getting a good shot at deer Testing abilities Being with friends Sharing what I have learned Getting to know lay of land Testing and using equipment Developing friendships w companions Using deer stalking skills 1 2 3 4 5 Q10 Not Somewhat Moderately Quite Extremely Important Important Important Important Important

Motivations for Hunting Mule Deer 13 2 = Somewhat Important 1 = Not Important Putting meat on the table Harvesting any deer Developing hunting skills Showing others I can do it Developing spiritual values Harvesting a small antlered buck Being on my own Harvesting anterless deer Harvesting any buck Competing against others Releasing or reducing tension 1 2 3 4 5 Not Somewhat Moderately Quite Extremely Important Important Important Important Important Q10

Either Sex Archery Tags 14 100 90 80 70 60 Percent 57.8 50 40 30 20 23.6 10 11.5 7.2 0 I favor it I do not favor it, but It is not acceptable I need more it is acceptable information In areas where doe harvest may be necessary in order to achieve management goals, would you support either sex archery deer tags? Q12

Either Sex Archery Tags 15 100 90 81.4% Acceptable 80 70 60 Percent 57.8 50 40 30 20 23.6 10 11.5 7.2 0 I favor it I do not favor it, but It is not acceptable I need more it is acceptable information In areas where doe harvest may be necessary in order to achieve management goals, would you support either sex archery deer tags? Q12

Use of Trail Cameras 16 50 40 38.2 30 Percent 28.3 25.5 20 10 0 I favor it I do not favor it, but it is It is not acceptable acceptable How do you feel about the use of personal trail cameras for monitoring wildlife during hunting? Q13

Antlerless Hunts to Improve Hunting 17 100 90 88.2 85.7 80 70 60 Resident 50 Non-Resident 40 30 20 10 7.7 5.6 6.5 6.2 0 No Yes Don't Know Are you in favor of antlerless hunts (harvesting does) for Mule Deer if it could improve deer herd health or result in more fawns or larger bucks? Q14

Hunting Behavior Change if Hunting Opportunities Decrease 18 Would shift to hunting other species in Nevada Would quit applying for Nevada deer tags Would not change Nevada tag application behavior Would change weapon type for increased deer hunting opportunity in Nevada -1 0 1 Unlikely Neither Unlikely Likely Q15 Nor Likely

Acceptability of Potential Management Options 19 14.1 Special trophy areas 77.9 22 Wilderness area-only hunts 67 26.3 More late-season hunts 62.5 28.4 Shorter early season - any legal weapon 61.8 Not Acceptable 29.5 Several shorter seasons with reduced tags 58.9 Acceptable 31.8 Reduced tag availability & longer seasons 58.6 30 Lower harvest success - more opportunity 52.3 46.3 Shorten season (30 to 14 days) more tags 46.6 46.4 Fewer tags & limited non-hunters in party 40.7 51.4 2 or 3 shorter seasons - draw more tags 40.1 Q16 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Satisfaction with Hunting Experience 20 Satisfaction with 2012-2013 Hunting Experience Weather conditions Amount of access Length of season Overall quality of experience Satisfied Timing of season Number of OHVs encountered Number of other hunters seen Number of deer seen Number of bucks seen Dissatisfied Number of harvestable deer seen Number of large antlered bucks seen -2 -1 0 1 2 Very Dissatisfied Neither satisfied Satisfied Very dissatisfied nor dissatisfied Satisfied Mean Level of Satisfaction Q17

Satisfaction with Chances of Drawing a Tag 21 50 40 36.0 30 Percent 28.5 28.5 27.3 25.6 23.0 20 10 12.7 11.8 4.0 1.9 0 Very Dissatisfied Neither Satisfied Very Satisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied Resident Non-Resident Q18

Satisfaction with NDOW Management of Mule Deer Populations 22 50 47.5 40 36.9 33.6 30 32.9 Percent 20 16.5 10 12.0 6.9 6.9 1.9 4.9 0 Very Dissatisfied Neither Satisfied Very Satisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied Resident Non-Resident Q19

Potential Factors Negatively Affecting Mule Deer Populations 23 Potential Factors Negatively Neither Unlikely Affecting Mule Deer Numbers Unlikely nor Likely Likely Predators (Coyotes, Mountain 13.1% 15.9% 71.0% Lions, Bobcats) Competition from wild horses 23.5 21.9 54.6 Illegal Mule Deer harvest 22.8 24.9 52.4 (poaching, etc.) Loss of habitat (due to housing, 37.2 19.7 43.2 mining and energy development) Competition from livestock 34.5 28.6 36.9 Competition from Elk 35.4 34.2 30.5 Wildlife diseases 19.4 36.8 43.8 Legal harvest of Mule Deer 52.4 30.2 17.4 Q20

Trophy Hunter vs. Opportunistic Hunter 24 Q21 Resident Non-Resident I don’t care about the size, harvesting a Mule Deer each 47.9% 9.9 season is most important I’m more interested in a mature or trophy deer and will often 52.1% 89.5 bypass a chance to shoot smaller bucks Resident 8.8 8.8 10.2 9.5 6.4 11.9 9.5 10.5 10.7 5.0 8.6 Non-Resident 23.9 20.1 20.1 11.3 6.9 4.4 4.4 4.4 2.5 0.6 1.3 Q21, Q22