My FWP Hunter Survey

[Caseknife]

Washington has a mandatory harvest report due by the end of January every year. Pretty simple online questionnaire. What the data is used for is not real apparent in the way the State manages wildlife, but it is mandatory.

 

[SAJ-99]

but when I questioned a former biologist about mandatory reporting they forwarded me a study showing the superiority of random sampling.

I vaguely remember this debate from another thread. There is study from another state that compared the two, and I believe that state still uses electronic mandatory reporting. My first reaction was “BS” but I assume there is some miscommunication. Random sampling can be done with phone calls or electronic harvest reports (or mailings). Random sampling vs mandatory reporting is a debate on sample size. The method of collection, phone vs internet, is a debate of trading one set of biases or errors for another. That I can understand not wanting to switch. But It would seem like they could easily create the harvest questions in electronic version and randomly send them out. I would argue the cost is pretty low too. Probably cheaper than the phone calls.

 

[Dave N]

Illinois has a mandatory deer harvest check-in we do online. Asks what county, public or private land, weapon used, male or female, face measurement, point count and base measurement, and how many turkey or bobcats seen if any. I think that's it. Wouldn't be hard to get a system like that for you guys.

 

[sapperJ24]

Just got called. Only question was, "did you harvest any elk this year?" No questions on effort or where. Maybe there would have been a follow up if I said yes. I have no confidence in the reliability or statistical validity of the survey.

 

[SwaggyD]

Just got my elk call. “Did you hunt elk?”

“I did not”

“Aight thanks for taking the call”

She literally said “aight”

 

[mtmiller]

Put in my UT application this morning.

 

[MTGomer]

This year during my antelope survey I was asked, "Did you harvest your animal prior to, during, or after the season?"

“Yes”

 

[R.K.]

If Missouri and Illinois can figure it out for all deer and turkey harvest, then I’m fairly certain Montana can do the same. Phone call, internet, and app all work in Missouri. Haven’t hunted those in Illinois in forever.

I’ve seen things implemented very well in other places, and can’t figure out why Montana is fighting this so hard? All it takes is to include it in the next years application, like HIP info you already do for migratory birds. It’s frustratingly simple in my mind.