spring turkey hunting questionnaire 2017respondents. data from all returned questionnaires were...

Spring Turkey Hunting Questionnaire 2017

By Jes Rees Lohr and Brian Dhuey

Abstract Overall, 41.0% of respondents rated the quality of their spring turkey hunting as “Very High” or “Fairly High”. Eighty percent (80.6%) of all spring turkey hunters that received at least one harvest permit hunted turkeys during the 2017 spring turkey season. The overall success rate for active hunters was 38.7%. A youth turkey hunt was held in the spring of 2017; 7.4% of survey respondents participated (as youth or as a chaperone), 20.7% reported a turkey being harvested. The mean number of Gobblers/Jakes seen by hunters was 3.9 compared to a mean number of hens of 6.1. Methods A sample of hunter names and addresses were randomly drawn from the current spring turkey hunter permit file. A survey was mailed to ≈10,000 spring turkey hunters after the completion of the spring turkey season. The questionnaire was mailed in proportion to the number of permits distributed in each zone. The questionnaire asked each hunter specific questions about their spring turkey hunting experience (Figure 1). A second mailing was made to 5,000 of the non-respondents. Data from all returned questionnaires were summarized using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS). Turkey Management Zones (TMZ) were combined in the fall of 2008, with the number of TMZ’s going from 46 down to 7. Zones were expanded in an effort to increase hunting opportunities for Wisconsin’s turkey hunters. Time periods were extended from 5-day to 7-day in 2012. Results A total of 3,995 spring turkey hunter surveys were returned. After duplicates were removed, the resulting response rate was 39.6%. The proportion of respondents who applied with landowner preference for this spring’s turkey hunt permit was 19.7% (Table 1, Question 1). Statewide, 21.3% of the respondents have 0-5 years of spring turkey hunting experience and 36.3% have 16+ years of experience (Table 1, Question 2). Statewide, 7.4% of survey respondents participated in the youth turkey hunt as a youth or chaperone; of those, 20.7% reported a turkey being harvested (Table 1, Question 3). All surveyed hunters were asked who introduced them to turkey hunting, 39.7% introduced themselves, while 32.2% were introduced by a friend (Table 1, Question 4). Statewide, 80.6% of the respondents hunted turkeys this spring. Of those who did not hunt, 51.9% bought a 2017 wild turkey stamp (Table 1, Question 5). The success rate for active hunters who received a harvest permit was 38.7%. This success rate may be high because of response and prestige biases of a mail survey. The spring turkey harvest registration data success rate (20.4%) is uncorrected for nonhunters and is probably a low estimate. Surveyed hunters were asked how difficult it was to find a place to hunt in the spring of 2017, and 78.2% of the respondents said it was “Very Easy” or “Somewhat Easy” (Table 1, Question 6). Spring turkey hunters were also asked to report the days on which they hunted. Hunting

pressure was relatively constant Wednesday through Sunday, with the most pressure on Saturday. The new additional days, Monday and Tuesday, had the least hunting pressure (Table 1, Question 7). Hunters averaged 3.5 days a field pursuing turkeys. Statewide, the mean # of Gobblers/Jakes seen by hunters was 3.9; the mean # of Gobblers/Jakes heard by hunters was 4.8; the mean # of Hens seen was 6.1, and the mean # of Hens heard was 3.3 (Table 1, Question 8). Fifty-nine percent (58.9%) of respondents that had a shot at a turkey did not shoot at the first turkey which presented an opportunity; 82.8% reported waiting for a better shot, or for an adult gobbler (Table 1, Question 9). Of the respondents that harvested a turkey, 32.1% with one tag harvested one turkey; 34.3% with two tags harvested one turkey, and 11.0% harvested two turkeys; 38.8% with three or more tags harvested one turkey, 11.2% harvested two turkeys, and 18.0% harvested three or more turkeys. Surveyed hunters were asked if they hit any turkeys that they were unable to retrieve; 4.6% were unable to find their bird, 71 hunters reported hitting one turkey, and 6 hunters reported hitting 2 or more turkeys (Table 1, Question 11). Ninety-five percent (95.2%) of turkey hunters used a gun “most” while hunting, while a gun was used 97.3% of the time to kill a turkey (Table 1, Question 12 and 10b). The percent of time turkey hunters spent on private land varied by TMZ from 62.9% in TMZ 6 to 89.5% in TMZ 1 (Table 1, Question 13). Of the hunters on private land, 32.4% owned the land and 61.2% hunted land owned by a friend or relative (Table 1, Question 14). Only 1.1% of hunters on private land hunted land open via the Turkey Hunter Access Program (THAP) (Table 1, Question 14a). Seventy percent (69.7%) of those that hunted land open to public access saw turkeys and 20.1% harvested a turkey on land open to public access (Table 1, Question 14b). Fourteen percent (14.1%) of hunters responded to “Other hunters kept me from hunting where I wanted to” with “Definitely Yes”, or “Somewhat”. Thirteen percent (13.2%) of respondents answered “There was too much competition from other hunters where I hunted” with “Definitely Yes”, or “Somewhat”. Only 9.3% of the respondents indicated that other hunters interfered with their chance to bag a bird (Table 1, Question 15). Overall, 41.0% of respondents rated the quality of their spring turkey hunting as “Very High” or “Fairly High”, while 26.1% rated their hunt as “Fairly Low” or “Very Low” (Table 1, Question 16). The most important factor that influenced respondents’ perceptions of a quality hunt was “seeing turkeys/calling birds in/hearing gobbling”. The least important factor was “Killing a turkey (Tom, Jake or bearded hen)” (Table 1, Question 17). Only fifteen percent (14.5%) of respondents felt that turkey numbers in the zones they hunted in the spring increased relative to the year before (Table 1, Question 18). Most hunters (74.7%) would like to see the number of permits available for the zone(s) they hunted stay the same as opposed to increase or decrease (Table 1, Question 19). Hunters were asked to rank four factors and the influence each factor has on how quickly a turkey population would recover following a period of decline. In general, hunters felt that reducing spring or fall permit levels was “Neither Important or Unimportant” or “Somewhat Important” on turkey population recovery. However, 58.4% of hunters felt “A dry spring that allows high production of young” was “Very Important”. Similarly, 66.4% of hunters felt “A mild winter that allows high survival of all turkeys” was also “Very Important” (Table 1, Question 20).

Table 1. Responses to the 2017 Spring Turkey Hunting Questionnaire. 1. Did you apply with landowner preference for this spring’s turkey hunt permit? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone2 Zone3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalYes 19.6 14.8 19.2 25.3 20.0 35.3 18.4 19.7

No 80.4 85.3 80.8 74.7 80.0 64.7 81.6 80.3 2. How many years of spring turkey hunting experience do you have? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 Total0-5 15.2 23.6 19.4 25.5 27.3 35.3 33.0 21.3

6-10 17.9 25.6 22.3 22.4 24.7 22.7 25.2 21.9

11-15 18.3 21.1 22.7 21.8 20.3 18.5 19.1 20.5

16+ 48.6 29.7 35.6 30.4 27.8 23.5 22.6 36.3 3. Did you or a youth you chaperoned participate in the Youth Turkey Hunt April 15th and 16th? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalYes 8.8 7.3 6.4 8.3 7.1 3.4 0.9 7.4

No 91.2 92.7 93.6 91.7 92.9 96.6 99.1 92.6 ▪ If yes, was a turkey harvested during the Youth Turkey Hunt? (Percent)


No 74.0 82.2 81.1 81.5 78.1 92.3 88.9 79.3 4. Who introduced you to turkey hunting? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalParent 15.8 15.1 11.7 10.9 11.1 9.2 11.3 13.5

Friend 32.2 28.0 30.8 36.8 31.0 45.4 41.7 32.2

Sibling 6.2 6.7 6.4 6.8 6.2 5.0 3.5 6.3

Self 37.7 41.7 42.6 38.1 45.1 26.9 34.8 39.7

Other 8.2 8.5 8.4 7.5 6.6 13.5 8.7 8.3 Other people mentioned were: Spouse, Uncle, Children, In-law, Cousin, Grandparent

5. Did you hunt turkeys this spring? (Percent)


No 15.7 21.0 19.4 19.8 23.7 26.5 29.1 19.4

▪ If no, did you buy a 2017 wild turkey stamp? (Percent)


No 44.8 44.0 48.9 48.8 53.1 70.8 60.0 48.1 6. How difficult was it for you to find a place to hunt in the spring of 2017? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalVery easy 59.7 45.2 62.9 56.1 65.5 64.0 59.3 57.1

Somewhat easy 19.5 24.6 18.6 22.8 19.3 27.9 18.5 21.1 Neither easy or difficult

13.1 18.3 12.3 14.2 8.8 4.7 14.8 13.8

Somewhat difficult 6.7 10.6 6.0 6.3 5.3 2.3 4.9 7.1

Very difficult 1.0 1.3 0.3 0.7 1.2 1.2 2.5 0.9 7. Please check all the days that you hunted for turkeys this spring. (Percent) Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalWednesday 16.5 17.2 17.2 17.8 14.7 18.0 12.6 16.8

Thursday 15.7 15.7 15.1 17.0 15.9 15.6 11.8 15.7

Friday 19.9 18.4 19.3 18.2 20.0 18.8 19.2 19.2

Saturday 21.8 19.0 21.1 20.8 22.2 18.8 23.3 20.9

Sunday 14.6 14.4 14.7 14.6 16.3 14.5 16.6 14.7

Monday 6.6 8.7 6.8 6.3 6.5 9.0 8.9 7.1

Tuesday 5.0 6.6 5.8 5.3 4.4 5.5 7.8 5.6 Mean Days Spent Hunting

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalDays 3.7 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.6 2.9 3.3 3.5

8. Please fill in the number of turkeys you saw or heard while actively hunting. (Mean)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalGobblers/Jakes heard 5.8 4.2 4.0 5.0 4.2 3.8 2.8 4.8

Gobblers/Jakes seen 3.9 4.4 3.5 4.0 3.6 3.3 2.5 3.9

Hens Heard 3.4 3.4 3.3 2.8 4.0 2.6 1.9 3.3

Hens Seen 5.6 7.0 6.1 5.8 7.4 5.8 3.6 6.1 9. Did you shoot at the first legal turkey which presented an opportunity? (Percent)


No 59.4 60.2 56.3 56.9 60.0 69.1 61.2 58.9

▪ If no, please tell us which of the following was the reason. (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalWaiting for a better shot 41.0 43.5 45.4 38.8 33.0 30.8 45.2 41.6

Waiting for an adult gobbler 41.6 38.4 40.2 42.6 44.3 51.3 45.2 41.2

Waiting for a larger bird 9.0 8.8 5.6 6.9 13.6 7.7 0.0 8.0

Wanted to hunt longer 4.8 5.9 6.2 6.9 4.6 7.7 3.2 5.7

Other 3.6 3.4 2.6 4.8 4.6 2.6 6.6 3.6 10. Did you harvest a turkey? (Percent)


No 59.7 60.3 63.9 61.0 62.1 61.4 69.1 61.3 ▪ How many turkeys did you harvest this spring? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds1 66.7 33.3 1 66.9 33.2 2 59.1 32.1 8.8 2 50.0 29.8 20.2 >2 31.6 39.8 12.2 16.3 >2 27.5 35.0 17.5 20.0

Zone 3 Zone 4 Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds1 70.2 29.8 1 69.3 30.8 2 60.9 33.3 5.8 2 34.0 50.0 16.0 >2 34.2 39.5 5.3 21.1 >2 36.0 40.0 8.0 16.0

Zone 5 Zone 6 Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds1 65.1 34.9 1 65.2 34.8 2 56.5 39.1 4.4 2 >2 40.0 40.0 0.0 20.0 >2

Zone 7 Statewide Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds1 72.3 27.7 1 67.9 32.1 2 2 54.7 34.3 11.0 >2 >2 32.0 38.8 11.2 18.0

10b. What type of weapon did you use to harvest a turkey this spring? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalGun 97.2 97.0 98.3 96.8 96.9 96.9 100.0 97.3

Bow 2.0 1.5 1.3 2.5 1.6 3.1 0.0 1.8

Crossbow 0.8 1.5 0.4 0.6 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.9

11. Did you hit a turkey you were unable to retrieve? (Percent)


No 95.5 95.3 95.9 94.6 96.4 95.4 95.1 95.4 ▪ If yes, how many? (Frequency)

Number of Turkeys Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 Total1 17 19 13 15 5 1 1 71

2 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 5

3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 12. What type of weapon did you use most while hunting turkeys this spring? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalGun 96.2 94.1 94.8 95.8 95.4 93.2 95.1 95.2

Bow 2.6 3.6 3.5 2.3 2.3 3.4 3.7 3.0

Crossbow 1.2 2.3 1.8 1.9 2.3 3.4 1.2 1.8 13. What percentage of your time hunting did you spend on private vs. public land: (Mean

Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalPrivate Land 89.5 87.3 87.5 85.5 79.2 62.9 64.1 86.0

Public Land 10.2 12.2 11.5 14.0 20.7 35.8 34.6 13.4 14. If you hunted private land how did you obtain access (Check only ONE): (Percent)

Zone 1

Zone 2

Zone 3

Zone 4

Zone 5

Zone 6

Zone 7

Total

I own the land 28.0 21.5 38.5 38.6 40.3 61.7 53.5 32.4

I hunted land owned by a friend or relative 65.3 71.2 56.6 54.2 55.4 33.3 37.9 61.2

I hunted land owned by a landowner I didn’t know 4.8 4.5 2.6 4.6 2.2 3.3 3.5 4.0

I hunted unposted private land 0.5 0.9 0.5 1.7 0.0 0.0 1.7 0.8 I hunted private land open to hunting via a public access program

1.2 2.0 1.8 0.9 2.2 1.7 1.7 1.5

14a. If you hunted on private land open to public access, which program was the land enrolled in? (Percent)

Zone 1

Zone 2

Zone 3

Zone 4

Zone 5

Zone 6

Zone 7

Total

Open Managed Forest Law (MFL) 22.9 14.3 29.1 25.0 30.0 42.9 57.1 24.9

Voluntary Public Access (VPA) 11.0 18.6 7.6 13.3 5.0 7.1 0.0 11.5

Turkey Hunter Access Program (THAP) 1.8 1.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8

Uncertain 64.2 65.7 63.3 61.7 60.0 50.0 42.9 62.8 14b. While hunting on private land open to public access, did you: (Percent) See turkeys? Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalYes 72.6 74.4 61.9 70.7 75.0 81.8 36.4 69.7

No 27.4 25.6 38.1 29.3 25.0 18.2 63.6 30.3 Harvest a turkey? Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalYes 25.0 17.1 18.0 27.3 0.0 27.3 9.1 20.1

No 75.0 82.9 82.1 72.7 100.0 72.7 90.9 79.9 15. Other hunters may have affected your turkey hunt. For each statement below, please

check the response which best reflects your 2017 spring hunt. (Percent) ▪ Other hunters sometimes kept me from hunting where I wanted to.

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalDefinitely Yes 5.7 7.7 5.9 2.8 4.1 4.7 1.3 5.5

Somewhat 8.5 11.8 6.6 8.5 8.2 2.3 6.4 8.6

Not Much 14.6 12.7 8.9 14.8 7.6 14.0 11.5 12.5

No, Not At All 71.2 67.8 78.6 73.9 80.1 79.1 80.8 73.4

▪ There was too much competition from other hunters where I hunted.


Somewhat 9.9 14.3 11.0 8.1 8.2 3.6 6.5 10.5

Not Much 17.0 15.6 14.0 18.7 14.1 13.3 16.9 16.0

No, Not At All 70.6 66.2 72.6 71.1 74.7 83.1 75.3 70.8 ▪ Other hunters interfered with my chance to bag a bird.


Somewhat 5.3 7.5 5.3 5.0 9.9 3.6 2.6 5.9

Not Much 13.2 14.5 11.9 12.0 8.2 10.8 11.8 12.6

No, Not At All 78.1 73.6 79.3 80.4 79.5 84.3 85.5 78.1

16. Overall, how would you rate the quality of your spring 2017 Wisconsin wild turkey hunt this year? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalVery High 23.5 21.2 17.9 18.9 15.0 18.4 14.8 20.3

Fairly High 23.5 20.2 18.5 17.7 22.0 26.4 16.1 20.7

Average 29.9 34.3 34.9 35.7 35.3 27.6 29.6 33.0

Fairly Low 16.7 18.0 20.5 20.5 17.3 19.5 21.0 18.6

Very Low 6.4 6.3 8.4 7.2 10.4 8.1 18.5 7.5 17. Rate the factors that most influence your perception of a quality spring turkey hunt. Enter a value of 1 to 7 next to each statement, with “1” having the most effect and “7” having the least effect on your hunting experience. (Mean)

Factor Zone 1

Zone 2

Zone 3

Zone 4

Zone 5

Zone 6

Zone 7

Total

An opportunity to kill a turkey 3.1 3.0 3.1 3.0 3.1 3.4 2.8 3.1

Seeing turkeys/calling birds in/hearing gobbling 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.4 1.9 2.4

Killing a turkey (Tom, Jake or bearded hen) 4.3 3.9 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.4 3.6 4.1

Killing a mature Tom 3.9 3.5 3.9 3.8 3.8 4.3 3.9 3.8

Weather 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.9 4.0

Not seeing other hunters 4.0 3.8 4.2 3.9 3.9 3.7 4.1 4.0

Spending time with friends and family 3.2 3.6 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.8 3.9 3.4 18. Do you feel that the turkey numbers have changed from last year in the zones(s) you hunted this spring? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalIncreased 14.3 16.2 12.1 14.7 11.2 24.7 19.2 14.5

Stay the same 53.3 51.7 47.2 48.1 40.6 47.1 43.6 49.9

Decreased 28.3 27.5 37.4 32.7 43.5 22.4 29.5 31.3

Did not hunt same zone 4.1 4.6 3.4 4.4 4.7 5.9 7.7 4.3 19. Would you like to see the number of permits available for the zone(s) you hunted changed? (Percent)

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 TotalIncreased 16.6 26.0 12.1 11.5 15.6 20.0 19.4 17.2

Stay the same 75.0 68.4 77.7 79.7 74.0 73.3 79.1 74.7

Decreased 8.4 5.6 10.3 8.9 10.4 6.7 1.5 8.1

20. Rank the factors below; regarding the influence each has on how quickly a turkey population will recover following a period of decline. Please check one for each factor. Reducing spring permit levels

Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 Total

Very Important 9.9 13.2 13.1 10.5 12.5 13.3 7.6 11.6

Somewhat Important 30.7 29.5 31.5 30.3 33.9 27.7 30.4 30.6 Neither Important or Unimportant

36.4 38.2 37.8 37.5 29.8 27.7 48.1 37.0

Somewhat Unimportant 15.1 10.6 9.9 12.9 14.3 20.5 10.1 12.6

Very Unimportant 7.9 8.5 7.8 8.8 9.5 10.8 3.8 8.2 Reducing fall permit levels


Very Important 12.0 12.7 10.8 11.0 10.1 14.8 11.5 11.7


35.0 36.0 36.4 38.2 32.0 27.2 43.6 35.8


Very Unimportant 13.2 10.6 12.6 11.2 11.8 12.4 5.1 11.9 A dry spring that allows high production of young


Very Important 58.3 57.2 58.7 58.8 57.4 60.7 65.4 58.4


8.8 10.2 11.4 8.6 6.5 4.8 7.4 9.4


Very Unimportant 1.4 1.3 1.7 1.2 2.4 1.2 3.7 1.5 A mild winter that allows high survival of all turkeys


Very Important 67.6 61.5 67.6 69.9 61.3 72.9 69.1 66.4


5.7 8.0 7.4 7.2 7.7 2.4 8.6 6.9


Very Unimportant 1.1 2.1 1.4 1.7 2.4 1.2 3.7 1.6

Figure 1. 2017 Spring Turkey Hunting Questionnaire.

Figure 1. Continued.

spring turkey hunting questionnaire 2017respondents. data from all returned questionnaires were...

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