Diane Tipton, FWP Statewide Information Officer
The hunter harvest survey is a tradition for many Montana hunters, who look forward to that friendly call from the FWP surveyor at the end of the season. Harvest surveys have been conducted in Montana since 1943. In the early years, mail questionnaires were used until telephone surveys became the survey method of choice in the 1980s.
Today, this one-on-one contact with hunters is how FWP collects accurate and timely information down to the specific hunting district where an animal was harvested. The details are essential to good data analysis and the interviewers are trained to assist the hunter in providing all the information required for the harvest survey.
FWP's hunter harvest surveys track the success of big game harvests in detail, including the species, sex, age, and when and where the animal was harvested. Biologists combine this information with annual trend, recruitment and production surveys to keep up on how specific populations of elk or mule deer are doing.
In simple terms, production and recruitment surveys help track the number of new animals going into the population, while harvest surveys track those removed from the population through hunting. Together they provide the big picture biologists need to effectively manage populations and provide hunter opportunities.
Trends observed in these surveys can point to possible over-harvest problems, problems in the cover and security of habitat, health issues and other factors that impact wildlife.
Every hunter plays an important role when they accurately report details of their harvest and observations such as the condition of the animal and its habitat.
Hunters also find the survey results interesting. To explore past hunter harvest surveys, go to the FWP web site at www.fwp.state.mt.us and click on Hunting and then Harvest Reports under Hot Topics.
Wade through the details on how the data was collected to get to the Executive Summary of the report. You'll learn that in license year 2002, there were 115,045 elk hunters who harvested about 22,447 animals, for an overall success rate of almost 20 percent. These hunters spent 7.2 days hunting and nearly 47.5 percent of the harvest was antlered bulls.
Details on the harvest by FWP Region or by specific hunting district are also available in the same report.
In 2002, FWP Region 3 in south central Montana had the most elk hunters, 51,799, harvesting 11,751 elk for a 22.7 percent harvest success rate.
In FWP Region 4 in north central Montana, 16,980 elk hunters harvested 3,596 elk for a 21.2 percent success rate.
Similar reports are available for all game species such as moose, sheep, goat, deer and black bear.
While hunters are essential to collecting this information, the Montanans who work as temporary part-time FWP employees to conduct the telephone survey are also important. About 80 individuals begin mid-December each year to make calls from their homes to hunters in the surrounding area with permits to hunt moose, sheep and goats. Deer and elk harvest surveys are conducted mid-January to mid-March.
So, remember to keep track of the details of your hunt and what you observe about big game and the condition of their habitat. And, if you are asked to do a telephone survey this winter, don't hang up assuming it's just another telemarketer. It might be your opportunity to participate in the 2003 hunter harvest survey.
Take a few minutes and review your hunt with the surveyor. Your information, combined with that of thousands of other hunters, will become a valuable big game management tool, the 2003 Montana hunter harvest survey.
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