Spring Turkey Hunter Questionnaireabout their spring turkey hunting experience (Figure 1). A second mailing was sent to all non-respondents. Data from all returned questionnaires were

Spring Turkey Hunting Questionnaire 2019

By Jes Rees Lohr and Brian Dhuey

Abstract Flooding was both extensive and persistent throughout April and May in the state, making access to traditional spring turkey hunting locations difficult. But despite the wet spring, 39.7% of respondents still rated the quality of their spring turkey hunting as “Very High” or “Fairly High”. Seventy-six percent (76.5%) of all spring turkey hunters that received at least one harvest permit hunted turkeys during the 2019 spring turkey season. The overall success rate for active hunters was 37.5%. The mean number of Gobblers/Jakes seen by hunters was 3.6 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. Due to a sampling error, TMZ 4 was under sampled in proportions to permit issuance. Results from TMZ 4 should be viewed with caution and comparison to other TMZ’s data should not be performed. The questionnaire asked each hunter specific questions about their spring turkey hunting experience (Figure 1). A second mailing was sent to all 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 3,983 spring turkey hunter surveys were returned. After duplicates were removed, the resulting response rate was 39.5%. The proportion of respondents who applied with landowner preference for this spring’s turkey hunt permit was 19.8% (Table 1, Question 1). Statewide, 20.9% of the respondents have 0-5 years of spring turkey hunting experience and 41.7% have 16+ years of experience (Table 1, Question 2). Statewide, 6.1% of survey respondents participated in the youth turkey hunt as a youth or chaperone; of those, 11.4% reported a turkey being harvested (Table 1, Question 3). All surveyed hunters were asked who introduced them to turkey hunting, 40.7% introduced themselves, while 30.5% were introduced by a friend (Table 1, Question 4). Statewide, 76.5% of the respondents hunted turkeys this spring, up from 73.6% in 2018. Of those who did not hunt, 55.1% bought a 2019 wild turkey stamp (Table 1, Question 5). The success rate for active hunters who received a harvest permit was 37.5%. This success rate may be high because of response and prestige biases of a mail survey. The spring turkey harvest registration data success rate (18.1%) 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 2019, and 78.5% 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 3.6 days a field pursuing turkeys. Statewide, the mean # of Gobblers/Jakes seen by hunters was 3.6; the mean # of Gobblers/Jakes heard by hunters was 4.5; the mean # of Hens seen was 6.1, and the mean # of Hens heard was 3.4 (Table 1, Question 8). Fifty-six percent (56.2%) of respondents that had a shot at a turkey did not shoot at the first turkey which presented an opportunity; 82.6% reported waiting for a better shot, or for an adult gobbler (Table 1, Question 9). Of the respondents that harvested a turkey, 30.2% with one tag harvested one turkey; 37.5% with two tags harvested one turkey, and 8.5% harvested two turkeys; 26.1% with three or more tags harvested one turkey, 16.5% harvested two turkeys, and 20.1% harvested three or more turkeys. Surveyed hunters were asked if they hit any turkeys that they were unable to retrieve; 4.0% were unable to find their bird, 89 hunters reported hitting one turkey, and 9 hunters reported hitting 2 or more turkeys (Table 1, Question 11). Ninety-five percent (94.8%) of turkey hunters used a gun “most” while hunting, while a gun was used 97.5% 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 62.7% in TMZ 7 to 89.2% in TMZ 4 (Table 1, Question 13). Of the hunters on private land, 36.0% owned the land and 58.4% hunted land owned by a friend or relative (Table 1, Question 14). Only 4.4% of hunters on private land hunted land open via the Turkey Hunter Access Program (THAP) (Table 1, Question 14a). Seventy-seven percent (77.3%) of those that hunted land open to public access saw turkeys and 18.6% harvested a turkey (Table 1, Question 14b). Fifteen percent (14.7%) of hunters responded to “Other hunters kept me from hunting where I wanted to” with “Definitely Yes”, or “Somewhat”. Twelve percent (12.2%) of respondents answered “There was too much competition from other hunters where I hunted” with “Definitely Yes”, or “Somewhat”. Only 9.6% of the respondents indicated that other hunters interfered with their chance to bag a bird (Table 1, Question 15). Overall, 39.7% of respondents rated the quality of their spring turkey hunting as “Very High” or “Fairly High”, while 27.9% 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 ten percent (9.8%) 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 (76.1%) 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). On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst, hunters rated their overall satisfaction with spring turkey hunting in Wisconsin as a “7.1” (Table 1, Question 20).

Table 1. Responses to the 2019 Spring Turkey Hunting Questionnaire. **Due to a sampling error, TMZ 4 was under sampled in proportions to permit issuance. Results from TMZ 4 should be viewed with caution and comparison to other TMZ’s data should not be performed. 1. Did you apply with landowner preference for this spring’s turkey authorization (permit)?

(Percent)

Zone 1 Zone2 Zone3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 Total

Yes 22.1 15.1 19.0 27.0 21.4 31.0 16.9 19.8

No 77.9 84.9 81.0 73.0 78.6 69.0 83.2 80.2

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 Total

0-5 17.1 22.9 18.1 10.0 26.9 36.9 26.9 20.9

6-10 15.7 21.3 19.2 10.9 24.7 20.4 26.9 19.3

11-15 15.3 17.5 21.4 30.0 19.2 18.9 12.9 18.1

16+ 51.9 38.4 41.4 49.1 29.2 23.8 33.3 41.7

3. Did you or a youth you chaperoned participate in the Youth Turkey Hunt April 13th and 14th? (Percent)


Yes 6.4 7.1 5.5 7.1 4.2 6.4 3.8 6.1

No 93.6 92.9 94.5 92.9 95.8 93.6 96.2 93.9 ▪ If yes, was a turkey harvested during the Youth Turkey Hunt? (Percent)


Yes 9.6 12.3 12.1 31.3 5.1 17.9 3.7 11.4

No 90.5 87.7 87.9 68.8 94.9 82.1 96.3 88.7

4. Who introduced you to turkey hunting? (Percent)


Parent 15.7 16.7 15.2 11.7 10.0 8.3 13.5 14.8

Friend 30.4 31.2 27.6 32.4 29.4 38.1 35.1 30.5

Sibling 6.0 4.1 5.3 4.5 6.8 6.8 4.9 5.4

Self 39.3 39.3 44.0 38.7 46.5 35.1 38.4 40.7

Other 8.7 8.6 7.9 12.6 7.4 11.7 8.1 8.6

Other people mentioned were: Spouse, Uncle, Children, In-law, Cousin, Grandparent

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


Yes 77.8 75.2 78.2 95.5 75.4 68.1 67.4 76.5

No 22.2 24.9 21.8 4.5 24.6 31.9 32.6 23.5

▪ If no, did you buy a 2019 wild turkey stamp? (Percent)


Yes 56.5 59.3 60.8 80.0 40.9 42.4 44.4 55.1

No 43.5 40.7 39.2 20.0 59.2 57.6 55.6 44.9

6. How difficult was it for you to find a place to hunt in the spring of 2019? (Percent)


Very easy 62.2 53.6 61.1 43.0 56.0 58.6 58.4 58.3

Somewhat easy 19.0 20.1 20.9 28.0 20.3 18.6 20.0 20.2

Neither easy or difficult

11.1 15.7 12.1 18.7 13.8 15.0 14.4 13.3

Somewhat difficult 6.4 9.0 5.2 8.4 7.3 7.1 7.2 7.0

Very difficult 1.3 1.6 0.7 1.9 2.6 0.7 0.0 1.3

7. Please check all the days that you hunted for turkeys this spring. (Percent)


Wednesday 15.1 17.0 15.9 16.1 14.2 18.6 15.2 15.9

Thursday 16.2 15.0 15.6 15.8 14.8 16.2 17.5 15.7

Friday 21.4 17.8 19.4 19.3 21.3 17.4 19.2 19.6

Saturday 22.8 19.2 21.1 19.1 23.2 19.1 18.5 21.0

Sunday 14.4 14.8 14.1 13.0 16.0 14.3 14.5 14.4

Monday 5.8 9.1 7.7 8.8 6.1 8.8 7.7 7.5

Tuesday 4.4 7.2 6.2 7.9 4.5 5.7 7.5 5.9

Mean Days Spent Hunting


Days 3.6 3.5 3.7 6.3 3.3 3.0 3.2 3.6

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


Gobblers/Jakes heard 5.2 4.3 4.2 4.4 4.0 4.2 3.4 4.5

Gobblers/Jakes seen 3.6 3.8 3.6 3.5 3.3 3.1 2.6 3.6

Hens Heard 3.0 3.4 4.2 3.2 4.8 2.5 1.7 3.4

Hens Seen 5.4 6.8 6.6 5.2 6.1 5.0 4.7 6.1

9. Did you shoot at the first legal turkey which presented an opportunity? (Percent)


Yes 39.9 44.2 44.4 55.2 42.9 48.4 51.3 43.8

No 60.1 55.8 55.6 44.8 57.1 51.6 48.7 56.2

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


Waiting for a better shot 42.7 47.2 42.3 37.2 55.6 40.7 30.2 44.0

Waiting for an adult gobbler 40.5 35.3 39.7 44.2 35.6 32.2 48.8 38.6

Waiting for a larger bird 7.5 9.6 8.9 7.0 6.7 11.9 14.0 8.7

Wanted to hunt longer 5.6 5.7 5.9 11.6 2.2 11.9 4.7 5.9

Other 3.6 2.3 3.3 0.0 0.0 3.4 2.3 2.8

10. Did you harvest a turkey? (Percent)


Yes 33.2 41.7 36.2 64.4 34.1 35.3 37.1 37.5

No 66.8 58.3 63.8 35.6 66.0 64.8 62.9 62.5

▪ 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/+ Birds 1 74.6 25.4 1 63.6 36.4 2 51.7 41.6 6.7 2 55.9 37.0 7.2 >2 36.1 27.9 16.4 19.7 >2 41.8 20.9 16.4 20.9

Zone 3 Zone 4

Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds 1 71.1 28.9 1 0.0 0.0 2 57.1 33.6 9.3 2 46.0 39.7 14.3 >2 41.9 24.2 12.9 21.0 >2 31.8 29.5 18.2 20.5

Zone 5 Zone 6

Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds 1 70.7 29.4 1 67.4 32.6 2 64.3 25.0 10.7 2 75.0 25.0 >2 28.6 42.9 28.6 0.0 >2 20.0 0.0 40.0 40.0

Zone 7 Statewide

Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds Tags No Birds 1 Bird 2 Birds 3/+ Birds 1 67.5 32.5 1 69.8 30.2 2 33.3 66.7 2 54.0 37.5 8.5 >2 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 >2 37.3 26.1 16.5 20.1

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


Gun 98.3 97.3 97.5 92.2 95.9 100.0 100.0 97.5

Bow 1.4 2.0 2.5 4.7 4.1 0.0 0.0 2.1

Crossbow 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

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


Yes 3.7 4.2 4.6 3.9 2.6 5.8 2.4 4.0

No 96.3 95.8 95.4 96.1 97.4 94.2 97.6 96.0 ▪ If yes, how many? (Frequency)

Number of Turkeys Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 Total

1 24 22 25 4 4 7 3 89

2 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 8

3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

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


Gun 94.8 95.0 94.0 94.2 95.2 97.1 96.6 94.8

Bow 3.4 3.1 4.2 3.9 2.2 1.5 2.5 3.3

Crossbow 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.9 2.6 1.5 0.8 1.9

13. What percentage of your time hunting did you spend on private vs. public land: (Mean Percent)


Private Land 89.0 86.8 86.8 89.2 73.6 69.0 62.7 84.7

Public Land 10.8 12.8 12.6 11.7 25.7 29.7 37.3 15.0

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 33.6 28.0 40.0 33.3 46.0 45.8 59.3 36.0

I hunted land owned by a friend or relative 60.6 66.5 55.2 57.8 48.0 49.2 36.3 58.4

I hunted land owned by a landowner I didn’t know 3.2 4.0 2.1 5.9 3.5 3.4 1.1 3.2

I hunted unposted private land 1.4 0.4 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7

I hunted private land open to hunting via a public access program (go to 14a and 14b)

1.2 1.1 1.9 2.9 2.5 1.7 3.3 1.6

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) 54.6 25.0 85.7 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 71.7

Voluntary Public Access (VPA) 0.0 37.5 7.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.7

Turkey Hunter Access Program (THAP) 9.1 12.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.4

Uncertain 36.4 25.0 7.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 15.2

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 Total

Yes 80.0 88.9 92.3 66.7 40.0 50.0 50.0 77.3

No 20.0 11.1 7.7 33.3 60.0 50.0 50.0 22.7

Harvest a turkey? Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 Zone 6 Zone 7 Total

Yes 20.0 22.2 23.1 33.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 18.6

No 80.0 77.8 76.9 66.7 100.0 100.0 100.0 81.4

15. Other hunters may have affected your turkey hunt. For each statement below, please

check the response which best reflects your 2019 spring hunt. (Percent) ▪ Other hunters sometimes kept me from hunting where I wanted to.


Definitely Yes 5.4 7.2 5.8 6.8 4.5 5.9 5.0 6.0

Somewhat 7.4 11.0 7.9 13.6 9.9 5.2 5.8 8.7

Not Much 9.8 11.1 10.2 20.4 6.8 14.1 9.9 10.6

No, Not At All 77.4 70.7 76.1 59.2 78.8 74.8 79.3 74.8

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


Definitely Yes 2.9 3.7 4.0 5.8 1.8 2.3 0.0 3.2

Somewhat 8.4 11.2 7.1 10.7 8.6 7.5 11.9 9.0

Not Much 14.8 18.0 17.3 18.5 13.1 15.8 5.9 15.9

No, Not At All 73.8 67.1 71.7 65.1 76.5 74.4 82.2 71.9

▪ Other hunters interfered with my chance to bag a bird.


Definitely Yes 3.3 4.6 3.8 5.8 3.6 2.3 0.0 3.7

Somewhat 4.8 7.4 5.8 5.8 6.3 3.8 6.8 5.9

Not Much 10.4 13.5 12.8 17.5 11.2 12.0 8.5 12.1

No, Not At All 81.6 74.5 77.6 70.9 79.0 82.0 84.8 78.4

16. Overall, how would you rate the quality of your spring 2019 Wisconsin wild turkey hunt this year? (Percent)


Very High 17.9 23.1 20.3 20.0 18.8 21.4 16.0 20.0

Fairly High 18.7 21.2 19.3 20.0 18.8 20.7 20.8 19.7

Average 33.8 33.2 32.4 36.2 23.9 29.3 32.0 32.3

Fairly Low 19.9 16.0 18.8 12.4 25.2 16.4 19.2 18.6

Very Low 9.8 6.4 9.2 11.4 13.3 12.1 12.0 9.3

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 3.2 3.1 3.0 3.2 3.2 3.3 2.9 3.1

Seeing turkeys/calling birds in/hearing gobbling 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.1 2.6 2.2 2.1 2.3

Killing a turkey (Tom, Jake or bearded hen) 4.3 4.1 4.1 3.9 4.2 4.3 4.0 4.2

Killing a mature Tom 3.9 3.8 3.9 3.8 3.9 3.9 4.0 3.9

Weather 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.2 4.0 4.1 4.4 4.0

Not seeing other hunters 4.1 4.2 4.0 4.4 4.3 3.9 4.2 4.1

Spending time with friends and family 3.2 3.6 3.4 3.2 3.5 3.7 3.6 3.4

18. Do you feel that the turkey numbers have changed from last year in the zones(s) you hunted this spring? (Percent)


Increased 8.5 10.8 10.5 8.2 7.7 15.5 7.8 9.8

Stay the same 42.1 44.5 42.9 36.1 39.1 39.4 39.1 42.2

Decreased 46.1 41.4 41.3 52.5 47.6 40.1 46.9 43.9

Did not hunt same zone 3.3 3.4 5.3 3.3 5.6 4.9 6.3 4.2

19. Would you like to see the number of authorizations (permits) available for the zone(s) you hunted changed? (Percent)


Increased 12.4 19.8 9.4 10.3 14.5 27.9 19.5 14.7

Stay the same 77.0 71.3 81.6 76.1 76.2 65.7 78.1 76.1

Decreased 10.5 8.9 9.0 13.7 9.4 6.4 2.3 9.2

20. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst, rate your overall satisfaction with spring turkey hunting in Wisconsin. (Mean)


Satisfaction 7.1 7.4 7.0 7.1 6.6 6.8 6.8 7.1

Figure 1. 2019 Spring Turkey Hunting Questionnaire.

Figure 1. Continued.

Figure 1. Continued.

Documents

Spring Turkey Hunter Questionnaireabout their spring turkey hunting experience (Figure 1). A second mailing was sent to all non-respondents. Data from all returned questionnaires were