Waterfowl Hunter Survey Closes tonight

[Lreynolds]

We will be closing the survey tonight at midnight. Thanks to everyone that participated! As of yesterday we have received:

463 from the mail-out surveys (18.5% response rate with some still coming in)
202 from the postcard mail-outs (8.1% response rate)
5,431 from the e-mail contacts (21.7% response rate)
1,720 from the open web survey

So like I indicated earlier, we have more data from more individual hunters than ever before thanks to the e-mail contacts, but the response rates are disappointing.

[MarshRat89]

Thanks for the reminder I forgot to send mine in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[biggun]

I never could find it on the WLF site..

[Nickt87]

I'm an avid waterfowler who has had the same email address for nearly 10years, had a Lifetime License my entire adult life, participate in the HIP Permit every year, and purchase a Fed Duck Stamp every year. I did not receive the first hint of the survey from LDWF or any other official organization and wouldn't have known to participate if it weren't for a forwarded text message from a friend. Maybe the poor response was an indicator that you're reaching the wrong folk.

[Duck Butter]

Originally Posted by Nickt87

I'm an avid waterfowler who has had the same email address for nearly 10years, had a Lifetime License my entire adult life, participate in the HIP Permit every year, and purchase a Fed Duck Stamp every year. I did not receive the first hint of the survey from LDWF or any other official organization and wouldn't have known to participate if it weren't for a forwarded text message from a friend. Maybe the poor response was an indicator that you're reaching the wrong folk.

It was posted on every outdoor website multiple times

[Lreynolds]

First: There has been a color banner on the front page of the LDWF website for almost 2 months with blue-winged teal and the words "2015 Waterfowl Hunter Survey". It was in the same place you will find colorful banners for the black bear and wildlife action plan today. I don't know how any duckhunter could have missed it.

Second: Of the 95,000 known duck hunters we identified (and I know we missed some), only 25,000 had e-mail addresses. I've bought licenses here for 29 years, but never did it on-line, and my e-mail address is not in the LDWF database.

The vast majority of duck hunters were NOT contacted. That would be a HUGE waste of resources! We selected 2,500 for the random mail-out survey, another 2,500 for the mixed-mode post-card survey, and sent e-mails to about 25,000. The other 65,000 were not contacted. We provided the open web survey on the LDWF website so every interested duck hunter could participate at a fairly low cost to us.

We've got to explore alternative ways of collecting this information that balance the high cost of a mail-out survey where over 80% of your effort is thrown in the trash, and an open web survey that generates biased estimates because the sample is so skewed toward the most dedicated hunters.

[Lreynolds]

Originally Posted by Nickt87

Maybe the poor response was an indicator that you're reaching the wrong folk.

I don't know how that is possible. We took a random sample of hunters who registered with HIP that either 1) bought a "duck" license or 2) reported hunting ducks the previous year on the HIP registration questions. That added up to just over 95,000 individuals who were almost certainly duck hunters. We probably missed some lifetime or senior license holders that may not have been asked the HIP registration questions, but all people in our sample database showed solid evidence of being a waterfowl hunter.

Those are the right folks, and you've seen the response rates.

[Nickt87]

Originally Posted by Lreynolds

First: There has been a color banner on the front page of the LDWF website for almost 2 months with blue-winged teal and the words "2015 Waterfowl Hunter Survey". It was in the same place you will find colorful banners for the black bear and wildlife action plan today. I don't know how any duckhunter could have missed it.

Second: Of the 95,000 known duck hunters we identified (and I know we missed some), only 25,000 had e-mail addresses. I've bought licenses here for 29 years, but never did it on-line, and my e-mail address is not in the LDWF database.

The vast majority of duck hunters were NOT contacted. That would be a HUGE waste of resources! We selected 2,500 for the random mail-out survey, another 2,500 for the mixed-mode post-card survey, and sent e-mails to about 25,000. The other 65,000 were not contacted. We provided the open web survey on the LDWF website so every interested duck hunter could participate at a fairly low cost to us.

We've got to explore alternative ways of collecting this information that balance the high cost of a mail-out survey where over 80% of your effort is thrown in the trash, and an open web survey that generates biased estimates because the sample is so skewed toward the most dedicated hunters.

You proved my point perfectly. 95k Duck hunters. 30k contacted for the survey? Where did you see the highest percentage of response? EMAIL. Find a way to access the 95k duck hunter's email(maybe request their email when doing the HIP survey annually) and get the results you're looking for. Email directly contacts the user, their wife cant toss it in the mail while they're at work. Email is much cheaper than snail mail and has an obviously better(not much) response. Focus your resources where they count, this is 2015, even email is almost out of date by the time you click send. Facebook announcement maybe? Just did some scrolling on the LDWF page and I don't recall seeing an announcement/alert on there, 50k followers on there. And sorry about the 21.7% response rate, but this is America, people are just about too lazy to vote for the man that runs the country, it'll be very hard to get them to vote for a law related to a bird that they just started hunting in the last 3 years after they watched A&E.


Keep up the good work and reports, there are a few of us out here that still try to stay in tuned and appreciate all your hard work.

[Nickt87]

Originally Posted by Lreynolds

We've got to explore alternative ways of collecting this information that balance the high cost of a mail-out survey where over 80% of your effort is thrown in the trash, and an open web survey that generates biased estimates because the sample is so skewed toward the most dedicated hunters.

What about surveying them right there the instant they do the HIP. EVERY waterfowler has to have the HIP EVERY year. I don't think it'll put the little cashier at Academy in too big of a bind, its only another 5 questions. Besides, she doesn't take anytime on the HIP anyway, she just hits all zeros, maybe she can take that time to actually do the survey!

The most dedicated hunter's that dug out the survey online deserve to have their voice heard. Not disregarded.

[noodle creek]

Originally Posted by Nickt87

What about surveying them right there the instant they do the HIP. EVERY waterfowler has to have the HIP EVERY year. I don't think it'll put the little cashier at Academy in too big of a bind, its only another 5 questions. Besides, she doesn't take anytime on the HIP anyway, she just hits all zeros, maybe she can take that time to actually do the survey!

The most dedicated hunter's that dug out the survey online deserve to have their voice heard. Not disregarded.

I agree. I would say that the dedicated hunter's surveys aren't biased, they are simply the ones who care most, the ones with the most experience, and the ones with the most knowlege on what actually goes on with the waterfowl in their particular area.

To me, that is more valueable than Joe Blow who hunts 4 times a year and still has an opinion.

[Lreynolds]

Originally Posted by Nickt87

Find a way to access the 95k duck hunter's email(maybe request their email when doing the HIP survey annually)

A possible outcome of this phase of our research may well be a recommendation requiring e-mail addresses with license purchases. How well that flies with the agency/license-buyers is anybody's guess. For right now, we need to assess the differences in demographics, avidity, and attitudes of e-mail respondents vs random mail-out vs open web.

Originally Posted by Nick87

Just did some scrolling on the LDWF page and I don't recall seeing an announcement/alert on there

It was removed yesterday when the survey closed. It had been up for nearly 2 months right where you saw the banners for Recreational Offshore Landings Permit and Louisiana Black Bear Delisting.

[Lreynolds]

Originally Posted by Nickt87

What about surveying them right there the instant they do the HIP. EVERY waterfowler has to have the HIP EVERY year. I don't think it'll put the little cashier at Academy in too big of a bind, its only another 5 questions. Besides, she doesn't take anytime on the HIP anyway, she just hits all zeros, maybe she can take that time to actually do the survey!

Actually, the survey was 30 questions, some with multiple parts. Furthermore, we have constant trouble with retail outlets like Academy and Wal-Mart doing the HIP registration correctly because "it slows down the line" to collect the information. Given that, I don't believe asking them to conduct a survey is even feasible. Getting e-mail addresses, maybe, but no way will they be tasked with conducting a survey.

Originally Posted by Nick87

The most dedicated hunter's that dug out the survey online deserve to have their voice heard. Not disregarded.

Hahahah! Dug out? Just own the fact that you were oblivious.

No segment of hunters is being disregarded. The most dedicated hunters are also a part of the random-selection samples in the proportion that they exist in the population of all hunters. Because they are more likely to respond to any survey, even the random mail-out surveys are somewhat biased toward more dedicated hunters.

The problem with online surveys is that respondents are strongly biased toward the more dedicated hunters. In 2010, 2012, and 2013 surveys, respondents to the open-web survey hunted nearly twice the number of days, killed twice the number of ducks, were 3 times more likely to have lifetime licenses, and were 6 times more likely to be members of a conservation organization on average, than respondents to the mail-out survey. Consequently, if we tried to estimate hunter activity and harvest from the open-web survey, we would badly over-estimate because of a non-randomness and lack of representativeness in the sample. One of our primary scientific contributions to date is showing that despite the respondents being very different, the open-web and random mail-out surveys gave almost identical results for questions on satisfaction, preference for regulatory actions, and attitudes toward management activities.

Consequently, we have used the open-web results extensively for those kinds of questions.

[Lreynolds]

Originally Posted by noodle creek

I agree. I would say that the dedicated hunter's surveys aren't biased, they are simply the ones who care most, the ones with the most experience, and the ones with the most knowlege on what actually goes on with the waterfowl in their particular area.

To me, that is more valueable than Joe Blow who hunts 4 times a year and still has an opinion.

Individual surveys can't be biased. What is biased is taking information from only part of the population, and then applying it to the entire population. You don't want to estimate the average weight of people in Louisiana by weighing only fat people, right? That is the foundation for taking "random samples". With a random sample you get the full range of hunters from dedicated to once-a-year guys in the proportion they exist in the population.

Unless they buy more than 1 duck-hunting license, the opinion of a dedicated hunter doesn't mean any more than a casual hunter. In fact, from a hunter recruitment and retention standpoint, it probably means less.

On our surveys, the more dedicated, experienced, invested hunters are always the least satisfied ........ but they never quit. They buy a license year after year no matter what. They are the in-flexible portion of my constituency. So if my goal is to grow the number of hunters or reduce the number of hunters that quit, then the dedicated hunters are NOT the segment of the hunter population that I need to focus on.

So NO group of hunters is any more or less valuable to me (except those who participate , and I when evaluating regulations/management options I would like to have the opinions of a random, representative sample of hunters.

[Nickt87]

Originally Posted by Lreynolds

Actually, the survey was 30 questions, some with multiple parts. Furthermore, we have constant trouble with retail outlets like Academy and Wal-Mart doing the HIP registration correctly because "it slows down the line" to collect the information. Given that, I don't believe asking them to conduct a survey is even feasible. Getting e-mail addresses, maybe, but no way will they be tasked with conducting a survey.



Hahahah! Dug out? Just own the fact that you were oblivious.

No segment of hunters is being disregarded. The most dedicated hunters are also a part of the random-selection samples in the proportion that they exist in the population of all hunters. Because they are more likely to respond to any survey, even the random mail-out surveys are somewhat biased toward more dedicated hunters.

The problem with online surveys is that respondents are strongly biased toward the more dedicated hunters. In 2010, 2012, and 2013 surveys, respondents to the open-web survey hunted nearly twice the number of days, killed twice the number of ducks, were 3 times more likely to have lifetime licenses, and were 6 times more likely to be members of a conservation organization on average, than respondents to the mail-out survey. Consequently, if we tried to estimate hunter activity and harvest from the open-web survey, we would badly over-estimate because of a non-randomness and lack of representativeness in the sample. One of our primary scientific contributions to date is showing that despite the respondents being very different, the open-web and random mail-out surveys gave almost identical results for questions on satisfaction, preference for regulatory actions, and attitudes toward management activities.

Consequently, we have used the open-web results extensively for those kinds of questions.

Apparently I was less oblivious and less lazy than the 25k other people you tried contacting. Little FYI about the LDWF website that has a bear banner or whatever on it, very few people view that regularly for leisure if at all.

Since when do we care so much about the people that care so little???? Screw the idiots that were too lazy to vote, they're prolly the ones that are too lazy to hunt second split when the north wind blown marsh is a mud flat and we're out there scraping up our last few birds of the season. They don't want To vote? Great, move on.

My biggest concern about this whole circuis is the idea that we're out there asking a bunch of everyday idiots when they want their seasons and how many birds they want to shoot? What happened to scientific research, analysis, and decisions. Sounds like yall have ran the numbers on people research just as much as waterfowl. Yea.... I do wanna shoot 3 specks a hunt. Why? Bc I'm a wing shooter not a biologist. But in all reality my wants should not have any impact on what the limits should be. If the specklebelly population can handle 95k shooters at 3 birds a day then great, if it can't then make the correct limit adjustment. When should the season open, hell if I know, I'm not a biologist. Tell me when the birds make their migration and I'll be out there bright and early with my gun, dog, and decoys. Some idiot who thinks the next cold front is gonna bring the big push of blue wings to him or that all the birds show up after the season when in all reality they just decide to leave the unhunted field next to his sky busting buddies.

If the population can handle a 10 bird limit make it 10. If it can only handle 2 birds make it 2. If the season needs to open the 9th Tuesday in November, or the 2 Saturday in December, let us know. I'll be out there either way.

Make scientific decisions with scientific based facts, but if you care so much to hear people's opinions then listen to the ones that speak and don't worry about the ones that don't.

[Nickt87]

Originally Posted by Lreynolds

Individual surveys can't be biased. What is biased is taking information from only part of the population, and then applying it to the entire population. You don't want to estimate the average weight of people in Louisiana by weighing only fat people, right? That is the foundation for taking "random samples". With a random sample you get the full range of hunters from dedicated to once-a-year guys in the proportion they exist in the population.

Unless they buy more than 1 duck-hunting license, the opinion of a dedicated hunter doesn't mean any more than a casual hunter. In fact, from a hunter recruitment and retention standpoint, it probably means less.

On our surveys, the more dedicated, experienced, invested hunters are always the least satisfied ........ but they never quit. They buy a license year after year no matter what. They are the in-flexible portion of my constituency. So if my goal is to grow the number of hunters or reduce the number of hunters that quit, then the dedicated hunters are NOT the segment of the hunter population that I need to focus on.

So NO group of hunters is any more or less valuable to me (except those who participate , and I when evaluating regulations/management options I would like to have the opinions of a random, representative sample of hunters.

So it's a money thing? Goes to show why so many people probably didn't give a **** to vote. They know their seasoned, dedicated waterfowlers opinion ain't worth the post card the survey was mailed on. And as for new hunters in the state for the year. I've asked that question multiple times but it was some story about the last survey was done with Katrina numbers so we can't judge off that. I highly doubt the waterfowl industry is hurting for newcomers or retention. Go check out a public launch at 4am on a Saturday morning in December, do your surveys there. PLENTY of folk their to ask, and plenty of them aren't seasoned or know a mallard from a teal, right up surveyors alley!

[Bluechip]

Originally Posted by Nickt87

So it's a money thing? Goes to show why so many people probably didn't give a **** to vote. They know their seasoned, dedicated waterfowlers opinion ain't worth the post card the survey was mailed on. And as for new hunters in the state for the year. I've asked that question multiple times but it was some story about the last survey was done with Katrina numbers so we can't judge off that. I highly doubt the waterfowl industry is hurting for newcomers or retention. Go check out a public launch at 4am on a Saturday morning in December, do your surveys there. PLENTY of folk their to ask, and plenty of them aren't seasoned or know a mallard from a teal, right up surveyors alley!

You need to chill out. Mr. Reynolds has hustled posting information on various websites, which he does not have to do, so he can try to better accommodate the waterfowl hunters in Louisiana.

I appreciate having him as a regular on this site, so let's not run him off with negative comments. Thanks

[Nickt87]

Originally Posted by Bluechip

You need to chill out. Mr. Reynolds has hustled posting information on various websites, which he does not have to do, so he can try to better accommodate the waterfowl hunters in Louisiana.

I appreciate having him as a regular on this site, so let's not run him off with negative comments. Thanks

Already thanked him for his work in the past. But being told that a veteran opinion is worth less than a rookie opinion is negative, or maybe true, or maybe both, or maybe neither. Same for my posts. He wants to hear opinions he can come here and read them. And I was being drop dead serious about going to the publics launches and doing surveys, not being negative. While jimmy green jeans is checking everyone's shell buckets for lead he can have a tent set up with a clipboard for all that want to fill it out. No more manpower needed than what is already there and all he has to do is set up a tent, a few clipboards, and a drop box.

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by Nickt87

So it's a money thing? Goes to show why so many people probably didn't give a **** to vote. They know their seasoned, dedicated waterfowlers opinion ain't worth the post card the survey was mailed on. And as for new hunters in the state for the year. I've asked that question multiple times but it was some story about the last survey was done with Katrina numbers so we can't judge off that. I highly doubt the waterfowl industry is hurting for newcomers or retention. Go check out a public launch at 4am on a Saturday morning in December, do your surveys there. PLENTY of folk their to ask, and plenty of them aren't seasoned or know a mallard from a teal, right up surveyors alley!

If you know someone isn't going to quit, regardless of what happens, and that person is also in the minority, would you base your regulations solely on that person? I don't believe so. You are going to find a medium between the seasoned, dedicated guys and the new hunters that you are trying to keep around.

Those seasoned, dedicated guys that y'all are moaning about aren't going to be around forever. If you just cater to them, you aren't going to have any other hunters. I know some of those older guys that, if given the chance, would have the season go to 30/3 again to try and clean out the new "duck dynasty" hunters and the high roller types that are leasing up every piece of land. What good does that do for the future of our sport? Maybe instead of complaining about those young guys, they should try and teach them the right way to do it.

I got the survey by mail, and I gladly answered every question. Saw it posted on several boards, INCLUDING THIS ONE. Hell, he made 4 posts on it.....one when it was released, one when there was a week left, one when they extended the survey answer period, and this one.

Sorry, Nick, but Larry put out plenty of reminders on this one. I think he's doing the best he can with what he's got. Its a survey, he can't pick and choose who he sends it to.

And how do you know who is dedicated and who is a one-timer? I guarantee you I'm more dedicated to waterfowling than a lot of duck hunters I know, but my survey probably showed the same number of days hunted as them because I didn't have the time last year to hunt as much as I would have liked. Doesn't mean I'm not dedicated to waterfowling. So I agree with Larry's stance on how they view the survey, because you can't base dedication solely on numbers.

One hunter is one hunter, doesn't make a difference how seasoned they are. And dedication doesn't mean they know best how to manage something either. Everyone has an opinion on management......doesn't mean they'd know what to do if given the opportunity.

[Nickt87]

Originally Posted by Smalls

If you know someone isn't going to quit, regardless of what happens, and that person is also in the minority, would you base your regulations solely on that person? I don't believe so. You are going to find a medium between the seasoned, dedicated guys and the new hunters that you are trying to keep around.

Those seasoned, dedicated guys that y'all are moaning about aren't going to be around forever. If you just cater to them, you aren't going to have any other hunters. I know some of those older guys that, if given the chance, would have the season go to 30/3 again to try and clean out the new "duck dynasty" hunters and the high roller types that are leasing up every piece of land. What good does that do for the future of our sport? Maybe instead of complaining about those young guys, they should try and teach them the right way to do it.

I got the survey by mail, and I gladly answered every question. Saw it posted on several boards, INCLUDING THIS ONE. Hell, he made 4 posts on it.....one when it was released, one when there was a week left, one when they extended the survey answer period, and this one.

Sorry, Nick, but Larry put out plenty of reminders on this one. I think he's doing the best he can with what he's got. Its a survey, he can't pick and choose who he sends it to.

And how do you know who is dedicated and who is a one-timer? I guarantee you I'm more dedicated to waterfowling than a lot of duck hunters I know, but my survey probably showed the same number of days hunted as them because I didn't have the time last year to hunt as much as I would have liked. Doesn't mean I'm not dedicated to waterfowling. So I agree with Larry's stance on how they view the survey, because you can't base dedication solely on numbers.

One hunter is one hunter, doesn't make a difference how seasoned they are. And dedication doesn't mean they know best how to manage something either. Everyone has an opinion on management......doesn't mean they'd know what to do if given the opportunity.

I am not saying he isn't doing the best with what he's got, he said they have to explore better options to get a better response and manage costs. They have their survey information and participation results, they can review and analyze what can be done better next time. I'm sure he has very constraining budgets and resources, that's the tough part of being a government entity.

Went back and looked at the 4 posts, apparently it was still tough for some to find or access, guess you can lead the horse to water but you cant make them drink. I stated that earlier about the lack of voter participation. Possibly not conducting the survey in the dead heat of summer, especially if you're looking to get a less senior vote. All the kids you were looking for participation from are in Destin or Galveston right now celebrating their HS graduation and obviously(from their participation) couldn't care less about waterfowl at this time. Give them another few months, they'll start to pop their heads back in and prod around. You have to go where the people are going to see it AND be most inclined to participate, bottom line. Get them somewhere where you know they will have to be, apparently it wasn't where they tried this time. Maybe the poor participation was due to not knowing it was available, too lazy too participate, or just flat out not caring. Guess they'll have to do a survey on that too.

[Spunt Drag]

30/3 or bust