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Tier II bag limit regulations were developed to lessen constraints to participation by new duck hunters. By opting for the three-duck bag limit, hunters would not be subject to the species and sex-specific regulations of the six-duck limit. We surveyed hunters in Nebraska and South Dakota to gain an understanding about how Tier II regulations would be received by the current waterfowl-hunting population. We found that less experienced hunters stated they had greater difficulty identifying ducks and were more likely to use Tier II than experienced hunters. A significant proportion of new waterfowl hunters may make use of Tier II, and these regulations may relieve hunting constraints in a meaningful way. Wildlife agencies may want to consider how hunters transition between bag-limit regulations from year-to-year and consider means to integrate Tier II into hunter R3 efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivations for hunting and fishing extend beyond harvesting game and include social, psychological, emotional, and physical benefits. We used data from a web-based questionnaire to compare relationships between preferred hunting or fishing activity types, state of residence, and motivations of hunters and anglers across the central United States (U.S.). Exploratory factor analysis yielded four motivation factors: nature, social, food, and challenge. Differences in terms of state were negligible across all motivation factors ( η p 2 <.01), indicating similarity across states. Nature ( η p 2 =.01) and social ( η p 2 <.01) factors were the first and second most important factors across activity types. We observed larger differences among the challenge ( η p 2 =.03), and food ( η p 2 =.15) factors, primarily driven by big game hunters. Big game hunters rated the food motivation factor greater than the other activity types. Overall, our results indicate that there might be a greater universality in these motivation factors among activity types and locations in the U.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an online survey completed by individuals who hunted deer, waterfowl, upland game, or spring turkey in Nebraska during the 2017–2018 hunting seasons, we applied importance-grid analysis (IGA) and penalty-reward-contrast analysis (PRCA) to examine how activity-related attributes are related to satisfaction for each type of hunting activity. Effective response rates for the deer, waterfowl, small and upland-game, and spring turkey hunting surveys were 23%, 16%, 19%, and 27%, respectively. Results suggested that among hunting activities, different attributes were related to their sense of satisfaction. PRCA identified "seeing game animals" as a minimum requirement for participation in all activities except waterfowl hunting. "Seeing game birds" and "harvesting the daily bag limit" were identified as attributes that related to satisfaction and dissatisfaction among waterfowl hunters. Our study provides insights into factors that are important to satisfaction for each hunting activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty exists as to how duck harvest regulations influence waterfowl hunter behavior. We used the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Parts Collection Survey to examine how harvest regulations affected behaviors of Central Flyway duck hunters. We stratified hunters into ranked groups based on seasonal harvest and identified three periods (1975–1984, 1988–1993, 2002–2011) that represented different harvest regulations (moderate, restrictive, and liberal, respectively; season length and daily bag limits smallest in restrictive seasons and largest in liberal seasons). We examined variability of seven measures of duck hunter behaviors across the periods: days harvesting ducks, daily harvest, hunter mobility, mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) selectivity, gender selectivity, daily female mallard harvest, and timing of harvest. Hunters reported harvesting ducks on more days, at a higher efficiency, and in slightly more counties during liberal seasons relative to restrictive and moderate seasons. We provide evidence to suggest that future regulation change will affect hunter behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the findings of two surveys about waterfowl hunter crowding and its influence on dissatisfaction with outdoor experiences. Due to unlimited access for hunters at the Santee Area in the Lewis and Clark Lake on the Missouri River between Nebraska and South Dakota, crowding became a problem in the area. It describes the mail survey among duck hunters and the boat ramp survey on duck hunting experience and satisfaction. The mail survey revealed a crowding problem while the boat ramp survey found that crowding is also a resource problem.