Migratory bird hunting activity and harvest during the 2003 and 2004 hunting seasons: preliminary estimates

Introduction Since the 1952-53 hunting season, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has conducted a survey of Federal Duck Stamp purchasers to estimate waterfowl hunter activity and harvest in the United States. That survey was conducted annually through the 2001-02 hunting season, after which it was replaced by a new migratory game bird harvest survey system. In 1992, the FWS and State Fish and Wildlife Agencies (States) established the Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP), which was fully operational nationwide by 1999. This cooperative State-Federal program requires licensed migratory game bird hunters to register annually in each state in which they hunt. Each State is responsible for collecting the name, address, and date of birth from each migratory bird hunter, asking each of them a series of general screening questions about his/her hunting success the previous year, and sending all of this information to the FWS. The States are also responsible for providing the migratory bird hunters with proof of compliance to carry while they are hunting. The FWS is responsible for using these data to conduct annual national migratory game bird hunter activity and harvest surveys. This report presents hunter activity and harvest estimates from the HIP surveys for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 hunting seasons. These estimates are preliminary, pending (1) final counts of the number of HIP registrants in each state each season, and (2) complete audits of all survey response data