List of figures, tables and appendices

Abstract

A random sample of 3,000 hunters was selected from the 2002 Illinois Habitat Stamp stubs and license sales. The sample was evenly divided between each sample frame (1,500 from each frame). Of the sample of 3,000 hunters, 2,907 questionnaires were deliverable. We received 1,852 (64%) returned questionnaires, 1,832 of which were usable. License sales decreased 2.4% from 2001 (296,000) to the 2002 season (289,000). From 2001-2002 seasons to 2002-2003 seasons, harvests for 3 game species increased (gray squirrel, red fox, and opossum), decreased for 8 species (rabbit, quail, pheasant, gray partridge, woodcock, fox squirrel, raccoon, and coyote), did not change for 1 species (dove), and could not be calculated for 1 category (gray fox). Use of the internet by hunters was profiled, as were attitudes toward wildlife and wildlife management, and general information about hunters. Methods Hunters were selected for this survey by a systematic random sampling of individuals who purchased Illinois resident hunting licenses and state habitat stamps. Of the 3,000 hunters sampled, 1,500 each were selected from license sales and habitat stamp sales. From this sample of 3,000, 93 were deleted due to lack of forwarding address, incorrect address, or deceased. Participants were mailed a self-administered questionnaire accompanied with cover letter and 2 return envelope beginning April 4, 2003 (Appendices A and B). This first mailing was followed 10 days later with a thank you/reminder postcard to nonrespondents. On April 29, a second questionnaire, cover letter (Appendix C), and return envelope were mailed to nonrespondents. The second mailing was followed 10 days later with a postcard thank you/reminder. A total of 1,852 (64%) respondents returned questionnaires, 1,832 of which were usable. Methods for survey questionnaire mailings and follow-up reminders followed those of Miller et al. (1999). Data were entered into an SPSS 10.0 file and analyzed using SPSS 10.0. Estimates for species harvests, hunters, and days afield were made using the formulas in Anderson and Campbell (1993). Maps of state wildlife management units and administrative regions are presented in Appendices D and E, respectively. Results License Sales Resident license sales for the 2002-2003 hunting season totaled 289,423 and represented a 2.4% decrease from 2001-2002 sales. Except for 2001, hunting license sales showed a steady decline from 1994 to 2002 (Figure 1, Table 1). Of the 1,648 respondents who reported purchasing a resident hunting license, 499 (30%) purchased a resident hunting license without habitat stamp, 222 (13%) obtained a regular license with habitat stamp printed on license, 357 (22%) chose a sportsmen's combination hunting and sport fishing license without habitat stamp, 357 (22%) chose a sportsmen's combination license with habitat stamp printed on license, and 255 (15%) were eligible for a senior citizen's license (Appendix F, Section 1). The 1,648 license purchasers purchased a total of 1,695 hunting 3 licenses for an average of 1.03 licenses per purchaser. 0 100 200 300 400 500 60