The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks has contracted with Mississippi State University to conduct a longitudinal study of hunters’ attitudes and opinions of their hunting experience in Mississippi. The Human Dimensions and Conservation Law Enforcement Laboratory, which is part of MSU’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center, is conducting the study.
As part of the study the annual survey of Mississippi Resident and Non-Resident Hunters has been sent to 11,000 randomly selected licensed hunters: 6,000 from Mississippi and 5,000 out-of-state hunters.
The MDWFP has used data from these surveys, 12-page questionnaires, for about 28 years now. The results are used to document hunter sentiment on various issues that affect recreational hunting. After analyzing the results, researchers hope to better incorporate the hunters’ attitudes and opinions into wildlife management policies, educational programs, public service programs and many other possibilities.
Dr. Kevin Hunt, associate professor of MSU’s department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said he is enthusiastic and optimistic about the study.
“We’re asking questions that have never been asked before to the hunters, getting more in-depth with the social and economic issues than have been done in past [surveys],” Hunt said.
Along with Hunt are professors Steve Grado and Ian Munn. Grado, associate forestry professor and Munn, also from the forestry department, are conducting the data analysis. Students who are also assigned to this study are graduate student John Arnold and undergraduates Erica Wells, Lori Gray and Will Freeman.
The survey is expected to gather information from all aspects of the hunting recreation, such as hunter organization affiliation, ATV use in hunting, experience with the POS computer licensing system, hunter’s ethics and tel-check tagging system.
Hunt said that the surveyors can feel free to give honest opinions and “tell what they believe” because the answers will be kept confidential, and their information does matter in terms of future management regimes. The results are expected to be complete in 2003.