Interesting results. As I continue to have a harder time accessing lands, the majority of the results here paints a fairly positive picture in terms of hunter access, hunter interference issues, and overall quality of the hunt.
Joel
I wonder about the sampling size, and why they keyed in on such a small geographical area? With the growth of turkey hunting over the past few years and the expansion into new zones wouldn’t the survey be better suited to poll the rest of the hunters also?
I have also found land access to be more difficult, and the hunter interferance in our area might be a lot higher than the mean average down there. I just don’t think a poll of 5% of the total hunters, and only taking it from one small portion of avaliable zones is representive of turkey hunting across the State. Those numbers might help if you are hunting down there, but they mean nothing for the majority of the states hunters.
CW
Quote:
I wonder about the sampling size, and why they keyed in on such a small geographical area? With the growth of turkey hunting over the past few years and the expansion into new zones wouldn’t the survey be better suited to poll the rest of the hunters also?
I have also found land access to be more difficult, and the hunter interferance in our area might be a lot higher than the mean average down there. I just don’t think a poll of 5% of the total hunters, and only taking it from one small portion of avaliable zones is representive of turkey hunting across the State. Those numbers might help if you are hunting down there, but they mean nothing for the majority of the states hunters.
CW
I think those are very fair statements Chris. While we can’t poll every turkey hunter in the state, seeing a better geographical representation would be more productive. Especially when seeing that their findings suggest most turkey hunters travel distances to hunt. Of course they do in the SE!
It is where most permits are sold, and I know they need to manage to for the mass benefit of the most people. However, it’s widely known and understood that people travel and hunt here because historically it was the only area open to turkey hunting in the state, and they continue to offer the most permits in these areas because the habitat supports it. Without including a better spatial representation, when comparing past spring turkey hunting policies, positive surveys as this one seem to be more the product of self-fulfilling prophecies than a true barometer of the “state” of turkey hunting in MN.
Joel
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