2016-2017 Public Land Harvest Reporting Systems Report: Harvest, Satisfaction, and Preference

We sampled 2,830 Illinois hunters from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources licensing database that indicated hunting on public land in Illinois at least once in the past two hunting seasons. The survey sample consisted of public land hunters from a 2016 site-intercept survey, hunters indicating hunting public land on past Hunter Harvest Surveys, and hunters who obtained an online windshield cards during the 2016-17 season (names and addresses provided by the IDNR). Licensees were mailed a 4-page self-administered questionnaire designed to query hunters about the harvest reporting systems used on public land in Illinois. We received 1,580 questionnaires, 1,476 (57.7%) of which were usable. Respondents indicated hunting public property most often, while private property not owned by the respondent was the private property type hunted most often. Telephone check-in was the harvest reporting method hunters preferred to use most, while check station was the method hunters preferred to use least.The majority of respondents obtained an online windshield card, and the majorityof those hunters waited until the end of the season to update their windshield card information to the online reporting system. Attitude statements investigated hunter opinions towards different aspects of the windshield card system, and support for implementing a single-method statewide harvest reporting system. Hunters were also asked about season harvest, satisfaction of reporting methods, obtaining information,using the online windshield card system, and additional background information.