Decreasing Available Bobcat Tags Appears to Have Increased Success, Interest, and Participation Among Hunters: Wildlife Society 25th Annual Conference, October 7-11, 2018, Cleveland, OH

Management of wildlife populations has changed in the last century, coinciding with a decrease in the number of hunters for many species, along with general declines in hunter participation and interest as the hunter population has aged. The law of supply and demand suggests reducing the number of tags available could cause an increase in the perceived value of the tags, potentially leading to increased interest in obtaining a tag and effort and motivation among hunters who obtain tags. We used annual harvest data and surveys to determine the factors responsible for bobcat harvest and hunter participation in Wisconsin. Tags issued was common variable among all top models for annual bobcat harvest and hunter participation, highlighting the critical role supply of available tags has in furbearer management and hunter participation. A decrease in supply of tags was strongly correlated with increases in number of applications for tags and hunter participation. The increased interest (applications and participation) was also correlated with success (percent of filled tags). Contrary to other furbearer research, pelt price and other socioeconomic factors had less importance in our models than management variables. The trends of increasing bobcat hunter populations and interest in Wisconsin run counter to general trends of decreasing or stable hunter numbers seen across much of North America.