Big Game Hunter Surveys
Geoff Kerr, Lincoln University
Presentation to NZ Deerstalkers’ Association, Masterton, 14 July 2012
Individual deer hunter benefits per trip relative to the median ($161.28),
December 2009 NZ dollars
Kerr & Woods (2010). New Zealand Game Hunting Values: a benefit transfer
study. Land, Environment and People Report No. 23, Lincoln University.
Non-recreational harvests
Nugent, G. (1992) The Conservation Role of Commercial Deer Hunting. Forest Research
Institute Contract Report FEW 92/3
Significance of Recreation?
For hunters, for conservation ….
1988
(Nugent)
2011
Number of big game hunters
50,000
?
Recreational deer harvest
42,600
?
Commercial deer harvest
30,400
7,000 
Total deer harvest
73,000
Recreational share
58%
?
?
?
Recreational big game harvest
156,600
 G. Ottmann, pers. comm.
Hunters
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
How many?
How much effort?
Where?
When?
Harvest?
Behaviours?
What do they want?
– Heterogenous
Research programme
• Three internet surveys
1. Demographics, motivations, recruitment to
activity survey
•
May 2011 – November 2011
2. Monthly activity, motivations, outcomes,
satisfaction, spending, harvest
•
June 2011 – August 2012
3. Hunter preferences
•
Late 2012
• Convenience sample unavoidable
• NZDA survey soon
Key findings to date
Number of big game hunters:
22,000 to 50,000
(Based on proportion of sample in NZDA: depends on assumptions & estimation error)
Monthly
recall
Annual
recall
Nugent 1988
Number of trips
17
15
n.a.
Number of days hunted
38
30
20
7.0 ~ 8.0
3.9 ~ 5.1
2.3 ~ 3.2
Reported number of big game killed per
hunter (includes goats)
n.a.
18 ~ 25
10 ~ 13
% of hunters who did not kill any deer
n.a.
30%
39%
225,000
136,000
133,000
(30,000 hunters)
(30,000 hunters)
(adjusted = 55,000)
Annual
Reported number of deer killed per hunter
Reported number of deer killed (total)
(Annual recall)
Age distributions: Males 15 years plus
30%
NZ
Hunters
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
15-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
Age (years)
50-59
60-69
70+
Hunters are ageing
70%
60%
50%
40%
15-24
25-40
40-49
30%
50+
20%
10%
0%
Canterbury 1980
Central North Island Blue Mountains 1985 Kaimanawa 1986/7
1982
Kerr (2011). Who are the hunters? Rod & Rifle 32(6): 29.
NZ 1988
NZ 2011
Average Annual Spend = $3714 ± $250
Magazines, books,
videos $87
Camping equipment
$231
Food $279
Dogs
$191
Firearms & ammo
$912
Clothing $317
Transport $697
Other $435
Optics $566
Average days hunted per respondent
9.00
8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
Hunt Attributes
Mean (SE) median
Target Reds
Target Tahr
Target Pigs
2670 trips
290 trips
1514 trips
Days/hunt
2.19
2
3.16
2
1.90
1
Hunters/trip
2.07
2
2.61
2
2.22
2
Km (1 way)
138
80
274
200
112
70
Hours
(1 way)
3.30
1.5
5.70
3
2.86
1.33
Personal trip cost ($) $119
$50
$273
$100
$92
$50
Made a kill
40%
56%
46%
Kills/trip
Red
.42
Pigs .15
Fallow .05
Tahr 1.18
Cham .10
Red .15
Fallow .07
Pigs .52
Red .25
Fallow .07
Land tenure
Private 23%
Public 60%
Both 17%
Private 10%
Public 71%
Both 19%
Private 39%
Public 39%
Both 23%
Trip Satisfaction
• Seeing and killing game both play very
small, but significant, roles in satisfaction
• Seeing game is 5.3 times more important
to satisfaction than each animal killed
• Consistent with stated motivations
Primary Hunt Motivations
40%
Enjoy the
outdoors
35%
Target Tahr only
30%
25%
Trophy
Meat
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
Target Red Deer only
25%
30%
35%
Photo: Graham Nugent
[email protected]