Results of the 2006-2007 Illinois Hunter Harvest Survey

Abstract

A random sample of 3,000 potential hunters was selected from among 2006 Illinois Habitat Stamp and hunting license purchasers. An 11-page questionnaire was successfully mailed to 2,919 of the 3,000 individuals. We received 1,767 returned questionnaires, 1,744 of which were usable, for a 61% response rate. License sales increased 1% from 280,000 sold for the 2005 season to 282,000 sold for the 2006 season. Comparisons of harvest estimates from 2005-2006 season to 2006-2007 season suggest harvest decreased for 9 game animal categories (rabbit, quail, pheasant, dove, woodcock, gray partridge, raccoon, coyote, and opossum), and increased for 4 categories (fox squirrel, gray squirrel, red fox and gray fox). Resident hunters reported little difficulty gaining access to hunting lands for all species pursued. Few residents reported leasing land (6%) or hiring outfitters (1%) to access land. Few (7%) resident hunters hunted upland game species outside of Illinois. Pheasant, quail and rabbits were most commonly pursued out of state. Nearly ¾ (72%) of respondents hunted deer in Illinois during 2006-2007. The type of deer most commonly harvested were does (44% of total harvest). More than 80% of respondents hunted on private land during all deer hunting seasons. Few deer hunters (6%) leased land to hunt deer, however leasing appeared to increase harvest. Resident deer hunters are willing to harvest adult deer of either sex, but are unwilling to harvest fawns. A majority (78%) of resident deer hunters rated the quality of their deer hunt in Illinois average or better.