2014 Harvest Questionnaire

[Wagonmaster]

So, I received my 2014 Harvest Questionnaire in the mail. My first inclination was to write a few words in bold black letters expressing my thoughts on the recent allocation policy, and not provide the information requested. But, then I wondered to myself...is the Fish, Wildlife & Habitat Management Branch a part of the Provincial Government that we should be upset with? Did they have anything to do with setting the new policy? I understand that our feedback is helpful in establishing sustainable management, but.... Perhaps someone can could shed some light on this matter.

[Fisher-Dude]

Short answer to your question: no. The decision was political and the F&W staff are saying "Oh, shit." They know they will have to make all kinds of adjustments to residents' seasons/tags to accommodate the shift of the resource to the private sector, and they know they will be getting undeserved hell from resident hunters when they do.

This decision is purely the result of politicians (who got $100,000 donated to their cause) making deals behind closed door.

[Salty]

The liberals are only here today the data is more important than making a point to them I'd send in the data with a separate note maybe. But like FD says this has boom all to do with staff its the Liberal Party of BC and the GOABC.

[goatdancer]

Kinda funny. They were only interested in mule deer, no whiteys.

[caddisguy]

My survey is for black bear. They wanted to know which area I hunted and how many days I spent hunting it.

Well, I spent about 3 days in the spring going after a blackbear. I hunted the same area in the fall--approximately another 15 days--but in the fall I was not hunting for black bear... though maybe I would have taken one if I saw it... I certainly wasn't putting myself where the bears would be at that time of year... can't say I was "hunting" for them. I am assuming they just want to know about the days I spent hunting for bear.. hence the bold BLACK BEAR title. I'm just going to say 3 days, not 18... but I can see how they might end up with bad data. They really need to be more specific or at best this is pointless... at worst they make bad decisions off of skewed data.

[Drillbit]

I find it weird they only have 3 spots for MU's. I hunt in many more than 3 MU's.

[Bugle M In]

No, fill out the questionnaire, it's for the Bios, and actually may aid us in the future.
If all user groups took the time to do the same, than the science would help accordingly.
All we can do is contribute to help them, as Bios did not cause the Dec 10 decision.

[Rob Chipman]

"Kinda funny. They were only interested in mule deer, no whiteys."

Mine asked about muleys, moose, white tails and bears. Did you buy a whitey tag?


"They really need to be more specific or at best this is pointless... at worst they make bad decisions off of skewed data."

Fair comment, but how do they do it? I'd bet they'er underfunded now. That said, same thoughts occurred to me filling mine out.

[caddisguy]

Mine was only blackbear, but I had a mule tag too.

I just submitted it now, but only wrote 3 days hunting for black bear in 1 MU. I figure they don't want to know about the other 15-20 days hunting that MU or 6-7 days in another hunting deer on the notion that I wasn't looking for blackbear but might have shot it depending on the weather, time of day, my energy level and how many days left in the trip.

That survey needs an overhaul if they want useful data collection. I was split between writing 3 days versus all my hunting days. 3 days versus 24-30 days... could make a big difference. I figured the 3 gives more valuable/accurate insight for what they are looking for (hunting days versus successful harvest of hunted animal) ... but if they using it to try and figure out total hunting days spent in an area hunting for anything, then they are missing valuable info.

Would be an easy fix if some actual thought went into the survey.

[caddisguy]

"Kinda funny. They were only interested in mule deer, no whiteys."

Mine asked about muleys, moose, white tails and bears. Did you buy a whitey tag?


"They really need to be more specific or at best this is pointless... at worst they make bad decisions off of skewed data."

Fair comment, but how do they do it? I'd bet they'er underfunded now. That said, same thoughts occurred to me filling mine out.

Asking for a list of each MU hunted and approximately how many hunting days invested in each MU per species for which you have a tag would be golden compared to this.

Heck, even changing the wording to "how many days hunting for ____ species" instead of "how many days hunting" would be better. They wouldnt get total hunting days for an MU (without surveying for all species) but at least the data they did get would be accurate. As it is now, numbers will be all over the place.

[islander7mm]

I heard that if you don't respond to the questionaire then your odds for leh go way down or not included completely.
I always make sure to fill mine out online.

[Cordillera]

As long as people don't lie or try to game the system, and use common sense, then the results will be useful as it is really trying to identify trends. So while they could improve the questionnaire to be more specific, they really want the questions to be the same as five or ten years ago so they can compare. If someone could go back twenty five years and redesign the questionnaire, they would, but now it's better to just stick to the old questions.

[Drillbit]

I heard that if you don't respond to the questionaire then your odds for leh go way down or not included completely.
I always make sure to fill mine out online.

I don't believe that. I always fill them out and am 0/18 Moose LEH. I have a buddy that never fills them out and he's been drawn 3 times in the past 5 years for the same draw.

[250 sav]

Kinda funny. They were only interested in mule deer, no whiteys.

mine is for whitetail, mule,moose elk and blackbear

[Ferenc]

[QUOTE=islander7mm;1580134]I heard that if you don't respond to the questionaire then your odds for leh go way down or not included completely.
I always make sure to fill mine out online.[/QUOTE

Our counterparts down south... In some states if they do not fill it out... And send it in... Are excluded from entering the following years draws. Should be like that here also... Can only pull so many rabbits out of a hat ... How else are you to collect data.

[Bugle M In]

[QUOTE=islander7mm;1580134]I heard that if you don't respond to the questionaire then your odds for leh go way down or not included completely.
I always make sure to fill mine out online.[/QUOTE

Our counterparts down south... In some states if they do not fill it out... And send it in... Are excluded from entering the following years draws. Should be like that here also... Can only pull so many rabbits out of a hat ... How else are you to collect data.
seems fair, and a reasonable solution to the problem, IMO.
My questionnaire even came with prepaid postage, so that shouldn't be an issue.

[todbartell]

Got mine in the mail, filled it out online for elk/black bear

[Ferenc]

And at the same time.. You can pen out some other concerns. Eg. Allocations to name one.. Heck it's self addressed what can it hurt !!!! I'm sure lots have been mailed out !

[caddisguy]

As long as people don't lie or try to game the system, and use common sense, then the results will be useful as it is really trying to identify trends. So while they could improve the questionnaire to be more specific, they really want the questions to be the same as five or ten years ago so they can compare. If someone could go back twenty five years and redesign the questionnaire, they would, but now it's better to just stick to the old questions.

I was thinking about that too. They would really need to start a new database... but after a few years of better data, they would know the offset for the skewed data, making the old data more useful and allow trends to be drawn between across both old and new. New conservation-grade (caddisguy tm) data would be great for conservation/management and an excellent starting point for biologists.

Even more daring they could add questions. I know the more you add, the less people will fill it out, but I think more accurate and thorough data is way better than the number of surveys. Maybe even ask about animal sightings... If hunting primarily deer, how many deer do you estimate seeing in this MU? 0-25? 26-50? Did you see/here wolves? Sasquatch sign? Ufo's? Ok maybe I love data too much, but there's a happy medium... hoping to see it someday so We can give a more valuable contribution through the surveys.

[drakfero]

Less hunting , access , and so on for us , more for natives and guides so no more info from me.. its BS anyways , i bought 5 tags filled 3 and its only asking about 1 , some very "smart" people doing bc hunting rules.

[goatdancer]

"Kinda funny. They were only interested in mule deer, no whiteys."

Mine asked about muleys, moose, white tails and bears. Did you buy a whitey tag?


"They really need to be more specific or at best this is pointless... at worst they make bad decisions off of skewed data."

Fair comment, but how do they do it? I'd bet they'er underfunded now. That said, same thoughts occurred to me filling mine out.

Had both WT and muley tags.

[stinkyduck]

I got mine today also, came home pissed off from work! said to myself why dont they send this to the reserve land and ask them!!!!!!! Every single time i came home from my cabin, this same truck is seen "hunting' up and down every different road, i take. then when the snow was on the ground, it is very easy to see were they shot two deer standing together. Nice, young doe and fawn???

[Jack Russell]

My survey asked about wolves and had an interesting twist to it.

It asked if I hunted wolves. And, if I wasn't hunting wolves, would I have shot one if I saw one - yes or no?

Interesting.

I suspect different questions are spread across the spectrum randomly to get a sample of the effort and harvest success.

Fill it out to the best of your knowledge. It has jack to do with LEH success whether you fill it out or not.

[coach]

Has anyone found they were asked for more information using the online survey than the one that arrived in the mail? I did last year and so did my daughter. IIRC, I was asked about two species in the mailed version and four when I logged into complete the survey online.

[Jack Russell]

Has anyone found they were asked for more information using the online survey than the one that arrived in the mail? I did last year and so did my daughter. IIRC, I was asked about two species in the mailed version and four when I logged into complete the survey online.

If I remember correctly, I was asked by mail for:
Moose
Wolves
Mule deer
Game birds

I did not go onto the internet survey site. Mailed it in.

[Seeker]

Has anyone found they were asked for more information using the online survey than the one that arrived in the mail? I did last year and so did my daughter. IIRC, I was asked about two species in the mailed version and four when I logged into complete the survey online.

Just received the letter
-Mule Deer
-Elk
-White tailed deer
-Black Bear
-Wolf
-Game bird

Is there anything left....moose i guess! Coach I think I'll just mail mine in! haha

[Gamebuster]

Less hunting , access , and so on for us , more for natives and guides so no more info from me.. its BS anyways , i bought 5 tags filled 3 and its only asking about 1 , some very "smart" people doing bc hunting rules.

This is a funny thread that pops up every year with the same nonsense at this time....ever heard of random sampling?

[Vladimir Poutine]

I will fill mine out as usual. I won't make the connection with data that is needed to support our needs as residents and the GOABC sellout.

[B-rad]

Wow,,,,,,I haven't got any questionnaires in the mail for years,,,,almost feel left out lol,,,,I still get leh draws though

[HarryToolips]

Filled mine out truthfully with no extra bs as everybody should..

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Wayne. I just filled in the survey for you:wink:. You might want to reconsider posting things with personal info like your addy and unique login #.

SSS

[Brno22F]

Kinda funny. They were only interested in mule deer, no whiteys.

Interesting.
My questionaire was for Mule deer, Black bear and Moose.
To the OP, yes! Do fill it in and submit the questionaire. Others have posted all the reasons why you should.

Merry Christmas to all on HBC

22F

[Spy]

I got for Elk, whitetail, mule deer,wolf & gamebirds. One question that I think should be in there is the method you used to hunt IE bow or rifle! I could have tagged out if I was rifle hunting! ;-)

[drakfero]

what is the sense of it??? spent money for shitty info. much easier is to make online survey and ask all questions you need and for FREEE!!!!



This is a funny thread that pops up every year with the same nonsense at this time....ever heard of random sampling?

[coach]

Just filled mine in, online, and submitted. Same animals on the paper and online version this year.

[Spy]

Just filled mine in, online, and submitted. Same animals on the paper and online version this year.
They should open it up to all resident hunters who want to take the time to fill it out! I would take it a step further and make it mandatory for anyone who fills a tag.

[6pt_elk_wannabe]

I got muleys and my dad got whitetail, upland game birds, migratory game birds, and wolf.

[HarryToolips]

They should open it up to all resident hunters who want to take the time to fill it out! I would take it a step further and make it mandatory for anyone who fills a tag.
Now there's a great idea...