Identifying factors influencing hunter satisfaction across hunting activities in Nebraska

ABSTRACT

Using an online survey completed by individuals who hunted deer, waterfowl, upland game, or spring turkey in Nebraska during the 2017–2018 hunting seasons, we applied importance-grid analysis (IGA) and penalty-reward-contrast analysis (PRCA) to examine how activity-related attributes are related to satisfaction for each type of hunting activity. Effective response rates for the deer, waterfowl, small and upland-game, and spring turkey hunting surveys were 23%, 16%, 19%, and 27%, respectively. Results suggested that among hunting activities, different attributes were related to their sense of satisfaction. PRCA identified “seeing game animals” as a minimum requirement for participation in all activities except waterfowl hunting. “Seeing game birds” and “harvesting the daily bag limit” were identified as attributes that related to satisfaction and dissatisfaction among waterfowl hunters. Our study provides insights into factors that are important to satisfaction for each hunting activity.

KEYWORDS:

• Hunting experiences
• importance-grid analysis
• penalty-reward-contrast analysis
• recreation satisfaction

Acknowledgments

W. Inselman and members of the Human Dimensions of Wildlife Laboratory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln provided reviews, comments, and helpful discussions that improved the quality of this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

CJC was supported by Hatch funds through the Agricultural Research Division at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and from Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration project W-120-T, administered by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC). Additional funding for this project was provided by Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration W-130-R, administered by NGPC.