Attached is the 2008 Game Bird Survey for the state. I was informed by Andrew Burnett, Principal Biologist for the Upland Game and Furbearer Project that after five years they are discontinuing this due to lack of interest.
Summary
A 2008 New Jersey Upland Game Bird Hunter Log was mailed to 387 existing volunteer cooperators in an effort to better quantify hunter effort, harvest rate and upland bird distribution. Seven (1.8 percent of prior cooperators) were returned as undeliverable and the survey response rate was 25.0 percent (85 of the remaining 380 contacts). Sixty-five respondents (67.7 percent of respondents, 17.1 percent overall) actively pursued American woodcock, northern bobwhite, ring-necked pheasants and ruffed grouse during the 2008-09 seasons, and hunted a total 630 days. The majority of hunters pursued pheasants (95.4 percent), followed by northern bobwhite (21.5 percent), woodcock (15.4 percent) and grouse (6.2 percent). One-quarter of the respondents (18 of 65) hunted more than one species. Active respondents harvested a total 553 pheasants, 134 bobwhite and 27 woodcock. Pheasant hunters expended a mean 6.9 days afield (2.9 hours per trip), flushed a mean 0.7 birds per hour and harvested a mean 0.4 birds per hour. The majority (61.4 percent) of respondent’s 544 pheasant hunting trips occurred in the northern counties of Sussex and Warren or in the central counties of Ocean and Monmouth. Bobwhite hunters expended a mean 3.8 days afield (2.6 hours per trip), flushed a mean 1.9 birds per hour and harvested a mean 0.9 birds per hour. Most (45.7 percent) of respondent’s 57 bobwhite hunting trips occurred in the central county of Ocean. Woodcock hunters expended a mean 3.8 days afield (2.8 hours per trip), flushed a mean 1.0 birds per hour and harvested a mean 0.2 birds per hour. The majority (63.0 percent) of respondent’s 38 woodcock hunting trips occurred in Sussex County (North Zone). Grouse hunters expended a mean 1.8 days afield (2.7 hours per trip), flushed a mean 0.4 birds per hour but did not harvest a single bird. All of respondent’s 7 grouse hunting trips occurred in the northern counties of Morris and Sussex.
This survey was conducted as part of Job III-B. Hunter and Trapper Harvest, Recreational and Economic Survey. This job is included within Grant Number W-68-R-13, New Jersey Wildlife Research and Management: Project III. Upland Wildlife and Furbearers.
Background
The biennial New Jersey Firearm Hunter Harvest Survey, distributed to a random sample of licensed sportsmen, solicits information on small game harvests for the preceding season. The survey is distributed after the close of the 120-day, statewide small game season (President’s Day). Survey results are not presently adjusted for memory bias. Recipients of the 2003-04 New Jersey Firearm Hunter Harvest Survey were asked if they would voluntarily cooperate in a more detailed, daily monitoring program. The new program specifically targeted American woodcock (Scolopax minor), northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), ring-necked pheasant (Phaisanus colchicus) and ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). Solicitations for volunteer cooperators were also published in the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Digest (Hunting Issue) and on the Division’s website,
www.njfishandwildlife.com.
Methods
Instructions and a data form were provided to 387 cooperators, prior to the 2008-09 hunting season. Each cooperator was assigned a unique identification number to provide anonymity. Cooperators were asked to record their trip results on a daily basis (hunt date, hunt county, land owner, hunt duration to the nearest ½ hour, species pursued, total number of flushes and total number of birds harvested).
Materials were provided via US mail or email, if one were provided. Seven survey forms (1.8 percent of prior contacts) were returned by postal authorities as undeliverable and 380 were presumed delivered successfully. The survey instrument was also made available on the Division website. Ninety-five responses from the 380 known cooperators were returned by 30 April 2009 (25.0 percent response rate), and 1 unsolicited Internet responses were received for a total response rate of 25.3 percent. Harvest analyses were conducted on the 65 respondents (67.7 percent of all respondents) that actively hunted the species of interest during the 2008-09 hunting season.
Findings
Sixty-five respondents (67.7 percent of respondents, 17.1 percent overall) actively pursued American woodcock, northern bobwhite, ring-necked pheasants and ruffed grouse during the 2008-09 seasons. Respondents hunted a total 630 days. The majority of active respondents (98.4 percent) pursued pheasants, followed by bobwhite (23.1 percent), woodcock (15.4 percent), and grouse (6.2 percent). Note: 18 of 65 active respondents (27.7 percent) hunted more than one species.
A summary of findings for all years is presented in Table 1.
Northern Bobwhite Quail
Fifteen respondents (23.1 percent) reported encounters with bobwhite during 56 days afield and 94.7 percent of hunting hours were expended by 01 January. Most (45.7 percent) of bobwhite hunting hours occurred in Ocean County. Over 85 percent (86.7) of bobwhite hunting hours were spent on State Wildlife Management Areas, particularly Greenwood Forest (40.7 percent) and Peaslee WMA (37.4 percent). Two-thirds of quail hunters (66.6 percent) hunted 4 days or less, with a mean of 3.7 days per hunter and a mean field time of 2.6 hours per trip. On average, all hunters encountering bobwhite flushed 1.9 birds/hour and harvested 0.9 birds/hour hunted.
Ring-necked Pheasant
Sixty-two respondents (95.4 percent) reported encounters with pheasants during 544 days afield and 85.9 percent of hunting hours were expended by 01 January. The majority (61.4 percent) of pheasant hunting hours occurred in the northern counties of Sussex and Warren and in the central counties of Monmouth and Ocean. Nearly three-quarters (73.3 percent) of pheasant hunting hours were spent on State Wildlife Management Areas, while 22.0 percent were spent on private lands (including semi-wild and commercial shooting preserves) and 4.7 percent on Federal lands. Two-thirds of pheasant hunters (67.7 percent) hunted 10 days or less, with a mean of 8.9 days per hunter. The mean field time for pheasant hunters was 2.9 hours per trip. Respondents averaged 0.7 birds flushed/hour and harvested 0.4 birds/hour hunted.
Ruffed Grouse
Four respondents (6.2 percent) reported encounters with grouse during 7 days afield and 73.7 percent of hunting hours were expended by December 1. The majority (71.1 percent) of grouse hunting hours occurred in Sussex County. The majority of grouse hunting hours (63.1 percent) were spent on State Wildlife Management Areas and 36.9 percent were spent on Federal lands. All grouse respondents hunted 5 days or less, with a mean of 1.8 days per hunter and a mean field time of 2.7 hours/trip. On average, all hunters encountering grouse flushed 0.2 birds/hour. No grouse were harvested.
American Woodcock
Ten respondents (15.4 percent) reported encounters with woodcock during 38 days afield and 66.4 percent of hunting hours were expended by 08 November. The majority of woodcock hunting hours (63.0 percent) occurred in Sussex County. By land type, the majority of woodcock hunting hours (51.7 percent) were spent on State Wildlife Management Areas, while 27.0 percent were spent on Federal lands, and 21.3 percent on private lands. Ninety percent of respondents hunted 5 days or less, with a mean of 3.8 days per hunter and a mean field time of 2.8 hours per trip. On average, all hunters encountering woodcock flushed 1.0 birds/hour and harvested 0.2 birds/hour hunted.
Two respondents reported encountering a total 8 woodcock after the North Zone season closure (after 08 November) and two respondents reported encountering a total of 9 woodcock in the South Zone between 23 November and 25 December when the season was closed.
