Exceeding expectations increases satisfaction among Louisiana waterfowl hunters

Abstract Louisiana surveys waterfowl hunters every 5 years to assess hunter effort, harvest success, demographics, and preferences for proposed regulations and management practices. The 2020 Survey of Louisiana Waterfowl Hunters addressed hunter satisfaction patterns, hunter perceptions on waterfowl migration, associations of field experiences to satisfaction, associations among distribution waves, the efficacy of sample coverage by an email survey, and allowed comparison with hunter satisfaction with surveys in 2005, 2010, and 2015. We distributed a 31‐question survey by email to 73,554 Louisiana waterfowl hunters following the 2019–2020 season. We received 13,483 total responses, of which 8,218 were usable (licensed respondents actively hunting waterfowl during the 2019–2020 season), resulting in a qualified response rate of 12.0%. We compared qualified respondents to the overall population of Harvest Information Program registrants (169,891) and found no significant differences for age class, geographic distribution, and license type. Our results indicated that surveys should be distributed in 3 waves, as the number of days hunted would be overestimated by 7% (mean of 15 days [95% confidence interval = 14.7–15.7] compared to a mean of 14 days [95% confidence interval = 13.7–14.4]) by a single survey. Hunters' satisfaction was independent of which geographic zone they hunted, whether they were members of conservation organizations, or how many waterfowl were seen. Our results also indicated that the probability of greater hunter satisfaction was increased by 98% as the number of waterfowl harvested surpassed 57, by 68% for respondents reporting that their actual harvest exceeded expected harvest by at least one bird, and by 61% for respondents reporting that their actual days hunted exceeded expected days hunted by at least one day.