Migratory Bird Hunters Get HIP

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Everyone who hunts doves, ducks, geese, sandhill cranes, snipe, or coots in Montana must be "HIP" certified. HIP stands for Harvest Information Program, and certification delivers essential information to wildlife biologists so they can better manage wildlife resources in Montana and the United States. Most waterfowl seasons open in Montana on Sept. 29, but the snipe and dove hunting opener is Saturday, Sept. 1. To get HIP certified, Montana waterfowl and migratory bird hunters will be asked a few simple questions about their hunting success last year when they purchase their 2001 State Migratory Bird Stamp. The questions are simple and easy to answer, and the whole process should take only a minute. Montana migratory bird hunters will be asked: About how many of these did you bag last season?  Ducks_______ Geese_______ Cranes _______Doves_______ Coots/Snipe_____ Broad ranges are given for each group of birds-Did not hunt, None, 1 -10, 11 - 30, more than 31--so you don’t need to know the exact numbers. That’s it. There is no cost. "As wildlife managers, we’re often confronted with inadequate information about the impacts of hunting on species populations," said Tom Hinz, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks State Migratory Bird/Wetlands Coordinator. "The lack of adequate information on harvest has been used as a reason to challenge hunting regulations. That’s one of the reasons why we need the cooperation of Montana’s migratory bird hunters. All license vendors in the state know of the HIP certification requirement and should ask those purchasing state migratory bird stamps to complete the HIP form, but we ask hunters to take the initiative if a vendor doesn’t." Since 1961 the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has estimated the harvest of all migratory birds by surveying a small percentage of federal duck stamp buyers. The harvest data need to be improved for waterfowl and especially for other migratory bird species. Poor data were obtained, for example, when the dove harvest was estimated by sampling a group of waterfowl hunters that as a whole included few dove hunters. This posed a major statistical problem especially in a state like Texas, which has many more dove hunters than waterfowl hunters. How does HIP work? Of the total group of HIP certified migratory game bird hunters, the USFWS will select individuals to participate in national harvest surveys. These selected hunters will receive hunter record cards prior to the migratory bird hunting season or soon thereafter, and will be asked to record their daily harvests of various migratory game birds and return the completed record card at the end of the hunting season. These surveys will provide much more accurate harvest information than previous ones and will make it possible for the USFWS and Montana to more accurately determine the status and needs of our migratory game bird resources so that hunting seasons may continue in the future. For more information about HIP, call 406-444-2612.