Calls To Hunters Underway

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Many Montana hunters may soon get one of the most important calls of the season. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Park’s annual telephone survey of big and small game hunters is underway and will continue through February. 

Interviewers are collecting information on deer, elk, antelope, black bear, turkey and upland game bird harvests. Wildlife managers use this information to estimate the 2004 harvest and to recommend quotas for upcoming hunting seasons.

"Hunters who participate in a telephone harvest survey play a role in wildlife management," said Candy Hinz, FWP program specialist. "We want hunters to be prepared for the call and to know that their responses provide important information we couldn’t obtain any other way."              

Hunters can help by jotting down details of their hunts. Hunters who purchased licenses to hunt more than one species, may be asked to participate in more than one survey, Hinz said.

So be prepared. If you don’t recognize the phone number on your caller ID, it could be a friendly FWP interviewer calling to ask you about this past year’s hunting.

The majority of the telephone interviewers make calls from their homes within their local calling area evenings and weekends.  This simple telephone survey takes under five minutes. Harvest survey results are generally available by late summer.