ILLEGAL WATERFOWL HUNTING IN THE MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALLEVIATION

We initiated a study in 1989 to estimate illegal waterfowl hunting and harvest in the Mississippi Flyway and to determine characteristics of illegal waterfowl hunters to formulate recommendations for alleviatin g the problem. A mail survey was designed and administered to gather d ata. A pilot study was conducted in spring 1989 and produced a high re sponse rate (77%). Therefore, 8,220 state waterfowl-stamp purchasers a nd 1,465 known violaters of waterfowl regulations from 12 of 14 Missis sippi Flyway states were surveyed in 1990 soon after the waterfowl hun ting season. Known violaters were surveyed clandestinely to validate t heir truthfulness about past violations and thereby indirectly estimat e the truthfulness of stamp purchasers. The mail survey included a 12- page questionnaire that asked hunters about current duck population st atus and problems, personal hunting and socioeconomic characteristics, band-recovery and reporting information, attitudes toward proposed il legal hunting deterrents, and whether or not they had violated shootin g-hour, bag-limit, and/or baiting laws during the past 4 years. Respon se rates to the survey were 77 and 85% for known violators and stamp p urchasers, respectively. Overall, 26% of Mississippi Flyway waterfowl- stamp purchasers admitted committing shooting-hour, bag-limit, and/or baiting violations on ducks during the 1989-90 season, and 35% admitte d committing 1-3 of these violations per season during the 1986-87 thr ough 1988-89 seasons. Ten percent and 13% of the waterfowl-stamp purch asers admitted committing these violations on geese during the same pe riods. The southern region (Ark., La., Miss., Tenn.) of the Flyway con sistently had the highest percentages of hunters committing all 3 viol ations on ducks but also the lowest percentages of violations on geese . Conversely, the central region (Ill., Ind., Ky., Mo.) had the highes t percentage of hunters committing goose violations, as well as the lo west percentage of hunters committing shooting-hour and bag-limit viol ations on ducks. Generally, the northern region (Ia., Mich., Minn., Wi s.) had intermediate percentages of hunters committing all violations. Overall, violators were younger than legal hunters, averaging .34 and 39 years of age, respectively. Violators also hunted more frequently and harvested nearly 2 times more waterfowl than legal hunters. Violat ors and legal hunters did not differ substantively on any other measur ed hunting or socioeconomic characteristics. Both violators and legal hunters indicated magazines, Ducks Unlimited, fellow hunters, televisi on specials, and newspapers were important sources of information on w aterfowl; hence, these should be used to educate hunters on the unacce ptableness of illegal bunting. The majority of hunters that admitted c ommitting violations indicated they did so intentionally. Shooting-hou r violators composed the smallest portion of accidental violations, fo llowed by baiting and bag-limit violators. Both violators and legal hu nters in all states perceived mandatory loss of hunting privileges, la rge fines, increased law enforcement, and mandatory jail sentences as the most effective deterrents to illegal hunting. Hence, state and fed eral agencies should cooperatively impose these sanctions for serious waterfowl violations and chronic offenders.