upland Game Bird Hunters' Desired Experience 



Bird hunters' behavior and motivation should be strongly related to the type of hunting 

 experience they are seeking. Sampled hunters were asked eight questions (See Table 5.) 

 regarding the reasons they hunt upland game birds and that reason's importance. The most 

 important reasons for bird hunting related to being outdoors, being in a natural setting, and for 

 the solitude. These were followed by reasons related to hunting i.e. to learn about upland birds, 

 test hunting skills, and for the meat. 



Hunters were also asked to rate the importance of nine reasons why they chose the area they did 

 for their "first" and "last" hunt. As Table 6 shows the top reasons were lots of birds, few 

 hunters, familiarity with the area, to be able to hunt with family and friends, a variety of upland 

 birds and good public access. 



Figures 1 and 2 shows the counties where at least fifty five percent (55%) of the resident and 

 nonresident hunters pursued their winged quarry. Teton, Cascade, Fergus, and Flathead/Lake 

 counties were the most heavily hunted by the sample of resident hunters. Nonresident bird 

 hunters were most likely to hunt Sheridan, Fergus, Phillips or Big Horn counties. 



