Descriptive Statistics 



Characteristics of waterfowl hunters and the trips they took in 

 1989 and their opinions on waterfowl management issues are 

 examined in Chapter III. Resident hunters drove an average of 

 36.7 miles on their trips and spent $49.35 per trip or $30.84 per 

 day to hunt Montana waterfowl. Nonresidents drove an average of 

 468.9 miles and spent $635.12 per trip or $193.05 per day on 

 their waterfowl hunting trips. A large portion of the Montana 

 Waterfowl Survey dealt with questions on hunters management 

 option preferences. A detailed presentation of responses to 

 these questions can be found in Table 6, Chapter III. 



Valuation of Waterfowl Hunting Trips 



For economic modeling purposes, two contingent valuation method 

 (CVM) questions were asked regarding a specific trip the hunter 

 made during the 1989 waterfowl hunting season. The first 

 question asked the hunter to place a value on either their first 

 or last waterfowl hunting trip of the season. This question 

 asked: 



Suppose that everything about your "FIRST" ("LAST") hunt was 

 the same except your trip costs had been S X more, would 

 you still have made the trip? 



The hunter could answer this dichotomous choice CVM question by 

 checking either Yes or No. The dollar amount $ X was one of 9 

 predetermined bid levels ranging from $ 5 to $ 500. This amount 

 was varied randomly across questionnaires. 



Analysis of responses to this question resulted in a net economic 

 value for the entire sample of $167.88 per trip. The trip values 

 for resident and nonresident hunters were significantly different 

 with resident trips being valued at $126.21 and nonresident trips 

 at $329.48. Analysis of trips to the Pacific and Central Flyways 

 showed that the values for the two areas were significantly 

 different with Central Flyway trips valued at $187.71 and Pacific 

 Flyway trips at $139.68. No significant difference was found 

 between early and late season waterfowl hunting trips. 



Following the "current trip" question above was a dichotomous 

 choice CVM question presenting hunters with hypothetical changes 

 in either their first or last trip of the season and asking them 

 how they would value those changes. The hypothetical question 

 for improved hunting conditions was as follows: 



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