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Thank you for your continued interest in Missouri’s managed waterfowl hunt program.
Missouri’s wetlands provide critical habitat for waterfowl and wetland dependent species.
These wetlands also make Missouri a great place to hunt.
In 2010, Quick Draw was launched to offer waterfowl hunters an alternative draw method
based on research that shows a major obstacle for participation in hunting is a lack of time.
Public feedback and data analysis has led to a change for the 2013 waterfowl season.
Over the next couple of minutes we will discuss the change for the 2013 season,
the anticipated affects, the rational for the adjustment,
and Quick Draw beyond 2014.
For the 2013 waterfowl season, we will lower the Quick Draw/Poor Line ratio.
As you know thus far 80% of the hunting spots have been offered to Quick Draw applicants.
And the remaining 20% has been offered to Poor Line.
For the 2013 season we will offer 75% of the hunting spots to Quick Draw applicants.
and the remaining 25% to the Poor Line.
We also considered limiting the number of times a hunter can be drawn per season
through the Quick Draw system; however we decided to not set a limit at this time.
Based on 2012 statistics we believe we can anticipate the affect this change will have on hunting spot allocation.
As you know we currently offer 80% off the hunting spots to Quick Draw hunters,
However, 57% of the hunters who actually go afield are Poor Line hunters,
whereas 43% of the hunters who go afield are Quick Draw hunters.
This is due to the fact that not all Quick Draw hunters actually show up to hunt.
This is really nothing new; we experience several “no shows” for other managed hunts as well.
When we switch to the 75% allocation to Quick Draw,
we anticipate that Poor Line hunters will likely comprise 62% of the hunters that go afield,
whereas 38% of the hunters that go afield will be Quick Draw hunters.
Another change worth noting, when we shift from an 80/20 ratio to a 75/25 ratio,
will be the fact that we’re going to have to also shift from a 5 tiered system to a 4 tiered system.
Under the 5 tiered system, the 80/20 ratio, 1 spot out of every 5 goes to the Poor Line.
However, when we shift to the 75/25 ratio, 1 spot out of every 4 will be designated to the Poor Line.
The rationale for this change really boils down to public feedback.
Since the launch of Quick Draw, the Department has proactively sought public feedback in many ways.
During the pilot over 1,100 comments were received,
the most common recommendation was to lower the Quick Draw/Poor Line ratio.
Additionally, in 2012 a survey was launched.
This survey specifically asked hunters
if they would like to lower the Quick Draw/ Poor Line ratio to favor the Poor Line.
54% of the survey participants recommended lowering the Quick Draw ratio to favor the Poor Line.
Lowering the Quick Draw allocation by 5% may not meet the expectations of all hunters.
However, we believe a modest adjustment is appropriate.
First a modest adjustment will enable us to measure the effect a 5% adjustment has on actual allocation.
Additionally, our next feasible option was a 2/3 : 1/3 ratio
and we were simply hesitant to lower the Quick Draw allocation by 14% in one season.
Additionally, although the majority of survey participants wanted to lower the ratio,
it was not a significant majority.
46% of the respondents did not want to lower the ratio, so a modest adjustment seems appropriate.
Lastly, the popularity of Quick Draw has increased every year since its launch in 2010.
This graph shows an increase in both the number of applications and the number of total unique applicants.
Each hunter, or unique applicant, can apply multiple times with the Quick Draw system.
This graph shows the number of times individual hunters applied.
You’ll note that over 284 hunters applied nearly every single time they possibly could,
but the average hunter applied 23 times throughout the waterfowl season.
This graph shows the draw success rate for one application.
The increased popularity of Quick Draw has led to a decline in the success rate.
This decline also played a role in the decision to make a modest adjustment;
we were hesitant to lower the Quick Draw allocation by 14%
knowing that such a change would likely drastically lower the success rate.
The decision to not limit the number of times a hunter can be drawn per season
was based primarily on the following details.
First and foremost, the Department conducted four focus groups earlier this year.
These focus groups were comprised of a diverse group of waterfowl hunters all across Missouri.
Although consensus was not reached,
generally the focus groups did not view setting a limit as advantageous.
Additionally, based on 2012 statistics setting a limit of 2 draws per season
would only result in an additional 165 spots available
throughout the entire season on all three Quick Draw areas.
And this did not seem significant from a statewide perspective.
Additionally, making this change would have certainly complicated the drawing system significantly.
Now that we discussed the change for the 2013 season,
I’d like to discuss the future of Quick Draw beyond 2014.
For the 2013 and 2014 waterfowl season no additional changes are anticipated.
However, in 2015 the Department plans to conduct a comprehensive review
of the entire managed waterfowl hunt program.
The managed waterfowl hunt program consists of not just the Quick Draw system,
but also the traditional reservation system, the Poor Line,
the every member draw system, and one member draws.
This review will be conducted in conjunction with a comprehensive waterfowl hunter opinion survey.
This survey provides significant insight into the views and opinions of hunters all across Missouri.
As we begin to plan for the future beyond the 2013 waterfowl season,
the Department would like to thank you for your continued interest
in Missouri’s managed waterfowl hunt program.
We would also like to encourage you to continue to actively provide
your insight and views on this program and any program the Department offers.