In the 1952-53 hunting season, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) began conducting a survey of Federal Duck Stamp purchasers to estimate waterfowl hunter activity and harvest in the United States. That survey was conducted annually through the 2001-02 hunting season, after which it was replaced by a new migratory game bird harvest survey system. In 1992, the FWS and State Fish and Wildlife Agencies (State) established the Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP), which was fully operational nationwide by 1999 (Elden et al. 2002). This cooperative State-Federal program requires licensed migratory game bird hunters to register annually in each state in which they hunt. Each State is responsible for collecting the name, address, and date of birth from each migratory bird hunter, asking each of them a series of general screening questions about their hunting success the previous year, and sending this information to the FWS. The States are also responsible for providing migratory bird hunters with proof of compliance to carry while they are hunting. The FWS is responsible for using these data to conduct annual national migratory game bird hunter activity and harvest surveys.
This report presents hunter activity and harvest estimates from HIP surveys for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 hunting seasons. These estimates are preliminary, pending
