Are harvest reports even a useful tool for wdfw / us hunters ???

[ML_Hunter]

Yet the funny thing is I absolutely don't use harvest reports as a guidline to where I want to hunt.  I still scout using my two feet.

...and a camera lens apparently  

Fill it out accurately.  WDFW may make decisions to close areas, shorten seasons, or not have a hunting season at all if folks don't fill out the report accurately .  I typically fill mine out the day of my harvest.  If for any other reason, just so that I do not forget 

[danceswitharrows]

I report honestly 
As to unit 121, no deer there

[huntnnw]

never killed anything 

[MADMAX]

I talked to a couple of guys in Raymond this year while on an elk hunt , They just started laughing about harvest reports when I talked about success percentages.
They said do you really fill that out and send it in ?
I told them I did and accurately reported the GMU, but I guess looking at their reaction to me telling them that, under or not reporting, just to skew stats, is not something I ever thought much about before this year.

[dirty24d]

I talked to a couple of guys in Raymond this year while on an elk hunt , They just started laughing about harvest reports when I talked about success percentages.
They said do you really fill that out and send it in ?
I told them I did and accurately reported the GMU, but I guess looking at their reaction to me telling them that, under or not reporting, just to skew stats, is not something I ever thought much about before this year.

Same here, that why i started this poll. I have a feeling that its a pretty darn widespread practice of not reposrting accurate info or just reporting no animal killed.

[MADMAX]

Guess so
They said they don't want others to be able to see where all the animals are being taken because of overcrowding.
Trust me and I am sure you agree its no secret which units hold the majority of elk.
I'll still report accurately at least at the GMU level

[Skyvalhunter]

Well atleast we know the special permit people have to report accurately

[elkslayer069]

I hate the reporting system i lie and make *censored* up year after year. What really get me fired up is people i talk to in the woods have nothing to talk about but the number of people hunted there and what they killed and how many bulls were taken and what success rates are its a bunch a BS. Get off the couch and do your own scouting.

[granola/hippyslayer]

i only use it to see where the huge concentrations of hunters are. huge suprizes

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

When more animals are reported harvested in an area, the WDFW assumes that the population is steady, or increasing, and will allow a larger harvest,
if the harvest is dropping, they assume the opposite, and restrict the harvest,
so if you report falsely stating that you hunted in a different unit, that unit will have more permits, or some other type of change in the next 3 year cycle (WDFW Rule-making)
and the one you are actually hunting in will lose permits and opportunity, if you don't want crowds, I guess it could work in your favor...........
I tell the truth, because I just cannot seem to think about lying until its too late, and I like having other hunters in my area, because I go were they don't, and try to use other hunters to my advantage.
When you are working a Bull Elk, and he wont cross an opening because of road-hunters, or guys talking, or even walking down a road..........
I actually met a guy last year that confused me by talking about all the trails in an area with few trails (other than game trails), until I realized he meant roads that were gated he was walking on.......

[Practical Approach]

Well atleast we know the special permit people have to report accurately

Not completely,  they don't have to report that they got an animal...  WDFW doesn't always get a chance to follow up with the hunter if they don't voluntarily report their harvest.

[Packers10]

Actually there is this neat little coefficient in statistics called a confidence interval....and believe it or not, it is used to measure the accuracy of an estimate.  The great thing about a confidence interval is that it can be easily determined from a smaller subset of data....basically the WDFW has pretty good data indicating how many people lie versus tell the truth on their harvest reports.  The large volume of data that the WDFW gets from the harvest reports is invaluable. 

[Practical Approach]

Actually there is this neat little coefficient in statistics called a confidence interval....and believe it or not, it is used to measure the accuracy of an estimate.  The great thing about a confidence interval is that it can be easily determined from a smaller subset of data....basically the WDFW has pretty good data indicating how many people lie versus tell the truth on their harvest reports.  The large volume of data that the WDFW gets from the harvest reports is invaluable. 

Ok, so where does the states data fall in this confidence interval.  What data or surveys are they using to determine liars vs non liars?  I agree harvest reports are helpful tools, but I would question the states accuracy in determining whether people are lying or not. 

[Packers10]

Actually there is this neat little coefficient in statistics called a confidence interval....and believe it or not, it is used to measure the accuracy of an estimate.  The great thing about a confidence interval is that it can be easily determined from a smaller subset of data....basically the WDFW has pretty good data indicating how many people lie versus tell the truth on their harvest reports.  The large volume of data that the WDFW gets from the harvest reports is invaluable. 

Ok, so where does the states data fall in this confidence interval.  What data or surveys are they using to determine liars vs non liars?  I agree harvest reports are helpful tools, but I would question the states accuracy in determining whether people are lying or not. 

I don't know, and I don't know.  All I know is a little bit about statistics, and I can tell you that by sampling a subset of data, for instance asking 10 people if they lied or not, is a rather accurate way of getting a confidence interval.  It really works well, people actually tell you if they lied - just look back at the posts on here ....think of the political polls and how accurate they are (people lie about how they voted too).  They don't poll very many people to get that level of accuracy and they have developed confidence intervals by asking if people have lied or not.  I'm just saying the data the state collects should be pretty darn accurate - how they use it is another thing entirely.

[Jack Diamond]

Hunters Lie?? OMG.