State and Residency Differences in Hunters' Responses to Chronic Wasting Disease

Abstract

This article examines: (a) the extent to which chronic wasting disease (CWD) may influence individuals to hunt in other states or quit hunting permanently; (b) hunters' acceptance of strategies for managing the disease; and (c) whether hunters' responses differ by residency, species hunted, and state where they hunted. Data were obtained from mail surveys (n = 9,567) of resident and nonresident deer hunters in eight states and elk hunters in three states. Hunters were shown hypothetical scenarios depicting CWD prevalence levels and human death from the disease. At current prevalence levels in some states, few hunters would change their behavior. If conditions worsen (e.g., 50% prevalence across state, human death), up to 18% of hunters would hunt deer or elk in other states and 37% would quit hunting these species. Arizona and North Dakota hunters were most likely to alter their behavior. Given that CWD is not in these states, it may pose a new risk. In Wisconsin, where hunting is a tradition, hunters were least likely to change their behavior. Across most scenarios: (a) hunters were more likely to quit than switch states; (b) residents were more likely to quit and nonresidents would switch states; and (c) CWD testing and herd reduction were acceptable, whereas taking no action was unacceptable.