An Evaluation of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Learn to Hunt Program: Perspectives from Previous Learn to Hunt Participants and Their Parents

Abstract

The Learn to Hunt Program (LTH) is an educational hunting skills program utilized by many Wisconsin sportsmen's clubs and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a way to encourage first-time hunting participation (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 2007). To better understand the role of LTH as it relates to hunting participation, a comprehensive program evaluation was conducted using a mixed-method approach developed by Holsman and Kool (2011 ). This thesis represents the interview portion of that comprehensive evaluation. Our objective for this portion of the analysis was to identify the motivations for participating in hunting and LTH, and determine what, if any, impact the program had on the decision to hunt in the future. A search of all 2005 and 2006 LTH program registration records paired with hunting license purchase history identified 187 past LTH participant candidates for in-person, standardized, open-ended interviews (Turner III, 2010). The parents of these candidates were mailed a packet approved by the Institutional Review Board and a series of three phone calls was made at various days and times in an attempt to schedule an interview at a location of their choosing (Herzog, 2005). Due to limitations in past, LTH participant registration documentation, this portion of the program evaluation resulted in interviews with twelve past participants and their parents which are fewer than recommended for building a theoretical scheme (Strauss and Corbin 1998). Therefore, the information obtained from these interviews was used as a supplement to other results obtained from the methods used in the overall comprehensive program evaluation (Holsman and Kool, 2011).