THE VALUE OF INCREASING THE LENGTH OF DEER SEASON IN OHIO

Abstract

Growing deer populations are controlled through changes in hunting regulations including changes in both hunter bag limits and season length. Such action results in direct benefits to hunters and indirect benefits to motorists and the agricultural sector as a lower deer population leads to fewer incidences of human-deer encounters. Traditional recreation demand models are often employed to examine the welfare implications of changes in daily hunting bag limits. Studies measuring the effects of changes in season length, however, are noticeably absent from the literature. This study uses a nested random utility model to examine hunter choice over site and season selection to derive the welfare implications of changes in season length.random utility models, recreation, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,