CONTACT:
Dan Bergeron: (603) 271-2461
Linda Verville: (603) 271-1122
September 20, 2024

Concord, NH – Five new firearms and one compound bow were recently awarded to six lucky recipients by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Wildlife Division. Winners became eligible for the drawing through participation in one of five hunter surveys conducted throughout the year during the Granite State’s fall 2023 and spring 2024 hunting seasons.

Hunter participation in surveys improves the Department’s wildlife management programs. Knowing what hunters have seen in the field or harvested, as well as having a measure of hunter effort, helps wildlife biologists better develop hunting and trapping seasons that will continue guiding wildlife populations toward healthy and sustainable levels. The NH Fish and Game Department administers five surveys annually which are important to the scientific management of both game and furbearer species: the Deer Hunter Mail Survey, the Small Game Hunter Survey, the Ruffed Grouse Wing and Tail Survey, the Bow Hunter Survey, and the Spring Turkey Hunter Survey.

Congratulations to the latest winners:

  • Evan Monty of NH won an American Rifle with a Vortex Rifle scope donated by Sturm, Ruger and Company for his participation in the 2023 Small Game Hunter Survey.
  • Nicolas Pelillo of NH secured a Charles Daly 601 12-gauge shotgun donated by the Ruffed Grouse Society for his participation in the 2023 Wing and Tail survey.
  • Michael Lannan, Sr. of MA was awarded a Prime Inline bow donated by Prime Archery and Morse Sporting Goods of Hillsborough, NH, for completing the 2023 Bow Hunter Survey.
  • James Slater of NH was awarded a certificate for an American Rifle donated by Sturm, Ruger and Company for responding to the 2023 Deer Hunter Survey.
  • Robert Young, Jr. of NH won a Woodman Arms Patriot Muzzleloader donated by Woodman Arms of Fremont, NH, for participating in the 2023 Deer Hunter Survey.
  • Stuart Bronson of NH earned a Stevens 320 Thumbhole12-gauge shotgun donated by the NH Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation for his participation in the 2024 Spring Turkey Hunter Survey.

The Department values the data supplied by participants and is grateful to the generous donors who support these important hunter surveys. Sturm, Ruger and Company of Newport, NH, has supplied firearms to bolster participation in two different surveys since 1994. The Ruffed Grouse Society, either the national or the state chapter, has furnished a shotgun for the Wing and Tail Survey raffle since its inception in 2005. Woodman Arms of Fremont, NH, has provided a muzzleloader annually since 2015, and the Barn Store of New England, located in Salisbury, NH, assists survey winners in the transfer of their firearms in accordance with federal regulations. Prime Archery in conjunction with Morse Sporting Goods of Hillsborough, NH, have donated compound bows in support of the Bow Hunter Survey, while the NH State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation has donated shotguns and turkey hunting gear since the Spring Turkey Hunter Survey started. The support of these generous contributors’ increases hunter participation in these important surveys.

If you have never participated in these surveys in the past, the Department encourages you to do so this fall. It doesn’t take much time and gives hunters the satisfaction of knowing that they have made an important contribution toward improving species management for the future.

To participate in the Ruffed Grouse Wing and Tail Survey, hunters should pick up survey packets at advertised locations throughout the state. To learn more visit www.wildlife.nh.gov/hunting-nh/small-game-and-upland-bird-hunting/ruffed-grouse-wing-and-tail-survey.

The Small Game Hunter Survey is a survey in diary form that can be completed and submitted by any small game hunter. Prior year participants are automatically mailed a survey for the upcoming year. You can print a survey form from our website by visiting www.huntnh.com or get one by calling 603-271-2461.

The Deer Hunter Mail Survey, Bow Hunter Survey, and Spring Turkey Hunter Survey are mailed to successful prior-year(s) deer and turkey hunters. If you receive one of these surveys in the mail, record your diary data and mail the completed survey by the specified deadline.

Wildlife research and management in New Hampshire is funded in part by the federal Wildlife Restoration Program, a user-pay, user-benefit program supported by your purchases of firearms, ammunition, and archery supplies. Learn more about NH Fish and Game Department funding at www.wildlife.nh.gov/about-new-hampshire-fish-and-game/funding-nh-fish-and-game-department.