Hunting Seasons Survived Code

This code is used in encounter data to indicate the number of hunting seasons experienced by a game bird after it was banded. Although the number of seasons may be roughly equivalent to the age of the bird in years if it was banded as an HY or L, one cannot assume that they are equal. For example, a bird banded in October 1988 and shot in October 1989 would have experienced (but not necessarily survived) two hunting seasons.

The hunting season survived (HSS) code is calculated as follows:

• for birds recovered January 1 through July, it is computed as the difference between the year banded and the year recovered.

• for birds recovered August 1 through December, it is computed as the difference between the year of banding and recovery plus 1.

• for birds recovered with letter dates (day code 51-81), or "how obtained" codes 50, 56, and 98, no calculation of "hunting season survived" code can be made; a value of 99 is assigned to these records.

• for birds recovered with some inexact date codes (e.g. "summer" or "winter") no calculation can be made and a value of 98 is assigned to the recovery record.

Minimum Age at Encounter

This field is calculated to determine the minimum age of a bird in years and months at time of encounter based on the difference between the date and age it was banded and the date it was encountered. The decimal value translates to years and months (e.g. 12.25 = 12 years 3 months).

The latest hatch month is assumed to be June unless indicated otherwise below and the hatching year is calculated as follows:

• Birds banded as age Hatching Year (HY), Local (L), or Unknown (U) are assumed to have a hatch year equal to the banding year. If banded prior to June, the banding month is assumed as the hatch month.
  
  
• Birds banded as age After Hatching Year (AHY) or Second Year (SY) are assumed to have a hatch year 1 year prior to the banding year (banding year - 1).
  
  
• Birds banded as age After Second Year (ASY) or Third Year (TY) are assumed to have a hatch year 2 years prior to the banding year (banding year - 2).
  
  
• Birds banded as age After Third Year (ATY) are assumed to have a hatch year 3 years prior to the banding year (banding year - 3).
  
  
• for encounter records with letter dates (day code 51-81), or "how obtained" codes 50, 56, 70, and 98, no calculation of "minimum age at encounter" code can be made; no value is assigned to these records.
  
  
• for encounter records with some inexact date codes (e.g. "summer", "winter", or "hunting season") the calculation assumes the encounter month to be the beginning of the season.