Weighting Estimates

[Buck1480]

I'm examining hunter effort during a 13-day hunting season (over a two-year period which is actually a total of 26 days; 13 days in year 1 and 13 days in year 2) that is separated into two exposure periods (initial: days 1-3; prolonged: days 4-13) within two treatments (low density and high density). I calculated the total number of hours hunted in each treatment by each period (e.g.,

Day Year Exposure Period Treatment Total Hours Hunted
1 1 1 Low 29:51:00
2 1 1 Low 26:08:00
3 1 1 Low 0:00:00
1 2 1 Low 33:55:00
2 2 1 Low 36:32:00
3 2 1 Low 0:00:00
TOTAL: 126:26:00


Day Year Exposure Period Treatment Total Hours Hunted
4 1 2 Low 7:30:00
5 1 2 Low 31:45:00
6 1 2 Low 27:20:00
7 1 2 Low 27:15:00
8 1 2 Low 12:46:00
9 1 2 Low 0:00:00
10 1 2 Low 0:00:00
11 1 2 Low 22:54:00
12 1 2 Low 27:20:00
4 2 2 Low 7:43:00
5 2 2 Low 34:43:00
6 2 2 Low 35:56:00
7 2 2 Low 29:53:00
8 2 2 Low 0:00:00
9 2 2 Low 0:00:00
10 2 2 Low 2:00:00
11 2 2 Low 0:00:00
12 2 2 Low 26:52:00
13 2 2 Low 26:31:00
TOTAL: 320:28:00




Hunters observe fewer animals during the prolonged exposure period and I want to determine if this could be due to a reduction in total hours hunted. What would be the best way to answer this question? My original thoughts were to calculate average hours hunted by dividing the total number hours by number of days (e.g., initial exposure: 126:26:00 / 6 days = 21:04:20; prolonged exposure: 320:28:00 / 20 days = 16:01:24). My only question is whether the average hours hunted per day needs to be weighted by number of days? If so, how can this be done? Overall, I need to know whether hunted hours is the sole cause of fewer animals being observed. Thank you very much!