How Smartphone Apps Enhance My Hunting Experiences

I will be the first to admit, I love technology, gadgets and gear—I enjoy trying out the newest advancements and testing to see if they are a solution to a particular problem I have encountered. As an avid hunter, there is not a mobile app, a trail camera or GPS unit that I have not spent time researching to see if it deserves a slot in my cache. The most important of these tools is my smartphone and the various apps I have installed. Smartphone’s impact on outdoor recreation continues to grow every year and for many it’s viewed negatively. I’m here to tell you the positive aspects of using your smartphone in the great outdoors and how, as hunters, we can use it to increase our likelihood of success.

As a hunter, it is crucial to recognize and stay within pre-determined property boundaries and hunting zones. Growing up, I relied on Illinois Department of Natural Resources signage, often outdated property maps, and word-of-mouth from locals at the coffee shop, who, let’s be honest, probably were not giving the most accurate information, to make sure I was in a legal hunting area.

Now I use one of the commercially available apps that allows me to mark all my stand locations, game sightings, property boundaries and a host of other geo-spatial data right there on my phone.

Another huge advantage of utilizing your smartphone in the outdoors is staying connected. No, I’m not talking about staying connected to your Instagram followers, but rather staying connected to nature. Just last month I was on a business trip and had a few hours to waste before heading back to my hotel room. Instead of going to a local coffee shop and aimlessly scrolling through my various social media apps, I opened a mobile app with a database of more than 50,000 different hiking trails with detailed reviews, photos and trail maps curated by users. Within two minutes of opening the app I had a hiking trail picked out and set as my destination for the evening. Not only did I have an enjoyable hike, I also found my new hunting spot for the upcoming deer season.

There is a plethora of smartphone applications that can enhance your outdoor experiences. From reference apps designed for bird and plant identification, to real time USGS water depth data, there truly is an app for everything and everybody. Understanding how to incorporate these apps into to your hunting strategy is often the challenging part. If you are interested in how to use various smartphone applications as a hunter, I urge you to visit the Learn to Hunt website. We have a seminar, “Tools for the Modern Hunter,” where we discuss different smartphone apps and devices that can make you a more effective and time-efficient hunter.

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Dan Stephens is a Hunter Recruitment Specialist with the Illinois Natural History Survey. The Illinois Learn to Hunt program is a statewide program designed to teach adults (18+) why, where and how to hunt a variety of species in Illinois. Visit Illinois Learn to Hunt www.learntohuntil.com for more information or to sign-up for an event near you