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GPS can be a life safer, and it can also give what some say an unfair advantage.
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I’m a huge fan of technology.
However, it’s not that I understand how Global Positioning Satellite units can process locations via satellite transmissions and guide a user to a pin-pointed location. I’m the kind of guy who can misplace, but not necessarily lose, a set of car keys multiple times during the course of a day. But like most, I am intrigued by the latest gadgetry.
There’s been debate for decades about technological advances and how they help hunters and anglers in their pursuit of game and fish. One current issue generating considerable attention is spinning wing decoys. The essence of the debate is whether spinning-wing decoys are too effective; that they give hunters too much of an advantage.
I’m not going to tackle the direct effects of that technology, which is done more effectively through controlled research and professional studies.
One technological advance has greatly influenced hunting and fishing, but you don’t hear much about it, because it isn’t some device that helps find game or make some field task easier. That’s the internet or world wide web.
Actually, some people may be reading this column via the Web. I’m a huge fan of this technology and one of my favorite uses is to read newspapers and gather information from across the state.
The internet has also generated a stream of users with common interests such as hunting and fishing. Through the click of a mouse, outdoors users can access information from across the globe, such as research reports and studies, hunting and fishing reports, stocking lists, recipes, information on the latest gadgetry, and more wait beyond the screen. For many, it’s information overload.
One segment of this information resource that really has me scratching my head is those hunting and fishing reports. They take coffee-shop bragging to an unprecedented level. A user can post pictures and details of a hunting or fishing outing on the web, and in a matter of minutes an urban legend is created.
What puzzles me is that the same people who post their prowess often give away their secret spots or methods in the process. Whatever happened to people keeping their hunting and fishing spots to themselves?
Do you recall how information was generated in years past? Hunters and anglers spent days a field scouting and hunting. Word traveled slowly, or at least slower than now. From watering holes to bait shops to phone calls, the latest hot tips jumped county lines, but many times the reports were stale by the time word was out.
With electronic communications like the internet – and including cell phones – a hot perch bite can take a quiet pond and turn it into a bee-hive of activity in just hours. And the people who bragged of catching limits with no one around wonder where everybody came from to ruin their fishing.
You’ve heard the saying that “a secret is something you tell people one at a time.” Well, it used to be a cup of coffee was acceptable tender for information on where the ducks were or what the fish were biting on. Nowadays, it seems a faction of hunters and anglers revel in posting the first report on a great bite or a late night mallard migration into the area.
The question I ask myself is, what changed? Why do hunters and anglers, not all mind you, but some, jump at the chance to post their reports? I know, we all enjoy telling stories and bragging a bit, but mostly only among our close friends and relatives. Used to be that most hunters were wary about passing on a little too much information outside their own little circle.
Then again, some use the internet to direct attention away from their favorite areas, by posting false reports. While most people relay information simply to be helpful, and some enjoy creating a legend of their outdoors prowess, when gathering information from chat rooms, blogs or whatever, it’s best to be a little suspicious of most everything you see, hear or read.
When it comes to hunting and fishing reports, that advice has been around a lot longer than the internet ... and perhaps even longer than the telephone.
Leier is a biologist with the Game and Fish Dept. He can be reached via email: dleier@state.nd.us
Photo credits to the ND Game and Fish Department
