It’s not often newspaper people, whether reporters or columnists, are enthusiastic about something new from the government.
I really like the latest application published by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. In March, the agency that governs hunting, fishing, boating and a host of other outdoorsy pastimes released the app which allows an individual to carry their licenses on their phone instead of a crumpled piece of paper likely to be lost or forgotten unlike an expensive piece of electronics.
With a combined 1.7 million fisherman and hunters in the state, the DNR is pleased with participation in the new app as more than 50,000 people have already downloaded the app in the first month since it was launched. According to the DNR’s Jennifer Wisniewski, the agency is on the cutting edge of utilizing technology in this way “it’s kind of everything you need to hunt or fish right there on your phone.”
When Jennifer says everything it’s not even a slight overstatement. In addition to the ability to purchase a license right on your phone or tablet, you can also find the location of every boat ramp in the state, see information on tides, the condition of the seas, get major and minor feeding times for game animals, find official sunrise and sunset at various locations in Georgia, and do the state mandated reporting required when you bag a deer or a turkey right on your phone.
And it doesn’t stop there. This little app will even tell you current hunting and fishing regulations and all of the various seasons around the state. It will give you maps, details and directions to all of Georgia’s Wildlife Management Areas as well as numerous other resources.
Wisniewski tells me the reaction from those who have the app has been “very positive.” She went on to say they “enjoy the tools, and they really like having their license on the phone and they appreciate that an entire family’s licenses can be on a single phone.”
My conversations with people in and around Cumming bear out that opinion. Dennis Bell, 62, of Cumming who just got a smart phone is an app enthusiast.
Same goes for South Forsyth High School junior Dillon Landreneau who says it is helpful and “easier than carrying more paper in your wallet.”
DNR’s Wisniewski said the new app is in keeping with the agency goal of making access to hunting and fishing as easy as possible. I downloaded it and agree that it is a gem.
The Outdoors GA app is free for both iPhones and Android devices.
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