Why a Blackberry is a Necessary Device for Hunters

I was thinking about how much I love my Blackberry cell phone. I don’t really have to defend my need for it with my “other” business, but what about the “bird-dog” business? So, I thought I would put together a list of the things I use my Blackberry for in the bird dog business.

1. The obvious e-mail and telephone communications.
2. It contains a fairly good camera. I already have it with me as a communication device, so in a pinch, I use the camera to get shots of a dog on point, etc.
3. It contains a video recorder and I’ve used it to capture some great video moments in the field!
4. Excellent mapping applications. Besides coming with standard Blackberry mapping applications, I also make use of the Google Maps and Garmin Mobile applications. I love the Garmin Mobile application for spoken directions, etc., but also use Google maps satellite views for tons of things for hunting. I can watch the satellite view while I walk an edge and know exactly where I am and what is ahead. I love this!
5. Pretending I am at work while out training or hunting… lol. No, not really, but my coworkers and I all communicate via Google Talk, which I also have on my BB. I’ve been out hunting many times while signed in to Google Talk and carried on many IM conversations and no one knew the difference. They thought I was tied to my desk as usual. Note: I am a contractor, so it’s not like I am skipping work. I just like to be available at all times, if possible. I am even able to edit Word and Excel documents on the phone then send them off via e-mail. 🙂 Oh my, isn’t that so cool? You have no idea how many times I’ve stopped… put my gun down… taken off my gloves… edited a document or spreadsheet, and sent it off… resuming hunting within minutes. 🙂
6. Send updates to this blog, facebook, twitter, picasa, etc. With all of the fantastic applications, I can easily update this blog or send status reports to any of the social networking sites.
7. An amazing application I have added to my arsenal is one called Vlingo. Get this–this application not only reads aloud my incoming text and/or e-mails, but I can also push a button and speak telling it to do just about anything–just by speaking! I can leave the gun, checkcord, leash, what-have-you in my hands (with the gloves on), just press a “hot” button and tell it what I need it to do. I can tell it to call someone, text-message someone, e-mail someone, google-search something! Then, it is so smart that it puts my voice-spoken words into text and sends the message or e-mail. It is absolutely amazing! LOVE IT! Check out Vlingo.

   

8. While traveling, there are all sorts of applications available for finding the best gasoline prices, a restaurant or store, etc. One of my favorites is called Poynt.
9. Audio books. Yes, you can get audio books on CD or right on your desktop computer, but I enjoy putting them on my Blackberry. I can listen to a book or a podcast anytime, then and even download new ones while traveling, etc. And, while I do have a fabulous iPod Touch, it does not automatically download new podcasts daily, while my Blackberry does! That just doesn’t make sense to me–wouldn’t you think an “iPod” would handle “Podcasts” better than a Blackberry? Crazy.

   

10. Weather anytime, anywhere and of course even radar maps. I have a few weather apps, but my favorite is currently  Weatherbug.

Now there are iPhones, Android, and Windows smart phones that also have all of these applications. I am a Blackberry die-hard, so have only touched on the applications that make my life and business easier. It is amazing to me that I can be in the “wilderness” hunting and still be able to enjoy being able to run a business at the same time.

So, for you outdoors folks, what are your favorite apps?