For some waterfowl hunting situations, tides--and your understanding of how and when they rise and fall--play a major role in your success or failure. The Internet is an obvious source for such information.

Information Is King
Regardless of how you feel about the topic of Internet scouting, it's difficult to argue with the fact that the primary purpose of the Internet is the dissemination of information to the masses. Likewise, it's easy to see that the 'Net does offer the waterfowler a vast pool of resources from which to draw. These resources, as I call them, are the "C's":

Current and constantly updated information. I'm continually amazed at just how much information is available via the 'Net. Yes, there's a lot of separating the truths from the untruths, but this is an ability you can develop and hone with time.

One of the Internet's most positive attributes, and one of particular importance to waterfowlers, is that the information superhighway spans the ages. The novice just breaking into waterfowling, who needs to know what and where and, most important, how, can find an almost infinite amount of information. Chat rooms and forums can be of great significance to the new guy in terms of developing a fundamental waterfowling education. A question is raised and a thousand responses given; all the newcomer must do is read and then ask questions.

Even if you're a veteran, with the click of a mouse the 'Net features electronic opportunities to advance through hunting's various stages. Whether it's building your own layout boat, carving your first canvasback decoy or doing the taxidermy on that beautiful drake harlequin, it's all there at your fingertips.

It's the 'Net's timeliness and continual revisions and updates that attract many waterfowlers to the realm of cyberspace. Today's weather right now. Tomorrow's weather today. It's available immediately, and it's of major significance to any duck hunter who travels. Migration reports, river levels, tide tables, even temporary road closures or detours can all be found, monitored and noted.

SURF'S UP

There are 1 million-plus waterfowl hunting-related websites already in existence, or so it seems, with new ones coming on line every day. For example, a Google search for "duck hunting" turned up 1.86 million possibilities. Adding the word "scouting" to the mix narrowed the choices somewhat--only 492,000 there!--but still offered a lifetime's worth of cyberspace sifting. The following includes a short list of my regular stops along the "Information Flyway." These sites offer precisely what I'm searching for in terms of pre-hunt data. >>State fish and wildlife websites are fantastic places to start and will provide the skinny on regulations, licenses, public lands, and interoffice contacts such as wildlife area supervisors, biologists and refuge managers. >>The Duck Hunter's Refuge (www.duckhunter.net) is a have-all waterfowl hunting website that includes individual state forums and on-topic/off-topic sections such as decoy carving, taxidermy and outdoor cooking. However, as with many forum-based websites, the trick with The Refuge is to separate fact from fiction--believe me, there's a lot of fiction out there. >>Avery Outdoors (www.averyoutdoors.com) is one of several manufacturer websites highlighting the company's products. However, Avery's site offers a forum featuring waterfowl and outdoor related topics, and it offers users the opportunity to chat with knowledgeable hunting professionals such as Fred Zink, Shawn Stahl, Field Hudnall, Chad Belding and a long list of others. >>National Weather Service (www.nws.noaa.gov). Duck hunters live by the weather, and the NWS provides everything a waterfowler needs and more. By the day, week or the month, it doesn't matter; if it's weather, it's here. >>Waterfowler.com (www.waterfowler.com) and Duck Hunting Chat (www.duckhuntingchat.com) are similar in subject and scope to The Duck Hunter's Refuge and are good places to compare notes and gather information if you're willing and able to separate the wheat from the chaff. >>Conservation organizations such as Ducks Unlimited (www.ducks.org) or delta waterfowl (www.deltawaterfowl.org) really don't need an explanation. You can join online, but you'll also find migration reports, waterfowl population updates, current events, outdoor news and a wealth of how-to information from some of the most recognized names in waterfowling. >>River levels from the U.S. Geological Survey (www.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt). It's always good to know how your favorite river is behaving, but it's also important to know what it's going to do in terms of rise and fall in the future. This interactive site allows point-and-click access to info such as flood stage, crest, flow data and more, all updated every fifteen to sixty minutes. >>Tide tables (www.saltwatertides.com). To saltwater gunners, tides are everything, and while I hope that this electronic version never replaces DOT's convenient Tide Table book. >>U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (www.fws.gov). They're called migratory waterfowl for a reason. To keep track of the birds as they hopscotch from one refuge to another, the Fish & Wildlife Service's website is the go-to place. You might have to do a little digging to find the information you're looking for, but it's there. Refuge counts, incidentally, are generally updated weekly. >>Google Earth (www.earth.google.com), Terraserver (www.terraserver.com), TopoZone (topozone.com). Spy technology capable of pinpointing the whereabouts of individual ducks? Yeah. Locating potential--where birds either are or might be--is an important element of scouting, and few tools are more valuable than aerial photography, satellite imagery and topographical mapping. Subscription costs associated with some of these sites is money well spent.

Convenience. As a writer, I find the Internet to be the epitome of convenience. As a waterfowler, I've discovered that bobbing and weaving through cyberspace can, and does, save me time and money. For example, before I've traveled to another state, I've been able to purchase hunting licenses with a few clicks of the mouse and a credit card. While logged onto a particular state wildlife agency's website, I can register to be notified of all noteworthy news releases and breaking information via e-mail. Thus, I'm not only licensed, but I'm constantly informed and updated.

Camaraderie. During the past two decades, the Internet has grown into a virtual duck blind or goose pit, where individuals posting their stories can take others through the pre-season, the hunt and the post-hunt remembrance and celebration. Wildlife managers share in these cyber-outings, too. So do waterfowl biologists, field veterans, newbies, men, women, children, good hunters and some not-so-good hunters.

Unmasked, the Internet is really just story-telling for the 21st century. Some contributors say little or nothing about where they hunted and speak only of the hunting experience itself. Others, fueled by any number of reasons, share volumes. The 'Net offers the modern waterfowler so incredibly much in terms of discovery, but your pleasure or dissatisfaction depends entirely on what you put into it--or what you don't.