While hunters are increasingly relying on technology, counting on artificial intelligence to double-check hunting season dates and regulations is a terrible idea, say wildlife agency officials and a seasoned Wyoming hunter.
So far this fall, game agents in Idaho have issued a few citations to hunters who were apparently fooled by AI into thinking they were in compliance with the law but weren’t, Idaho Fish and Game spokesman Roger Phillips told Cowboy State Daily.
That includes some duck hunters who were shooting ducks on the wrong day, because AI had told them hunting season was open when it actually wasn’t, he said.
Trust The Regulations, Not AI
Although there’s been only a few instances so far of hunters being fooled by AI, Idaho Fish and Game hopes to get ahead of the problem early, Phillips said.
“It’s one of those things, when it starts to bubble up, we want to alert people to what’s going on,” he said.
The inaccuracy of AI-generated information is also a concern for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, agency spokeswoman Amanda Fry told Cowboy State Daily.
“We are seeing inaccuracies in some AI-generated overviews of our regulations. It is an important reminder to reference our website directly for accurate information on our laws and regulations,” she stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily.
“Hunters and anglers can also call or stop by one of our offices, and we are happy to provide accurate resources and information to set them up for success. We also offer newsletters, news updates, and other information that individuals can sign up to receive to stay up-to-date on the latest from our agency,” she added.
The approved regulations are available on the Game and Fish website.
Scott Weber of Cody, who has hunted for decades in Wyoming and numerous other states, told Cowboy State Daily that he wouldn’t trust AI to keep him from getting crossways with the law.
Official regulations, published yearly by state agencies like Wyoming Game and Fish, are the only way to go, he said.
Relying on an AI-driven internet search “is a crapshoot, regarding whether you’re right or not,” he said.
How Did It Happen?
Regarding how AI steered hunters wrong, Phillips said it’s apparently a case of search engines picking up on key terms, like “opening day in waterfowl hunt area 4,” but out of context.
“Some of our staff did a deep dive into how did this happen?” he said.
In the case of the duck hunting regulations, staff discovered that a search engine pulled proposed hunting season dates that were proposed at some point during commission meetings.
However, different dates were settled on for the published version of the hunting regulations, he said.
So, the duck hunters were tricked by AI into thinking the proposed dates were really the finalized season dates, he said.
In another case, Fish and Game staff discovered that AI had attached inaccurate fishing regulations from another state to a summary of regulations for an Idaho river “with a similar name,” he said.
Every Detail Counts
Weber said he’s also noticed mistakes showing up in internet searches. For instance, one search produced the wrong result for the year when hunting wolves was legalized in Wyoming.
Hunters should be cautious about relying on AI-generated information for any detail related to hunting, such as randomly-generated sunrise and sunset time charts for determining legal shooting hours.
“Many hunters get into big, big trouble and get big, big fines for not looking at the right solar tables (sunrise-sunset charts), he said.
Hunters can’t use a lack of knowledge, or relying on bad information, as an excuse to get out of citations and fines, he said.
“Here’s the thing about that, and game wardens will tell you this, you as a hunter are responsible for knowing all the regulations,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
