Game Bag

Pros

• Powerful hunting journal
• Tracks bags and much more

Cons

• Defunct

Game Bag by Lazy Bayou is a program that game hunters can use to track their outings.

Not all apps are intended to appeal to the masses. Some developers seek their successes catering to a niche audience. That is the case with Lazy Bayou and its Game Bag. It is a program designed for hunters who want to track their outings. Over time, a hunter can build a history using this program, which can allow them to recognize patterns of success as well as patterns of failure.

Game Bag seems like a program ideally suited to Android and iOS so that a hunter could use it on his or her smartphone or tablet. Lazy Bayou, however, never added mobile support. Instead, it supported Windows from the NT/2000 and XP era all the way up to Windows 7. Windows 8 and Windows 10 are not supported directly but may work via compatibility mode.

Game Bag is essentially a hunter-oriented frontend to a database. Every animal bagged can be entered with a wide range of information, including location and characteristics of the animal. The program also lets hunters track weapon specifics. For shotguns, you can indicate gauge. For rifles, you can indicate caliber. For bow hunters, you can indicate arrow type. Other columns already set up for you include animal weight, bullet weight, weapon brand, rack size, weather conditions and so forth.

The program also serves as a diary. A hunter can write notes or entire journal entries, which can then be associated with a particular bag or a weapon brand or whatever. Game Bag also tracks contacts, including hunting partners, state wildlife agencies, federal wildlife agencies, private landowners, hunting clubs and so on. Perhaps Game Bag at its most powerful is when you use it to create reports. You can, for instance, get a snapshot of every buck you bagged in a particular area, which then helps you recognize what has defined your successes and perhaps what has defined your misses.

The biggest issue with Game Bag is that it is no longer supported. Lazy Bayou is the developer and presumably no longer in business since the website is inaccessible. This particular download is a trial version of Game Bag. It gives you 10 uses. After 10 uses, you must opt for a paid upgrade or the app stops working. It is unclear of whether payment would clear and licensing would be upgraded, and even if that does work, we cannot recommend a paid version of an app that is no longer supported.

Pros

• Powerful hunting journal
• Tracks bags and much more

Cons

• Defunct