Sportsmen in Arkansas seem to have taken as much of a liking to technology during hunting season as they have to deer, turkey and fish. Usage of the state’s Game Check app, which allows hunters to report hunted game to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission through their smartphones, is up 330 percent from last year’s hunting season, according to e-government provider NIC.

“The adoption has been unbelievable,” said Janet Grard, general manager for the Information Network of Arkansas. The group’s Facebook page has coincidentally taken off, with fans tallying almost 35,000.

Hunters aren’t the only ones who like on-the-go technology. For college students, another segment that’s most quickly embracing mobile apps, usage of a higher education app developed by Arkansas spiked after it was launched in January. With 12 percent of students using the app through their smartphones to check their college applications, financial aid and scholarship statuses, Grard said it’s clear that students want to access their information on the go.

The rapid increase of mobile app usage among two seemingly disparate groups — hunters and students — is yet another piece of evidence that local and state governments will be developing more interest- and need-based apps in the future, said Robert Knapp, executive vice president of NIC. Niche apps like Game Check and Higher Education are really going to take off in the next couple of years, he said.

Conversely general or information-based apps will begin to be phased out as most people want quick location-based information.

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