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At home scouting

e1han

e1han

Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2019
Messages
99
Location
SE Michigan
How do you guys scout from home? Trying my hand at scouting from aerial and topographic maps, but in all honesty I'm not really sure what to be looking for. I get the idea of finding food sources, water, bedding, etc. But how do you map where you believe these deer are moving and bedding down just from maps?
 
I use a variety of mapping apps between patients at the office. Gmap-pedometer, google earth, HuntStand, and ArcGis on my tablet. Often got the laptop, phone and tablet up on different maps.

I look for “edges” between terrain types as a starting point. Using different filters and time lapse features I can tell if it’s hardwoods, thickets, or cedars, etc. I also look for elevation and topi info for insight into bedding areas.

I then try to see topo or environmental features that funnel and either lay between bedding and food or between doe bedding areas(rut hunting).

All this is merely speculation tho until you actually get boots on the ground and confirm what your seeing
 
Topo layer on OnX maps will be your best friend. Look for funnels, and transmission areas. This will be like a line of two different types of trees. Deer live in transistions.
Below is a couple of pics from OnX showing the different layers and how much you can see with topo layers. Hope this helps.
Screenshot_20190925-213951_onX Hunt.jpg
Screenshot_20190925-214021_onX Hunt.jpg
 
pinch.jpg
This is a new spot I had never been on the ground, but had looked at in advance to plan a hunt. It was during rifle season that this hunt/scout trip occurred. I use Google Earth Pro. It's super easy to pin points from home on my Garmin GPS or download my tracks from my Garmin GPS when I get home along with any way points I saved during the day. I really wanted to scout this swamp and pinch between swamp areas but sometimes it's better to check the perimeter areas first. Notice the land bridge labeled pinch tr that separates the two parts of the swamp. You can literally zoom in(while in google maps pro, not on this saved photo) and see deer trails in the swamp to find bedding/travel areas. This was an actual hunt I did with my son we still hunted from the upper northeast spot on the blue track. His track is not on here but would have been south of mine by .10 mile and while I climbed the hill that is labeled "Buck?" he was still hunting toward a predetermined watch in the valley that is the most western point on the map. He only saw does when I came down to him but we learned much about this piece that day. On the way back toward camp we still hunted across the pinch and again learned much about how it relates to the deer travel. Hope this helps...The green lines are the state public land and the private land I have permission to hunt.
 
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Dan infalt puts out great information on Cyber scouting. Using his methods you can narrow down the areas that you actually need to walk through to around 10 percent of the property. I have watched his info on this many times and still do. Id recommend looking it up if you havent
 
KYHunter said:
I use a variety of mapping apps between patients at the office. Gmap-pedometer, google earth, HuntStand, and ArcGis on my tablet. Often got the laptop, phone and tablet up on different maps.

I look for “edges” between terrain types as a starting point. Using different filters and time lapse features I can tell if it’s hardwoods, thickets, or cedars, etc. I also look for elevation and topi info for insight into bedding areas.

I then try to see topo or environmental features that funnel and either lay between bedding and food or between doe bedding areas(rut hunting).

All this is merely speculation tho until you actually get boots on the ground and confirm what your seeing
Click to expand...

All of the times I have had to wait on a doctor/dentist in my life, I never considered that he was sitting at his desk cyber scouting. I would have been a lot more understanding if I would have known. :)
 
I'll be honest, I really only use a map to get a feel for things. I still end up walking the whole property usually.

Sometimes the places that hold deer don't look like anything on a map. This is especially true for large tracts of timber. And nowadays using a topo or aerial is pretty common. It's not really an edge anymore. Gotta stay one step ahead.

Saddles, water access, bikes, and maps aren't really an advantage over other hunters any more in most areas. The arms race never stops. Sweat equity and time in the woods are the two things that most people can't expend enough of. Always has been, always will be. If you can be in the woods more, that's the easiest way to "get ahead."

That's why I moved onto the local WMA. :)
 
GCTerpfan said:
All of the times I have had to wait on a doctor/dentist in my life, I never considered that he was sitting at his desk cyber scouting. I would have been a lot more understanding if I would have known. :)
Click to expand...
Haha guilty!!
 
@Nutterbuster makes a great point. For example, I found what I thought was good bedding cover based on satellites and what not. Walked it today and it most definitely wasn’t.

It takes getting out there and seeing it.
 
Nutterbuster said:
I'll be honest, I really only use a map to get a feel for things. I still end up walking the whole property usually.

Sometimes the places that hold deer don't look like anything on a map. This is especially true for large tracts of timber. And nowadays using a topo or aerial is pretty common. It's not really an edge anymore. Gotta stay one step ahead.

Saddles, water access, bikes, and maps aren't really an advantage over other hunters any more in most areas. The arms race never stops. Sweat equity and time in the woods are the two things that most people can't expend enough of. Always has been, always will be. If you can be in the woods more, that's the easiest way to "get ahead."

That's why I moved onto the local WMA. :)
Click to expand...
Totally agree and do plan on getting into the woods, just trying to narrow down from 3,000 acres of public land to a more manageable number for boots on the ground scouting.
 
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