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Spartan Forge Platform Now Offers LIDAR

Bwhana

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Dec 8, 2017
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Hickory, NC
This may be helpful where you live, but looking at my properties, it is still not detailed enough to help. Topo still shows more detail here.

Also, for topo, I need 2ft contours by one of these companies without having to manipulate GIS downloads. 10 ft is not detailed enough!
 

BTaylor

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SH Member
Oct 23, 2019
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Central Arkansas
This may be helpful where you live, but looking at my properties, it is still not detailed enough to help. Topo still shows more detail here.

Also, for topo, I need 2ft contours by one of these companies without having to manipulate GIS downloads. 10 ft is not detailed enough!
Look at any spot here in Arkansas for an idea of what it will look like when your area gets loaded. It is super detailed. I have looked at known topo features in areas I hunt that are less than 2 feet and show like 40 foot ridge.
 
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BackSpasm

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Apr 10, 2019
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This may be helpful where you live, but looking at my properties, it is still not detailed enough to help. Topo still shows more detail here.

Also, for topo, I need 2ft contours by one of these companies without having to manipulate GIS downloads. 10 ft is not detailed enough!
Here is a screenshot from a place a have hunted before. That dimple in the middle is a very small ~5 foot waterfall in that valley that is plain as day on LIDAR and invisible on any other layer. You can also see a bench there running along the left hillside, that is from an old field but the entire hillside is forested for over 50 years. That is about a 3 foot elevation change you are seeing there. Not to mention to the bottom right you can see those cliffs that are invisible on topo. Lots of info here that is hard to get elsewhere. I was using a GIS mapping software before and using county data to get this same result and now it is at my fingertips on my phone. Pretty legitScreenshot 2023-09-11 at 4.24.51 PM.png
 

Bwhana

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SH Member
Dec 8, 2017
2,291
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Hickory, NC
Here is a screenshot from a place a have hunted before. That dimple in the middle is a very small ~5 foot waterfall in that valley that is plain as day on LIDAR and invisible on any other layer. You can also see a bench there running along the left hillside, that is from an old field but the entire hillside is forested for over 50 years. That is about a 3 foot elevation change you are seeing there. Not to mention to the bottom right you can see those cliffs that are invisible on topo. Lots of info here that is hard to get elsewhere. I was using a GIS mapping software before and using county data to get this same result and now it is at my fingertips on my phone. Pretty legitView attachment 90469

I have used LIDAR and detailed contours for many moons. On this map, there is nothing of value on Spartan Forge vs other apps unless you use GIS data with 2 ft contours, which shows things not showing on Spartan Forge’s LiDAR map.
d090b8d7fc1c3c3365ad0be2269ade1f.jpg
 

BackSpasm

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Apr 10, 2019
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Tennessee
I have used LIDAR and detailed contours for many moons. On this map, there is nothing of value on Spartan Forge vs other apps unless you use GIS data with 2 ft contours, which shows things not showing on Spartan Forge’s LiDAR map.
d090b8d7fc1c3c3365ad0be2269ade1f.jpg
Looks like your area isnt complete yet... or it may still even be loading when I am on a slow connection the lidar takes a long time to populate. Very interesting observation that the coverage may not be 100% yet
 

woodsdog2

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Jun 28, 2019
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I hunt in a lot of hilly terrain and am very interested in this. How does this compare with OnX’s hill side shading features? Also, is anybody using OnX’s Terrain X ?(In beta testing phase currently)
 

BTaylor

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Oct 23, 2019
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Central Arkansas
I hunt in a lot of hilly terrain and am very interested in this. How does this compare with OnX’s hill side shading features? Also, is anybody using OnX’s Terrain X ?(In beta testing phase currently)
Havent used the one you mentioned but the SF map is more like a super defined Caltopo.
 
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87v6bird

Member
Jul 25, 2020
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AL
I hunt in a lot of hilly terrain and am very interested in this. How does this compare with OnX’s hill side shading features? Also, is anybody using OnX’s Terrain X ?(In beta testing phase currently)

LiDAR and Slope angle shading are two different things that sometimes tell you the same information. Slope angle shading only really works in hilly/mountainous terrain. It shows you pinches and benches you might otherwise miss looking at a topo map. Because it's colored, it's good at drawing your eye to these areas. Depending on the detail, LiDAR shows you those things but in much flatter terrain. I.E. I can pick out a beaver dam crossing a creek. You have to get more accustomed to seeing the map though .Detail of the LiDAR is critical though otherwise it's not much more useful than a standard topo.
 

BackSpasm

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Apr 10, 2019
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Tennessee
LiDAR and Slope angle shading are two different things that sometimes tell you the same information. Slope angle shading only really works in hilly/mountainous terrain. It shows you pinches and benches you might otherwise miss looking at a topo map. Because it's colored, it's good at drawing your eye to these areas. Depending on the detail, LiDAR shows you those things but in much flatter terrain. I.E. I can pick out a beaver dam crossing a creek. You have to get more accustomed to seeing the map though .Detail of the LiDAR is critical though otherwise it's not much more useful than a standard topo.

Will also point out that spartan forge has slope angle shading you can overlay on top of the LiDAR
 

bigmike23

Well-Known Member
Jan 29, 2020
1,701
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NE PA
Interesting and Ill check it out. Onxs 3d maps with exaggeration has been huge for me. Found a lot of hidden nooks and crannies with it.
 

Nutterbuster

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SH Member
Oct 12, 2017
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Where the skys are so blue!
Alright, I kicked a 13 year relationship with HuntStand to the curb in favor of Spartan Forge, strictly for the lidar. Several questions after a couple of hunts.

1. Can you filter displayed pins? On huntstand you can opt to just show, say, deer sightings. Or just rubs and scrapes. Or strictly wood duck sightings. Not seeing that on Spartan Forge.

2. Can anybody explain or link to a detailed explanation of where Spartan Forge is pulling rut date information, and what data they are basing their Movement and Pattern metric on?

3. I made one offline map without issues. Tried repeatedly on two different days to make another one. Keep getting "Cannot Create Offline Map" error. Any troubleshooting tips?
 

Rutman

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SH Member
Dec 11, 2021
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NW Georgia
Alright, I kicked a 13 year relationship with HuntStand to the curb in favor of Spartan Forge, strictly for the lidar. Several questions after a couple of hunts.

1. Can you filter displayed pins? On huntstand you can opt to just show, say, deer sightings. Or just rubs and scrapes. Or strictly wood duck sightings. Not seeing that on Spartan Forge.

2. Can anybody explain or link to a detailed explanation of where Spartan Forge is pulling rut date information, and what data they are basing their Movement and Pattern metric on?

3. I made one offline map without issues. Tried repeatedly on two different days to make another one. Keep getting "Cannot Create Offline Map" error. Any troubleshooting tips?

Were you able to transfer all your pin locations, trails from HuntStand to SF?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

87v6bird

Member
Jul 25, 2020
52
86
18
34
AL
Alright, I kicked a 13 year relationship with HuntStand to the curb in favor of Spartan Forge, strictly for the lidar. Several questions after a couple of hunts.

1. Can you filter displayed pins? On huntstand you can opt to just show, say, deer sightings. Or just rubs and scrapes. Or strictly wood duck sightings. Not seeing that on Spartan Forge.

2. Can anybody explain or link to a detailed explanation of where Spartan Forge is pulling rut date information, and what data they are basing their Movement and Pattern metric on?

3. I made one offline map without issues. Tried repeatedly on two different days to make another one. Keep getting "Cannot Create Offline Map" error. Any troubleshooting tips?

1. The "My Content" tab at the bottom let's you filter but not quite like you're asking. I figure you've already seen this. Given the relatively new nature of Spartan Forge it may be worth an email to ask.

2. Having listened to a few podcasts with them on it, they're going to tell you the algorithm is proprietary. They don't say where all their data comes from, presumably some is publicly available because it comes from research other data they've indicated they signed NDA's to get.

3. You're going to have some layer turned on that it can't/isn't allowed to download but you get no feedback on which layer it is. It's annoying. I had the same problem.
 

Nutterbuster

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Oct 12, 2017
10,069
24,822
113
Where the skys are so blue!
1. The "My Content" tab at the bottom let's you filter but not quite like you're asking. I figure you've already seen this. Given the relatively new nature of Spartan Forge it may be worth an email to ask.

2. Having listened to a few podcasts with them on it, they're going to tell you the algorithm is proprietary. They don't say where all their data comes from, presumably some is publicly available because it comes from research other data they've indicated they signed NDA's to get.

3. You're going to have some layer turned on that it can't/isn't allowed to download but you get no feedback on which layer it is. It's annoying. I had the same problem.
Thanks. Not being able to filter rut sign from deer sightings is gonna get really old, really fast. As well as not being to isolate sign within a time frame.
 
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Westdesign03

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Nov 3, 2019
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Ohio
There’s a number of things I like about Hunt Stand that SF doesn’t have so I keep and use both. They both have their benefits and drawbacks I feel like.
 

krub6b

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SH Member
Sep 5, 2019
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Missouri
Does anyone put any stock in SF's machine predictions of deer movement?
So far I haven't seen a prediction that was mind blowing to me, seems to confirm what looking at the ten day forecast has already told me. I have seen some significant variations from my house to the farm I hunt 13 miles as the crow flies away, that could be explained by the difference between a sub-rural and truly rural area, but I'm not sure about that
 
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