How people read and perceive contemporary maps is one of the greatest progress when it comes to changes in the world of hunting.
For most, it’s a long time to look at the physical map. GPS units had their moment, but now using digital maps at home on a laptop or via the application on a smartphone during the stay in the field have become the preferred route for many.
Hunters can get information about a private landowner, set points and songs, see the angles of inclination and switch between 2D and 3D images to examine how the area is set, download maps on the phone to operate in areas without cell reception and clearly see private and public land borders.
It does not replace what the hunter can learn from scouting on Earth, but digital mapping applications are certainly a great starting point. They also assist hunters sheltered and probably enter areas where they could be afraid otherwise.
“He arranges shoes on the right soil, compared to simply placing shoes on the ground,” said Jared Larsen, a marketing manager of Whitetail and turkey with turkey with Onx – One of the first leaders in the digital mapping space. “This is enabled by the end user. Imagine an adult hunter who never tells no one showed them.
More hunting functions from outdoor messages:
WHITETAILS Safety Cover Hunt: Here are the keys for consistent success
Do you want to buy land to hunt deer? Here are three things to know
Dean Bortz: ok, let’s try this archery elk hunting again
First things
Larsen grew up at Wisconsin Poling Whitetails, Turkeys and Water Pall. He currently lives in Montana and hunts for many different landscapes, including the prosecution of deer and elk.
The first thing Larsen does when the map after hunting is the search for specific functions of the area. When it comes to Whitetails, it often means finding a stream or river system.
“It’s about understanding the areas with which he succeeded in the past and how I can use this knowledge and apply it to a new place, simply finding terrain types, vegetation types, external influences (such as roads or potential pressure of hunting),” said Larsen.
Finding diversity
After identifying the area on a vast scale, it is about enlargement to find from where to start searching with a scout on earth.
Hunters understand that almost all wild nature strives for areas of habitat diversity – those areas in which different types of habitats meet, form the edge, and usually offer what animals need in the form of food, water and safety.
So how do you indicate more subtle habitat changes?
“I am looking for color changes on the map,” said Larsen. “If you look at air photos, you can often see the numerical variance of greenery between something like the edge of the swamps that still has trees, and then a few feet of the higher ground, which is the whole cover.”
Hunters can operate “layers” in digital mapping applications that facilitate the identification of these habitat edges. Folder “Trees, cultivation and soil” on ONX allows users to turn on and off layers that emphasize a map with different colors showing such features as onsplants producing acorns, wetlands, thermal deer cover, historical fires and coniferous species.
“Look for color changes in air images, and then use some detailed layers to further level these different species of habitat, regardless of whether they are swamps, pine, leaf trees,” Larsen said. “I think that people are caught with words such as Edge, transition areas or a variety of habitats and are looking for this painted mosaic of various things. This is much simpler. Where are the two things that look different on the map and where they meet? Start.”
Understand the species you hunt
Some of the best users of maps come down to understanding the species you aim for.
Larsen says that turkeys are one of the easier animals for e-scout, although he admits that they have led him through the bell many times.
“If you can find water near a different edge, I am often sure that I will be able to find turkeys there,” he said. “If it is a coniferous and deciduous edge and has an amazing drainage of the stream, there are probably turkeys. If there is a kind of drainage in which everything is deciduous, but in close proximity there are AG fields, there are probably turkeys there.”
In the case of Whitetails, three types of habitats are usually a magical number.
“It’s food, water and cover. If I can find a swamp that has trees that I can get to the obvious food, it’s very interesting for me,” said Larsen. “I think that it is more common in (Big Woods) to find a really small variety in large areas of monotony. In places such as North Wisconsin and North Minnesota, you look at the map and think that these are only a sea of trees, but if you analyze a little further, you can often find a few ponds in a close distance, or maybe a pocket on a pocket.”
Deer access to food, water and cover can change depending on the season, so it is significant to consider the part of the season you hunt during the map test.
Transition to the next level: 3D images
Hunters can certainly deal with this using the basics of digital mapping applications.
Setting the route point at the stand is even more that some may want to take it, but there are many more from these applications.
Excessive 3D images on ONX allows hunters to see how the landscape is determined even in areas with restricted topography. For example, Whitetails will operate elevated knobs or points in many landscapes to bed as a way for longer distances.
“In my experience, there is no change in topography in places such as Central Minnesota. If you find 20 feet of height difference, it’s quite significant,” said Larsen. “If you have a bit of understanding that thermal will fall in the morning, as long as the sun will get up and do not start bringing the thermal ones to the hill, you can use 3D exaggeration to really play thermal ones, understand how these deer can be bedding, and then how they get out of this bed.”
Angle
In addition to 3D exaggeration, the “Land & Access” “angle of inclination” in ONX makes it easier to see how the landscape consists of colorful radiation. This means that the ability to quickly find pinching points, benches and travel routes on the path of least resistance.
“No deer wants to walk on purple or red.” So find areas that go around these specific terrain features and it’s a great starting point. “
Point functions
Hunters can set optimal wind directions at points that explain which locations are suitable for current conditions.
Larsen also often uses Radius tools for individual route points. This function allows him to clearly see how close it is to specific areas that he aimed at during scout.
“I use it all the time, marking the place where I find a bed, and then using this Radius tool to say:” Ok, 80 yards in the district around this area of bedding is how close I have to be, “said Larsen. “Just having this visual helps you be more thoughtful where you will hunt.”
Many of these functions go a step further how many hunters already operate their digital maps. But after full operate, this can add a better hunting experience.
“They can really help paint the image and keep the details in the foreground of the mind,” said Larsen. “I think that most people have the right idea and the right plan. It is usually only a detail or two that move through cracks.”
