topo maps and what not

[jacobsdbj]

hi all i would like to learn what to look for on maps and how to use gps to locate deer. thank you

[Tominator]

Welcome to the forums.

When I look at a google earth map, or something like that I look for pinch points, natural funnels and food and bedding sources.

Here's a good example:

The blue areas are bedding areas, the red line is a creek, and the yellow "X's" are stand sites.

This is a piece of ground I hunt. To the left of that creek is a pretty steep hill that's probably 60 feet high. The deer will come out of their bedding areas and parallel the creek. They don't want to go out into the open field, but they don't want to climb that hill either so they get pinched down quite a bit. That pinch point on the middle X is about 20 yards wide. The bottom X is a good funnel. The deer will travel that fenceline until they hit the woods, and then they have to go one way or the other because they don't want to cross the creek or climb the hill.

[FULLRUT409]

I use topos quite a bit, mostly for navigation but they are also very useful for scouting. On topos i just go by the rule that deer are like very smart large rabbits haha. The brushy areas concentrated near food and water are always my first choice....usually just check out the woods then....cant tell whether they are there or not til your there but a topo sure can help. As far a GPS goes they are about the same usually i just mark the points while im there so you can see just where u were on the topo.

Good Luck with ur scoutin!

[dbHunterNY]

I use google maps for a great view like pictured above. If you've got topo maps from some source use the rings to find steep banks/cliffs that maybe neck down to make an hour glass shape, indicating a natural funnel. Look for ridge tops or steps in elevation. Deer will tend to use these and travel along them. If I want to zoom right in on an area I use bing/msn/live maps and use bird's eye view. Look for agricultural fields if there are any and thick strips of cover or fence lines that a deer could use to get to the fields. Look for water. Also look for spots of cover or trees out in open terrain. There's lots of info to come from these, but I hope this is a good start.

[fly]

A free and very nice topo site:

http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/

[Rhino]

That's a great topo/aerial photo site fly! Thanks

[gzilla45]

I'll second that. Thanks for the link.

[Shaun_300]

Wow, love that website! Thanks a lot, got that one bookmarked now!

[bbgatech]

I tried out the Bing maps you can download and really like it. You can invert the map instead of looking straight down to get a better feel for the terrain.

http://www.bing.com/maps/