What do you think?(help learning from topo)

[Wolfshead]

I am including a picture do an WMA that I am considering hunting this fall. I have listened to and read a lot of your posts and threads on where to look on a topo map and all.
Please take a look and let me know what you think.
Is this a good area? Why is it good? Which parts are good?
Is it not good? Should I be looking somewhere else? Why do you think that?
   
I see ridges, I see some small saddles, etc... Just don't know if what I am looking at is any good or not and why?
This is just a start on finding a public land hunting area with very little experience doing so, and wondering what you would think if you saw this kind of area on a map if you would pursue it.
Thanks in advance

Doug

[ronp]

That's a nice area Doug.  I hunt just a little east of there, along the west side of Whitney Pond.  I can show you where I go.  There is a ton of State Land right there (100s of acres in Happy Valley).  I usually don't see many hunters in there during bow season, if any at all.  I also hunt in the Klondike Forest.  It's about 875 acres of state land only a few miles from there.

[ronp]

Oh, and that area is very close to your work, as you know, so it would be perfect for some afternoon hunts!

[Wolfshead]

Hey Ron,
Thanks!
There is a lot of area in there and I am just trying to figure it out....
The Klondike is next to North Pond isn't it? My Mom's side of my family own some camps on North Pond and I used to swim there as a boy.
Never been to the Klondike though
Yeah one of the reasons I am interested is the fact it is five minutes from work!

[ronp]

Yes, the Klondike is next to North Pond. It's a great area for stump shooting, but there are deer flies in there right now.  I drove through yesterday and they were thick!

[threeunder]

Good looking area.  I would be interested in the spot under the "U" in the word county.
Looks like a bottleneck to me from feeding/bedding to water.

If water becomes an issue this fall, I'd check that area out.

Several othe good looking areas on that map.

[Wolfshead]

Ron, with all those "deer flies" does that mean there are a lot of deer in there then      

Lets say you are presented with a map and told you can hunt it exclusively, but only the area on the map. What do you look for, and why? Lets say it is this map....