Google Earth Scouting

[jfelkins]

I know we all use tradition archery equipment to hunt but does anyone use Google Earth to scout? Would you like to? I'm semi computer savvy and will be using Google earth to scout a new area and would love to start a discussion regarding this area. I will post a link to the area shortly.

[Steve O]

John,


YES!  Bring it on!  I am not good with it, but I like to look.

[T Sunstone]

Love it, use it all the time.

[Sticks2117]

Awesome tool!!!!

[Follower]

I use it quite a bit - primarly before ever putting foot on the ground.  I spot potential funnels and travel cooridors and then check them out on foot.

[Bobhat]

Been using it for some time.  Nice to look at both familiar and unfamiliar grounds.  You can never have too much information.

[Bobhat]

One thing I've found helpful is seeing adjacent properties and what is there without having to trespass.  ;-)

[Ray_G]

I use it to initially check on the lay of the land and roads.  We have a lot of Federally managed lands and this gives a guy a good overview before boots on the ground.

I have installed BLM overlays that can be turned on or off in Google Earth to see where the public land is.  These Layer files are free for downloading from BLM and they have detailed instructions for installing them.  Maybe other agencies have them.

[South MS Bowhunter]

Yes use to try and figure out funnels etc... but a better mapping service is Bing maps and their "bird eye" feature check it out i thing you will agree.

[macksdad]

I never used it until my wife got a smart phone ,  and I use it all the time it is awesome. Especially like it when i am talkin to others who hunt the same areas as i do. Just pull up google earth and you can pinpoint  the area you are talking about, I'm not much for technolgy but google earth is probably the next best thing to my Cell phone.

[Mike Vines]

I use google earth every time I'm going somewhere new, which is just about every weekend.

[jfelkins]

Ok, great. I'm not the only one. I'll post what I've done so far for those that might want to try it for the first time. Then we can get into how to find the deer hotspots which is what I need help with.

The first thing I did was go to:    Google Earth Download Page   and down load the latest version of Google Earth. It works for both Mac and PC. It wouldn't be a waste of time to watch some tutorials but I know reading directions isn't fun for all of us...

Next I went to my state Dept of Fish and Game (TWRA here in TN) and found a link for a file that contained the maps for all of the WMA's (Wildlife Management Areas) in electronic (GIS) format. What you need to find is a file/link that has .kml (or kmz.) as the extension. Here is it for TN:    TN WMA Maps Overlay   When you click on the link it will download and you'll have the option to open it directly in Google Earth. That's the way I do it.

The Next thing I want to know is who else (besides the state) owns nearby property. I know this WMA is on Maury County so I do a Google search for Maury County tax Maps....Well look what we got here:    Maury County Assessors Office  Down on the left is a link to Maury County Maps. Click on that and your looking at a map of who owns what.

Sidebar: There's way to much info on the internet but my theory is if someone really wants to kill me they aren't going to do it via Google.  

Now I'm not as tricky as some guys, I haven't figured out how to electronically overlay the tax map onto Google earth (because it's not a .kml) but I can go back and forth between the two maps and see who owns adjoining lands. But I have created a file of the WMA that I'm going to hunt that will open in Google Earth so you can see it. Go here:    Yanahli WMA.kmz  You'll need to click on Yanahli WMA.kmz. There might be a cleaner way to share this with you but I don't know how. If I could attach a file to this post I could do it. Once that files opens in Google your looking at the WMA I want to hunt.

Ok, who's still here? PM me if I lost you and I'll try to provide more help.  

Next up we can start talking about how to but all this whiz bang to work for us.

[guspup]

Use it all the time, even for land I've hunted for years

[Richie]

I've used Google Earth many times it is a great tool.

[Tav]

This is a great tool.  I use it extensively to find public lands to hunt and for general scouting.  I use it almost daily during the season when I'm not on the mountain.  Probably use it weekly during the off-season.

You can overlay USGS 1:24,000 topo maps, blm maps, and stream names/coverages.  I will look up the links I use and how I pull them into Google earth.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

In these times of Metal risers, carbon core limbs Google is just another tool for Us to use..

[Bigriver]

If your state has gis maps for counties they are more helpful than google earth imo, check them out too. You can see property lines & find land owners names also.

[Burnsie]

Regular Google maps works good too, but doesn't have all the features.

[Apex Predator]

It's been very valuable to me.

[Bobhat]

Burnsie is correct, just go to the regular Google page and hit maps, then go to your location.  Once there hit the "satellite" feature and the picture comes up.