How to Read Aerial Maps for Deer Hunting

Deer Hunting and Terrain

At that place are many kinds of deer hunters in the world, each with their ain skillset and interests as it pertains to deer hunting. Merely this article will focus on i particular blazon: the obsessive map reader. You know who yous are. If y'all find yourself with a spare moment and y'all plough to aerial maps of your favorite hunting spot to wait things over, this is for you. And if you don't typically engage in such activities, hither are a few ways yous can get a better deer hunter past learning how to read deer and terrain from these maps.

Topography, Terrain, and Habitat

Before we leap into deer and terrain discussions, we should lay down some definitions on these various terms. Different people define these a little differently and there are dozen other words to describe these same concepts, just nosotros'll stick with topography, terrain, and habitat here.

• Topography refers to the meridian of an area, which is why when nosotros review topographic maps, it shows contour lines depicting the elevation. When contour lines are clustered closely together on a map, it means the peak changes rapidly, and when they are spaced out, the top changes slowly.
• Terrain refers to the concrete features in an area. This might include hills, valleys, ridges, slopes, bluffs, swamps, lakes, or rivers. Information technology'south a very slight distinction from topography and we often interchange them (a hill is a modify in elevation, after all), but at that place it is.
• Habitat refers to the biological features (e.g., bodily vegetation species) present in an area that a specific wildlife species uses to detect food and encompass. Whitetails primarily use habitats including young hardwood forests, mature oak forests, field edges/old fields, prairie grasses, and riverine/riparian areas.

How Practise Deer and Terrain Interact?

And so how are deer and terrain connected and why does it thing for you as a hunter? While deer can never be completely anticipated, they practice have some tendencies that we can estimate patterns from. Hither are some mutual terrain and habitat features used by white-tailed deer beyond their range, where you tin can wait them to besiege or spend more time traveling through than other areas. Thus, if you notice these features, you have a better run a risk at encountering a deer during the hunting season.

Terrain/Habitat Funnels

Even though we're talking about deer and terrain primarily, we too tin't dismiss how useful habitat funnels can be when deer hunting. Deer funnels are anywhere where the habitat or terrain pinches deer move downward into a smaller area. This narrower band is where you want to be to feel closer shots at deer. Y'all can meet habitat funnels for deer hands from an aeriform map – look for whatever expanse where habitats pinch down into a narrow section. For example, a wooded fence line beyond an old field would tend to attract deer so they don't have to cross the open field, and a recent timber harvest will pinch deer traffic effectually the perimeter where there is cover.

Likewise, yous can run into terrain funnels past using a topographic map. For instance, if a stream/creek is flanked by dense profile lines (i.east., steep banks) on both sides, and the lines suddenly spread out, this indicates a shallower slope, and this is a probable deer crossing area (deer adopt the easiest road if possible). Rivers and ponds can be bang-up funnels for whitetails considering they will rarely cantankerous them unless they admittedly have to, and then anywhere you lot can find a terrain or habitat feature that pinches deer motion against a water feature, you should be able to find some deer sign.

Terrain/Habitat Edges

Deer are nifty to using terrain and habitat changes and we ofttimes describe them every bit "creatures of the edge" – which applies to both terrain and habitat. Habitat edges are very easy to see on an aeriform map (e.g., a field flanked by mature forest, young forest, and a swamp). Terrain features may exist more subtle to notice, but even in relatively flat areas of the state, topographic maps practice accept some variation. You might not notice it much in the field, but it's there. A good instance is the transition line betwixt an alder swamp (i.e., lower meridian) and mature forest (i.e., college elevation). If y'all can find fifty-fifty a 5-foot difference between the two areas, it's likely that deer are using this expanse.

Topographic Points

In hilly state where wooded ridges dip down to valley bottoms planted in corn and beans, you tin can bet that deer volition be using ridge points often. They tend to feed in the valley bottoms at night and bed up along the wooded ridge during the 24-hour interval. You can see a betoken on a topographic map where the contour lines literally course an precipitous point advert circle dorsum. Whitetails will often bed on these points and secondary points looking down into the valleys, which keeps them from being sky lined forth the top of the ridge and offers easy escape downward either side if danger approaches.

Saddles

A saddle is a terrain funnel to exist honest, but information technology'southward basically an surface area where two loftier points (e.one thousand., ridge lines, hills, etc.) dip down and meet at a lower elevation. They can exist hands identified on topographic maps considering the contour lines dip toward each other but don't connect across. As far as hunting saddles for deer, this terrain characteristic works so well because deer will attempt to accept the path of least resistance when they're not being pressured. Instead of climbing direct up over a ridge, they will commonly cantankerous over in this low signal instead or travel side-loma along the same acme as the saddle.

Keep in mind that this terrain feature works for small elevation changes besides – saddles that drib downward only five or 10 feet tin still be magnets for bucks traveling through an surface area. Mature bucks especially like to apply these lower elevation areas for travel because it helps them sneak through unnoticed.

Using BaseMap for Deer and Terrain

Any time y'all can combine on-the-basis observations with desktop or digital scouting, you will have a ameliorate chance at making a successful plan. And so if you're wondering how to scout deer using maps, that'southward where the BaseMap™ app really shines. Using your phone in the field, you can easily mark less obvious habitat or terrain features worth hunting in the fall, map deer sign yous notice while scouting, or measure distances or areas. This scouting app does everything you'd hope information technology could besides really shoot a deer. Here's how y'all can fold it into your hunting plans.

• Bring up your hunting area in your BaseMap app . You can select different background layers to evidence the aeriform map (which shows the habitat features) or topographic map (which shows the contour lines and acme changes). In many locations, you can fifty-fifty view your hunting area equally a 3D map to really visualize the layout and terrain.
• On your map, drop markers anywhere you run across ane of the features mentioned higher up. This is your starting time step, merely you will demand to confirm them in the field.
• Next, use your app to check out each of these marked spots. If you see evidence of deer sign in the area (e.g., well-worn trails, scat, rubs, scrapes, etc.), you can add those observations in your app, which will come up in handy later when you're trying to process everything and make a plan.
• Finally, narrow your stand locations based on what area is easiest to access and has the all-time deer sign. Because information technology's a natural funnel area and you know information technology supports deer, yous already have a neat chance at seeing and arrowing a mature buck.

We hope y'all tin can employ these tips for narrowing downward some high priority hunting areas based on deer and terrain in your surface area.

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Source: https://www.bonecollector.com/deer-and-terrain-everything-you-need-to-know/

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