Hunting – Google Maps Scouting

You Must Know Where They Are At!

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Scouting and Your BOL

• If you have selected your BOL – Scout it now!

• You may even select your BOL in a good hunting
location.
Planning Your Scout Use Google Maps To Start
GPS

• Use a GPS to pinpoint

promising locations.
• CAUTION: Use of GPS
is OK in the pre-
Zombie Apox, but GPS
won’t work during the
Zombie Apox.
• Use trail markers- See
TM for training.
Planning Your Scout Google Maps

• Look for wooded areas

• Open Areas
• Streams, lakes,
marshes
• Agricultural Areas –
feeding areas
• Travel Corridors – force
prey into narrow areas.
Google Maps
• Print out
maps from
Google maps
and mark
them and
use trail
markers on-
site for
promising
locations.
Google Maps
Google Maps

Saddles

A saddle is a low spot between two

hill tops and they are most easily
identified using topo maps, or 3-D
images. They are very easy to
identify, and they serve as
excellent deer funneling features.

Two saddles with predicted deer

trails depicted (red lines). Notice
how the trails tend to converge at
the saddles.
Google Maps

• Ground level 3-D view of a saddle.

Google Maps
Google Maps

• Benches
• Benches are relatively flat areas
along hillsides and they are most
easily identified using topo maps.
They can be subtle or blatantly
obvious. Basically, what you are
looking for on a topo map is an
area on a hill side where the
topographic lines are farther
apart from each other than the
surrounding topo lines.
Google Maps

• Points
• Points are isolated ridges
that gradually slope down to
lower elevations. They are
easily identified on topo
maps, and 3-D images.
Deer will often funnel along
points to access the
bottoms or hill-tops.
 Google Maps

Rather than cross a high traffic interstate, deer will usually travel parallel to the roadway. Orange
markers indicate a couple of pinch points, of which the one on right-hand side affords a view over a
long, narrow food plot
Google Maps
Some of the best spots to hunt are where urban
development and the woods meet, because there
is enough human activity where the urban
development can act like a barrier, and you might
be able to get away with a less than ideal wind
because deer are conditioned to smelling people in
those areas regularly. Additionally, it is often
unlawful to hunt with firearms in these areas, so
with hunters being limited to archery equipment.

Deer movement through suburban woodlots can

be very predictable. Cruising bucks will be looking
for areas where they can access the next woodlot.
The urban development often acts as an invisible
barrier.
Google Maps

• Steep Terrain
• This might In this topo map, the areas
that are shaded and have
sound topo lines really close
obvious, but together are cliff faces. A
nearby pond creates the
deer are not perfect funnel. Also, a long,
going to climb narrow saddle running from
north to south with steep
cliff faces, nor terrain on both sides
provides an additional
are they funnel. The area where all
going to jump the red dotted lines come
together is definitely an area
off them on a worth scouting.
regular basis.
Where Would You Hunt

• 1. the outer
area of
marsh 1)
1,2,3 H
followed by
4H and 4i
• 2. marsh 2) 6
and 7A
• 3.with a bow
the corners of
7i and 8H