Lease Mapping/Remote Scouting

[scdavis50]

I posted this over in PH the other day, but J-Bob suggested I might get more repsonses over there.

I know that nothing beats actual time in the field scouting, but like many of you, it's hard enough to find the time to hunt, much less scout, as frequently as I would like.

There's so much data available on public hunting locations including elevation maps, vegetation types, water bodies, wetlands, etc., I am trying to see if it is effective to "remote scout" public (or other) hunting lands to identify high-potential stand locations or areas likely to yield game. Then a hunter could go in with a ranked list of locations to hopefully make the most of time spent in the field.

If you only had an aerial map and some elementary data, what would you look for and what criteria would you consider important?

So far I'm considering:

1) Distance to water (less than 40 yds)
2) Edges between dense vegetation and clearings
3) Leeward slopes from prevailing winds
4) Relatively flat or low-slope draws between points of higher elevation

Anything else you would consider? I'm going to run a couple of public land sites through a gis analysis, and I'm happy to share what I figure out. Thanks in advance to the GS for your accumulated wisdom!

Also, I'd be happy to run some maps on a few leases/hunting sites if you're familiar with them and can give me some rough ground verifications of the results. I won't send data on anyone's leases or locations except to the original requestor. Also, Texas only please.

[huntinfool]

I use maps exclusively to start my scouting trips. I look for pinch points. Small strips of timber between larger tracts. I also look for edge cover. Sometimes I find something I don't understand on a map and just go we what it is. Like a large opening in the woods, that turns out to be a bunch of trees that fell down. Looks great from the map, but not so good from the ground. Just check it off the list and move on. I really like looking for creeks and drainages that I know the deer will follow.

[scdavis50]

Sample Maps for Alabama Creek WMA

Somehow I couldn't find the original message to reply to.

I ran the maps for Alabama Creek WMA in Trinity County.

Here's the google map you'd find:



I ran a GIS map for the same locations, with the TPWD boundaries and streets.



Here's the map with contours and streams:



I've calculated all the south-facing slopes, since the prevailing wind seems to be from the north or north west.



I used the near-infrared band to calculate IR reflectivity to estimate plant species; this map shows likely oak forests in red:



For the next map, I overlaid flat slope areas, south-facing slopes, and oak tree densities. You can make out the bright red dots on the dark red polygons, where all three areas overlap.



I've cleaned up considerably in this final map, indicating locations of higher potential that might be worth scouting:

[J-Bob]

Very cool. Especially being able to locate likely oak densities.

[Killer]

Thats great info. Is this an app or your on program?

[scdavis50]

I load the raw data from various sources and run them through the mapping program.

[quarterback]

On a WMA, what about considering distance from access points or roads as well? Seems like pressured game would seek out areas that offer the least amount of intrusion.

Maps are cool. The stuff you can learn from them is infinite and will make you a better hunter, fisherman, whatever. I think what you've done is very interesting and well thought out.

[huntinfool]

What mapping program? I really like what you have done.

[scdavis50]

Quantum GIS - it's an open source desktop GIS. Most of the data is at Tnris.org

[scdavis50]

On a WMA, what about considering distance from access points or roads as well? Seems like pressured game would seek out areas that offer the least amount of intrusion.

Maps are cool. The stuff you can learn from them is infinite and will make you a better hunter, fisherman, whatever. I think what you've done is very interesting and well thought out.

Thanks - I could drop a buffer around the roads. Part of what I was looking for was to find spots deeper in the woods.

[Horitexan]

That's really cool! Wish I could do that.

I've had some interest in mapping but the technology eludes me. At one point I wanted to create some maps for the ranch I manage, for our hunters to use, with everything from roads to feeders to feed route and tanks and all the features I thought would be interesting. But, the project died a slow death along with the idea I had to create a map file that people could download to their Garmin GPS units to help them find their way around the ranch. I just couldn't figure out how to to it - the technology/software was over my head.

Heck, I struggled to even create a good satellite photo because the ranch is too big and I was forced to try and copy and splice multiple images together from Google Earth. What I came up with is pretty good but the pieces never fit together perfectly. I use the (large) images for myself, occasionally, but was never pleased enough to give it out.

Does that software allow you to work with satellite imagery of fairly large areas, say 5-8,000 acres, as one single image - without limiting the detail?

[scdavis50]

Yes, I did one for a hunt at Kerr WMA and it's 6,000 acres. You can print large maps ( like 24x36) and even do atlases, but I've never used that function. It's been a while since I've done it, but you should be able to upload GPS coordinates for feeders, blinds, etc, too.

pm me with the details and I'll see if I can help you out.

[scdavis50]

You can also easily upload waypoints and tracks from a GPS - my garmin is over 10 years old and they went right in. Other than having to find a usb-serial cable connector that worked in Windows 8 it was no problem.