wihunter32

I was making some maps for my family's hunting land I got around to experimenting with elevation data for a little while. Here is a map showing how steep it is at various points. The red is very steep and the blue is flat. The map definitely matches the deer travel patterns I have noticed in the past.




Is this cheating/unethical?

peeker

No, it most definitely is not. This is exactly the data you should look at. Cheating/unethical would be spot-lighting or something like that. You are just seeking to educate yourself about the land you'll hunt.

wihunter32

Here is a simple 3d map.

peeker

Might I ask where you got these from? Love to see something like this for the areas I hunt. Please don't tell me something crazy like DTED renderings from military software or something.

wihunter32

It's using ESRI ArgGIS/ArcScene which starts at $1500. I still have a copy from a job two months ago.

johnnyc531

Hey guys if you want something like this for free check out http://maps.live.com and download the virtual earth plugin so it can do the 3d renderings with the topographical data. This is an example of my dad's place, you can zoom in farther even then this screen shot. It's not as perfect a representation/resolution I hoped for, but the quality of the rendering also depends on the area you are looking at. Some place have better satellite/aerial photo data

rusticgent

I do this all the time there there are many data resources that are free. From the National atlas part of USGS. There are free software you can get also. There are many more processes that can be done to find the deer bedding areas and to fine tune the trails. Is "it Is this cheating/unethical?" Not at all this is just showing you where they are, you still need to be a hunter and figure out when they are there, the wind, what the deer are eating at that time of the season. This just help with the leg work.