Photo Credit - Matt Addington Photography
As a self-admitted map-nerd, I’ll be the first to concede that I go overboard at times. Long before Google Maps, OnX and readily available aerial photography, I was staring at topo maps and whatever bird’s-eye view I could get my hands on in the aid of chasing spring turkeys. While the interest started back home, my skills were honed on public lands hunts in southern states and the west, where the National Forest Maps or WMA plots were coveted pieces of information. They noted logging roads, peaks and valleys, but especially the all-important ravines or creases in the landscape where a hunter could sneak, undetected from A to B. Most were at a scale that was truly too “zoomed-out” to be exceptionally useful, but for a stranger in a strange land, they were a godsend.
I’ve got a degree in mapping, something called Geographic Information Systems (GIS) – which involves fancy layering of information on customized maps. It’s a spatial way of asking questions of the data, by adding or subtracting layers like aerial photography, land-ownership, topography, surface water, etc. I started turkey hunting in the mid-late 1990’s when being a GIS person was one of the only ways to get your hands on this information, and wow did it work well. Suddenly, not knowing the ground as well as the turkeys was less of a disadvantage, in everything from approaching roost locations, to determining how to make a play on a group of birds. It took real work in those days to do some digital reconnaissance, print paper maps, and consult them in the field from time to time.
Apps as Maps
Digital offers so many advantages, from easy editing, viewing additional layers, and mapping your own features and sharing.
Old school paper copy worked, but the digital versions are far improved!
These days, everything is at your fingertips. OnX brings the aerial photography, contour data, ownership information, and a host of other useful layers to life, wherever in the country you hunt. Perhaps more importantly, with apps like these, you can now add your own data. Mark waypoints, color code or give them special symbology to discern the difference in a point from a day-time loafing area to an early morning roost location. While this is something we’ve been doing in a boat for walleyes since the advent of GPS technology, it’s just seeing more widespread use in the hunting circles I run.
I’ll detail a hunt in Wisconsin a few buddies and I do where the use of the apps has been instrumental. While I’ve been hunting there for the better part of a decade or more, some friends of mine are rather new to the ground. They don’t know the landowners, the property boundaries, or even the lay of the hilly landscape. What used to involve extensive hard-copy map planning the evening before, and constant consultation days-of hunting, is now something that lives on each of our phones. We can share a waypoint from day to day to send another guy back to likely areas, and everyone hunts while knowing where we have permission. All for cheaper than the gas it takes us to get there.
When you do decide to use this tool, it becomes about efficient use. That first begins with using it to scout. In spending some time interviewing Aaron Warbritton of The Hunting Public fame, one of the biggest tools in new and unfamiliar land for him, is utilizing the apps to mark waypoints of early-morning, gobbling turkeys. The goal is to spend some time early and late, marking as many roost locations as possible. From that point, you’ve got a start to your day from which to continue to log waypoints and other information. That could include good sign you find, mid-day loafing areas, and solid food locations. The idea is to take the layers already given to you, and build upon them with your own information. I’ve always said that on good ground, one more day of scouting means one more less day of hunting for your bird. Not that the goal of any hunt is to end it quickly, but it underscores how effective it can be when done with some intelligence and purpose.
Scouting - What to Look For
When it comes to the hunt itself, I’ll typically spend some time the night before studying my scouting spatially on the app. I try to envision a day in the life of a turkey. Where I’d want to roost, then fly down to, thinking about a good strut zone. I also consider based on weather where I’d like to spend my day if I were a turkey. Is that full-sun greenery with all kinds of fresh shoots and terrestrials to eat, or a cool and calm hole in the woods where I could get out of hot sun and blustery wind. From there, I start thinking about an afternoon path that takes me likely uphill and to another (or same) roost location.
I wake up in the AM with that uploaded in my brain, interested in getting to a solid roost location to start my hunt. As birds light up all around me, I add even more waypoints before studying the aerial photography, and more importantly the topography, surrounding the gobbling bird I’d like to go after. I’m not always looking for the closest bird, as especially early in the season, I’m looking for the most concealed and best approach. Learning to read contour lines is important in this quest. “V”-shaped contour groupings indicate a ravine or crease in the landscape that can conceal your early morning approach to roosted birds, with the tip of the “V” being uphill or higher in elevation.
From here I continually peek at the contours as I approach to monitor when roosted turkeys may come into view, or more importantly, where I may come into their view. As the hunt progresses, I keep visual tabs on the birds if possible, considering additional approaches on the aerial photography and contours. If they disappear behind a rise, I know generally where they are and how best to work towards them. That was a luxury not easily afforded in years past unless you knew the ground really well. Even then, memories from a year-ago or beyond can tend to fail you in the heat of the moment.
Handy Built-In Tools
The measurement tool in OnX can be crucial to determining how far a bird is from your general location.
Another handy function is the distance measurement tools. On a recent hunt in Wisconsin, some friends of mine were actually able to measure the width of the annual hay/corn contour strips to determine that a group of birds skirting the edge would be just out of range. It gave them the confidence to re-work them and cut them off at a different part of the field where the strips narrowed. Ultimately, they scored a great tom in the process.
While I have heard from others regarding fair chase and such uses of technology to take a turkey, the simple fact remains that if all you ever use these apps for is delineating property boundaries, they’re still well worth it. It’s really up to each individual hunter how much tech they’d want to invade their turkey hunt. For me, the platform is a welcome tool, especially when birds are particularly difficult or when hunting new ground. Personally, it has taken away some safety concerns and ignited a more fearless passion for hunting additional ground I’ve never seen before. All worthwhile components of a more fun and successful season.