DEER HUNTING (Scouting In Progress 1999)
  1. Scouting the Rolled Wire
  2. Setting Up To Bowhunt at the Rolled Wire & the 3rd Fence
  3. Get A Map of your hunting place.
  4. Scouting With Your Map (we scout the Rolled Wire)
I never could make much sense of Topo Maps that hunting articles always told me to get. I struggled with them for several years. Then one day I looked around the Map Store and I spotted an Aerial Map. I quickly found out that they were for purchase (inexpensively too) and you could get one for anywhere in the USA. The larger they were the more expensive they were but larger was good because you could see the area better.

However, that's not what we are going to talk about today. This is the computer age, and believe me, we got maps now. On-line maps taken from satellites. Maps that will show you your hunting area. It's a project spearheaded by Microsoft.
How Much Are These Computer Maps? 
Heck, they are free to view, and depending on the source of the map it is probably free to Download too. In fact the rural areas I checked were all free, as were the small towns, but the cities were for purchase. This depends on whether the image originates with USGS or SPIN-2. The USGS maps are free to Download and the SPIN-2 maps cost by size: Large are  $24.95 (2.7 x 3.0 miles), Medium is $13.95 (1.9 x 2.1 miles), and Small $7.95 (0.9 x 1.0 miles) and you can purchase them right from the site. But, like I said, your hunting spot is probably a free map and you can look at it all you want, anytime, at their web site.

 
What does one of these maps look like?

The first map you see looks like this. It is an aerial view that takes in several miles.

But how am I going to find my hunting spot from that little map up there (and I sure can't see my house on this map).
The Terraserver maps have arrows at the top, sides and every corner so you can move in any direction. Find the road that goes to your hunting area and click along until you see it. Then use the "+" button to zoom right on in . Above the "+" button you will see 3 buttons that say S M L. They give you the options of viewing a Small, Medium or Large map.  The Scale bar on the L map is 1 1/4 inches long and that is 100 yards. So you are getting in pretty tight.

Now, lets go to the web site for the Maps on your computer and find your map.
They are at the Terraserver web site at http://terraserver.com but here's the link that cuts right to the chase, Find A City Here. Type the closest city or town to your hunting location in "Place Name" (Name of the City), "State or Province", and "Country". Click on the "GO" button for this information. (There are 3 GO buttons on the page, but the other two are for latitude and longitude and decimal longitude and latitude.) You will then see a list of links of maps for the town, sometimes there is only one but there may be more. Then follow the road to the area you hunt.

If you have any questions about the Terraserver web site they have an informative  FAQ page available from the About Terraserver link at the top of every page.
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