Hopefully, you have drawn your coveted mule deer, elk, or trophy white-tailed deer permit and you are  about planning the finer details of your fall hunting trip.  One of the main questions you should be asking is “where in this HUGE unit am I going to hunt?”  That isn’t something you need to be deciding when you arrive the day before the shooting starts, but should be carefully thought out and planned months in advance.  For many of us, making a pre-scouting trip is not an option - too time consuming and too expensive.  But you can pre-scout your hunting unit and it doesn’t take anything more than a few colored pens, highlighter, and a sheet of paper on it with a bunch of lines.  That is where some people stumble?  How do I interpret all these lines?  Yes, topographical maps can be a little dull to pour over compared to aerial photos, but topo maps hold the key to a great hunt if you know how to use them.

The first step though is getting your hands on some maps…here is a list of links that should help you in your search…

BLM and Forest Service Topo Maps         This is the website I used for my Wyoming hunting trip and will not hesitate to use it again…up-to-date and detailed topos showing public hunting areas for all Western states

TopoZone    This website is a subscription service which provides topo maps for the entire United States.  If you instinctively shy away from this because of “subscription”, buy 3 or 4 BLM topos and you’ve already covered the fee for unlimited topos.

TerraServer         The interface is similar to Google Earth in that you can zoom in to whatever region of the United States you want and print the maps that you generate in the interface.  A great service that I’m sure many of our more serious hunters are familiar with.

USGS Topo Maps       This website has not only topographic maps that you can order, but also has some good articles about topographical symbols and reading the maps accurately. 

If you have a site that you think is noteworthy and has provided good services for yourself, send me a comment and I’ll post the link for the topographical map service.