A lot has changed since we wrote this article for Bob Fratzke’s book (Taking Trophy Whitetails, (www.targetcommbooks.com), mainly: 1) the development of things like online services (HuntStand and Onyx, to name two) to scout hunting land, find public land, look up private landowners and boundaries, 2) the development and use of drones to check out on-site details, and 3) the dramatic changes in camera gear.
The online programs, however, are not full replacements for flying an area, but they certainly can be complimentary and do most of the work. However, this “old dog” trick of flying still has plenty of good points, so don’t discount it, Fratzke says.
“Systems like ours can be complimentary to fly-overs,” notes Tim Kent of HuntStand, “not a replacement. You can get certain information from our system that you can’t get from a fly-over, and vice versa.”
He points out that some people will be able to use drones to check deer trails. “That reminds me … I should do a drone check on winter trails where I hunt. Warmer weather will melt some packed-down trails, making them more visible.”
“Google Earth will do some work for you, too.
“Basically, cobble through the areas with our system to check what you can. But you can’t assume what deer will do month to month, so use whatever works best for you. Ifthisinvolvesfly-overs, sobeit.”
Jared Larsen at OnXmaps said that combining satellite photos with 3-D mapping will give you the same view as from an airplane, but for a lot less cost. However, getting
