Hey all, have seen people mention topo maps and photos. I found a photo of a little area I am planning on hunting this year. I have been scouting this place, but the photo really put it all together for me. any one else get help from these tools?

These type of instruments really help in understanding the lay of the land and really help find potential good areas.  I use arial photos often, as well as topo maps.
ChuckC

I can see where I would put my treestand!

Use them all the time. They are great!!

Google Earth!

Use em and love em. There are some great ones online too...

Google Earth  WAS great, until people started posting all kinds of stuff on there. Now I scout areas and have to deal with "encounter" postings from the International Bigfoot Society and random pictures of some family standing next to an RV.

Awesome technology, though.

here is what i use!

http://mapper.acme.com/

Try this one my Dad turned me onto:

http://maps.live.com/

It's free and in most areas has pretty good maps/aerial photos... also has a really cool "birds eye view" in some areas.

Yeah the maps.live.com is a good one.

www.jdmcox.com  and download the free software usaphotomap if you use a gps. Lets you transfer waypoints and a lot more to and from gps and you can do it off line

Terraserver is another good site.  1 meter resolution, and you can click back and forth between  aerial and topo views.  Easy to print maps also.

Don't know if it is legit to post links to non-sponsor sites, but if you do a search for "microsoft terraserver" it will take you right to it.

This works for me

Google earth isn't very good in the area I posted, but is very good for another place I hunt.

Second maps.live.com and  www.jdmcox.com.   Great for getting a better feel for your area.