Which maps ?

[Tech]

Hi guys,
I just started out hunting hog, rather than asking which spots hold hogs, I would ask which electronic map or phone app to use. I plan to use it on public land.
I don't want to step on people private property and get fined. Cheers,

 

[Fredezee]

onXhunt maps. 30 bucks for the year and shows you all the public and private land parcels. Also, if you want hard copy maps, BLM surface managements maps are really good. Go on their website, look at the maps you want and call them to order. They are like 4 bucks each. Also National forest maps are great for their properties as well.

 

[TheGDog]

I got the Garmin eTrex and if you buy the OnXmap chip to put in it... when you go into their Garmin BaseCamp software... what you can do is... with another window open... let's say you were in Google Maps in Sattelite view... and you found something you thought looked interesting... in Google Maps you can click.. drop a pin... then (I believe) hover over that pin and on the popup it will show... it will show the Latitude, Longitude numbers... you click that... it will open a window pane on the left hand side of the browser with that Lat/Long info in bigger text that you can highlight and then copy into the clipboard memory...

..THEN..

You can switch over to your Garmin Basecamp software and on this Desktop application you can more easily input a new Waypoint marker and then in the editing form for that Waypoint you can paste on in those Latitude, Longitude coordinates you copied form Google Maps or Google Earth.

What's neat about it is... sometimes you'll go out for a hunt or hike... you saw some stuff that looked interesting or promising... but maybe it was in the distance a little bit, so maybe on that day you didn't want to commit to checking it out just yet because you go out solo and you leave your hiking plans with your spouse... and you stick to them for safety reasons. Well.. you can.. in the handheld unit that particular day... mark a Waypoint of wherever it is you are standing at... and... you can look at the directional compass arrow in its display of your current location AND the direction you are currently facing with the handheld unit. You take a moment to get a good look at the map its currently displaying to you. Then... when you get back home, and go into their Basecamp desktop app... after it comes up... and you select that new waypoint you added into it.... you can then sorta do a dual-window back and forth between it and Google maps/Earth and find the coords of some new location you wanna checkout the next time you're in there. So you can like I said... add it directly into your handheld device from within that desktop app... then when you go back into the field that next time.... you now have that Waypoint in there for your new point of interest you're curious to checkout... and more importantly.... you can now have it on the printout of your intended map route you leave at home with your spouse or a friend for safety's sake... so they know the route you were gonna take and can give that info to Search and Rescue if for some reason you don't come back home when you said you would.

'Cause let me tell ya... the simplest stuff can go south real fast when you're out there. In 2015 I had my foot slip off the top of one of the rocks while crossing a creek. It was 32 F that morning so there was probably ice on it I couldn't see. I fell faster than immediately... and one of my arms that shot out to catch my fall... well... the apex of a stone embedded onto the opposite creek... my wrist SLAMMED down on that stone with the force of all my weight..and the packs weight.. and the guns weight.... BOOM.... Shattered Wrist. I was really lucky. Except for the multitude of creek crossings in that place, the terrain is fairly flat otherwise, so I just hiked back outta there. But... I could have also potentially had another slip-and-fall crossing all those same creeks to get the heck back out of there!

So... in all seriousness... please consider my story and suggestion about leaving your travel path plans with someone else. A simple thing like a Screenshot with a few little annotation arrows drawn onto it vaguely showing your expected travel path is a seriously good idea.

P.S. Also get an Rx from your Dr for an Rx-strength pain reliever, like Tylenol #3's or Percoset or something... and make sure to take some of them with you in your pack every time you go out there. You never know when you're going to have to drag your sorry butt outta there by yourself all busted and disgusted!!!

 

[canamrider07]

The best "hard" maps for National Forests- "Full color map depicting travel routes, hiking routes and OHV trails"

http://www.ctuc.info/ctuc/index.php/maps

 

[Tech]

You guys definitely delivered. I am going to take the advice and implement into my hunting trips.

 

[bsanders8181]

I got the Garmin eTrex and if you buy the OnXmap chip to put in it... when you go into their Garmin BaseCamp software... what you can do is... with another window open... let's say you were in Google Maps in Sattelite view... and you found something you thought looked interesting... in Google Maps you can click.. drop a pin... then (I believe) hover over that pin and on the popup it will show... it will show the Latitude, Longitude numbers... you click that... it will open a window pane on the left hand side of the browser with that Lat/Long info in bigger text that you can highlight and then copy into the clipboard memory...

..THEN..

You can switch over to your Garmin Basecamp software and on this Desktop application you can more easily input a new Waypoint marker and then in the editing form for that Waypoint you can paste on in those Latitude, Longitude coordinates you copied form Google Maps or Google Earth.

What's neat about it is... sometimes you'll go out for a hunt or hike... you saw some stuff that looked interesting or promising... but maybe it was in the distance a little bit, so maybe on that day you didn't want to commit to checking it out just yet because you go out solo and you leave your hiking plans with your spouse... and you stick to them for safety reasons. Well.. you can.. in the handheld unit that particular day... mark a Waypoint of wherever it is you are standing at... and... you can look at the directional compass arrow in its display of your current location AND the direction you are currently facing with the handheld unit. You take a moment to get a good look at the map its currently displaying to you. Then... when you get back home, and go into their Basecamp desktop app... after it comes up... and you select that new waypoint you added into it.... you can then sorta do a dual-window back and forth between it and Google maps/Earth and find the coords of some new location you wanna checkout the next time you're in there. So you can like I said... add it directly into your handheld device from within that desktop app... then when you go back into the field that next time.... you now have that Waypoint in there for your new point of interest you're curious to checkout... and more importantly.... you can now have it on the printout of your intended map route you leave at home with your spouse or a friend for safety's sake... so they know the route you were gonna take and can give that info to Search and Rescue if for some reason you don't come back home when you said you would.
"END QUOTE"


FYI With the OnX on a Smart Phone you can do all of this. I bought a Garmin a couple of years ago, and liked it, but it did lead me a stray a couple of times, because I could only look at a topo map, and couldn't see how thick the brush was or if there was even a way around it. Plus it showed trails which were non existent.
When you look at the OnX map on a smart phone you can look at the Topo, the Satellite view or a hybrid with the topo and satellite. If you have a general idea of where you're going before hand you just save the maps for offline use, and put your phone on airplane mode and you'll still have the GPS features and satellite image map. If you'll have cell reception where you hunt skip the airplane mode, and you can go out of your saved areas. You can drop pins, set waypoints, track your paths, get land-owner names, property boundries, view burn areas, etc.

 

[Tech]

I just signed up with onX maps. I have a question.
How do one getting into BLM lot that surround by private properties ?
Coordinate 36.40582 -121.45593

 

[KTKT70]

I just signed up with onX maps. I have a question.
How do one getting into BLM lot that surround by private properties ?
Coordinate 36.40582 -121.45593

Have to own the private land or have the legal rights to that land. Otherwise it is landlocked and not accessible to anyone other than the land owners that touch the blm. Also, the land has to be a true border, like a whole sq of blm has to touch a whole private sq. You can not go diagonal from one sq to the next.

I have often wondered about the hand held gps hunting tools. Would be cool to walk land and know were that blm is located if you ever did get access to it.

 

[Tech]

Damn it. Not good then to have BLM since it cannot be accessed.
I saw a few BLM on the maps, however most are surround by private properties.

 

[Tech]

I thought about doing a lot of public land hunting. I know and accept the success rate is very very low. It's a way of me getting myself exercise and reduce stress from work.
Can someone recommend a few public lands I can access?

 

[KTKT70]

Damn it. Not good then to have BLM since it cannot be accessed.
I saw a few BLM on the maps, however most are surround by private properties.

Could be very good if you can find a large blm chunk, and get access. Depends were it is and how big. Some blm land is just the stuff of make believe. Kind of like being told about a fishing spot that everyone talks about but no one has been or knows the way.

 

[Bankrunner]

I just signed up with onX maps. I have a question.
How do one getting into BLM lot that surround by private properties ?
Coordinate 36.40582 -121.45593

Those coordinates are about 10 miles south of Hollister and don't show up as BLM land on my maps? Some BLM land is landlocked but not all of it.
If you share your general area and what your interested in someone might be able and willin to help

 

[Tech]

Those coordinates are about 10 miles south of Hollister and don't show up as BLM land on my maps? Some BLM land is landlocked but not all of it.
If you share your general area and what your interested in someone might be able and willin to help

I have uploaded the image. The red boxes are private properties. The yellow are BLM lots.
I am from San Jose, anything withing 1-3 hours would be good.

 

[Bankrunner]

Ya that looks like it could be tough to access (checked it on google earth, don't know why the coordinates didn't match but i found it), looks like there's only a couple roads in and they go thru private property as you said. Still it could be worth checking to see see if the roads are public or the landowner is willing to let you in.
Cottonwood wildlife area is pretty close to you. It's on the left side of Hwy 152 just past dinosaur point. I think they close it to hunting at the end of January but it might be a good place to scout for next year. It gets a lot of hunting pressure during deer season but there are pigs there and it would be quieter and cooler after the deer season closes.

 

[Bankrunner]

The wildlife area is also on the right side of 152, the last time i checked that area is archery and shotgun only.

 

[Stevehazard]

Have you tried to access the area?

The sad reality is you can't tell if landowners will allow you though the private sections of road until you ground pound the area and try to find out. Which is really really frustrating at times. There may no be public access at all and all the land owners, or companies, are unfriendly to allowing people though. There may be a secret way. There may be access where your allowed to walk or bike though but not with your vehicle.

 

[KTKT70]

I would say your best bet is to ask first. That don't ask and apologize later stuff will not work here. This cowboys know what is going on. One such blm that I know of has over 15-20 guys a year ask to get in. All are told no, but it's intrepting that so many people come looking for access year after year. You may get lucky at the spot you found. Try to ask around and look for people that could know someone that can help you. This will not be easy. Could take a few years to seal the deal and maybe longer. It's a roll of the dice. Best luck too you.

 

[Tech]

Thanks again guys for the input. It's pretty sad to learn this stuff. I can only imagine it would only get tougher every year.
It is like Abalone and fishing in general. A lot of MPA and regulation is getting tighter every year.

May be I would just stick to FHL. Too bad they closed for training, the last time I talked to them it could be mid March.

 

[KTKT70]

Don't give up so easy. Like I said. Could take a few years to get your spot. But think of how good and rewarding it will be when you can get to that spot you only used to hear about. Good luck to you. If you are able to hunt on the bases, that's a great start and has limited numbers as well. Not all of us get to go on base as easy others.

 

[TheGDog]

And brother... get yourself a couple TrailCams with Python Cable locks for them! Those TrailCams will do soooooo much for helping you to NOT feel like you're just some idiot out walking around in the middle of nowhere! And get used to hiking-in in the dark of morning before sunrise... and hiking out in the dark of night. In public SoCal lands... you're not going to see much of anything until you do. But then you eventually will.... and it will be magical!