Map obsessions.

[border hunter]

Yes it does have shed view! Just YouTube caltopo and it will walk you through it.

[elecshoc]

Yep, have my maps pretty much in caltopo and I use US topo map on my phone and tablet to cache maps. Worked out pretty well so far

[biglakejake]

i just sent the biggest part of my map addictions to GMCBob. have fun Bob !

 

lee

[Guest 300ultramag.]

Big lake I would have taken those!!!

 

My grand father passed down an old tonto map to me a while ago I ised the heck out of it.. It's trash now wish I would have not used it so much

[AZ8]

I have an old forest service map from 1972 I still use today. It shows old stock tanks/springs that don't show up on any new forest service map or online topo app used today.

 

It's beat up, but it's a valuable tool locating forgotten springs and old stock tanks.

 

[azbugler]

Map and google Earth and GPS. I'm now 100% certain that I have every water source pinned and logged! And glassing ridges, and fence lines, and well trees for that matter. But I should probably go over it again tomorrow just to double check!

[CouesWhitetail]

hahaha, I was just thinking this yesterday while looking at a topo map on my computer....I was wondering "why do I so enjoy looking at the maps?" It's funny this topic came up at the same time. I realized what I enjoy is the endless possibility of exploring new country and the challenge of finding new routes or places to explore. I day dream about backpack hunts and finding sheds and skulls in newly explored drainages and ridges.

[Edge]

Some of us trade maps like baseball cards.

 

When I discovered the AZGFD Rec Access map with wildlife waters, not only could I find routes thru the desert with horses, but see a photo of the waterhole too and determine if it was a practical local.

 

Misplacing a map is as maddening as losing my keys.

[PRDATR]

Even worse is finding your old map two weeks after you buy a new one.

[4Falls]

I have truck/field maps AND house maps so there's always a back up. Thanks to this thread I'm now addicted to caltopo.

[Red Sparky]

I usually have to buy four maps because everywhere I hunt is right on the corner of those four maps.That is why I am happy with services where I can print my own maps to avoid that. Almost as good as Forlorn Hope is I have the complete book of quadrangle maps for NM from the early 70's that were issued to all NMSP officers.

[Whitesheep]

Nice to know I am not alone. DeLorme's Topo North America is my addiction and I spend hours snooping around to find camp, spot and stalk routes when drawn for a new unit. For those places I hunt frequently the waypoints for springs, seeps and fence crossing uploaded from my GPS and stored on the map are really handy when returning to the same area. Google Earth is good for making sure those trails on the old USGS Quads still exist. I too used to print and share 11x17 maps with buddies, but I am the only one who uses them so no more wasting paper and ink for them. Some people don't relate the 2D paper to the real world very well. Those of us that do are the map geeks.

 

In place of and augmenting the paper map printed from Topo NA the iPhone app Topo USA http://topomapsapp.com/ is fantastic. It costs only $7.99 and covers the entire USA with USGS 7.5 quad topo maps you can download to your iPhone. With the new IOS it will now access the GPS chip when the phone is in airplane mode. This really saves on battery life. A full day of hunting uses less than 30% of the battery where before it would pretty will use it all up.

 

With these three tools (DeLorme Topo, Google Earth, iPhone Topo NA ) along with my Garmin GPS and my trusty compass I feel like I am returning to places I have been before and know where I am going before I get there. Gotta love technology.