BigGameHoundsmen.com

Here's a web site that sells maps that show private/public lands and some states include the private land owners name.

http://www.huntinggpsmaps.com/

I purchased the Montana map from these guys and I would recomend it for anyone. I got the download instead of the CD and it was delivered on a weekend even. Works well and is pretty detailed.

Scott

Anybody download these to a garmin astro yet? Be a great tool if you can!

Yep, that is the one I use the most. It is really convient knowing who owns the land around you. I don't know about the other states, but Montana also has all the hunting districts drawn out and labeled as well. Kinda cool. In Montana, we have to record the Township, Section and Range of any cat harvested and these maps give you all that info as well.

Scott

After a few request for them I think I"m finally setup to be one of their first online retailers for these maps. I've been on the phone with these guys talking about options and getting something setup. Unfortunately they can't move on their price points much or else they'll be pissing off Some of the Big retailers.

I'll be taking a look at these maps This weeked, and comparing them to see what and how they will work. I think it could be very helpful for folks who want more data than the Garmin stuff.. Like Private property, Game Managment units Etc.

100 Bucks each is pretty spendy, I'd like to Try them out to make sure they are worth it but Sounds like allot of people like Them.

I'll run a Promotion for folks here on this website to knock the price down some for the intro.

Buddy

Not to take away from anyone but there is a site called gpsfiledepot that allows you to download all of the different maps into your current Mapsource software for free. You just go to their site pick your state and download what you want. I was able to download the entire state of Montana land ownerships and the hunting districts all for free. You just have to have mapsource.

Hope that helps.

Nice Buddy! hope it works out for you. $100 is about what Garmin charges for their topo maps and I don't think they show all the detail such as ownership and all.

Scott, weren't you a little scared buying something to download? With my luck, the purchase would go through ok, but then I'd mess up the transferring part and be screwed out of $100

I had already done it with a free map from www.miscjunk.org so I know kinda what to expect. I was in a hurry to help find some property corners for my boss so I didn't have time to wait for the mail to deliver it. The downside is it takes up HUGE ammounts of memory on your puter. It would be nicer if it was on CD or a jumpdrive.

T-man - What exactly are you getting? I'm a little jealous from what I am reading. Tell us a little more. Mabey on a different thread.

Scott

I just checked out the site. A few things need to be cleared up!!!!! You must look at the map store first to see what is available. There are only 11 states with full topo coverage. Only 1 state with full plat information. The rest have only overlays of the sections, etc. Prices vary depending on what you get. Obviously the Montana map is the most at $99. With the simple overlays at $35.

So you have to be very careful in what you are getting. If I lived in montana might just get it for the property owner info. An overlay of section town and range is hardly worth the extra money.

The GPS file depot listed does have a lot of free maps on it. Some are good and some are not. I have only played with the ones available for WI. The 24k topo is just way to busy for my liking. Can't imagine how bad it would be in the mountain states. The free 24k is missing a lot of important information. A lot of significant landmarks hunters would use are not there. The snowmobile map was a bad joke.

Still overall the best topo software I have yet to use is the TopoUSA 2008. I have played with the Delorme, and Nat Geo as well. Been using TopoUSA since my first GPS that would use the topo maps. An old Lowrance!!!

So in my opinion right now TopoUSA still is tops all around for land use. Lakemaster for the water. Things change though. Maybe better is on the horizon for all.

Dude- Downloading a program is normally not a problem. Even if you screw it up can do it again with most companies for so many days. A good portion of my software has been downloaded.

The trick with GPS file depot is to use the search for nearby maps. I just did one for Montana, and there is a large amount there all for free. Even elk herd maps!!! In away file depot is just a server. Some of the maps will be from other sites. Like misc junk that Shiemer mentioned.

I probably won't even mess with the Overlay maps. And they will only really be helpful for the western States. They will be working on some of the eastern side of thing in time. There are some Technical details about being able to load multiple state maps for folks and How to bill them, I don't beleive 200 is fair for a 2 state card, So we're trying to figure out if we can do something like 150 or something.. There are some stuff that we'll be working out.

Cost wise this definitely won't be for everyone, Sounds like they are good maps and all of the Game wardens and Law enforcement are using them, Heck, While I was on the phone He had to take an order for law enforcement in oregon.

I Probably will look at a few of those free maps and other Files and Load maps with those as well for folks for the cost of the Chip, Probably something I can add to do for some of the guys that don't want to mess with that stuff.

My goal isn't to rip people off, 100 bucks is pretty damn Steep for my standards, but if they are making good maps I guess they want to get paid for them and I can't argue that.

I just want to provide service, products and options for people. Most of my customers don't want to hassle with installing a map setup even if it's free, they would just prefer to go hunt and want maps on Their system.

It's definitely not for everyone.

I've already got a couple beefs with it just in quickly looking at it for 10 minutes. I'll have to see if it grows on me.

Pro's:

For some of the states (and Washington is one of them) It shows the names of the land owners.. Kinda weird when it shows your name since it's registered to your property.. that alone is probably why the Law enforcement Like the maps.

State Land, Public land Clearly Marked, road names are good seams a little better labeled than Garmins stuff.

Con's:

Topo Detail doesn't show the elevation.. this is a big Con for me, as I like to look and see how High or Low the dogs are from me. I also like to check roads and see their Elevation so I can tell if some roads are snowed out due to elevation and snow level. Doesn't look like this would be as easy.

The GMU's are not accurately shown on the map, It shows them but I haven't seen the Boundary very clearly marked and honestly that's what I would want with this is to see the exact Boundary clearly defined.

So again, If some of you guys that have this program and Maps could Give your Feed back from other states.(Publicly or privately I would appreciate it.) I Don't know that it's my style of maps since Washington and Oregon have tremendous Forest, Timber and state lands so I'm not as worried about Private property as some others may be,

But I've heard allot of good things from the mid west about them so I think there are areas these might do well for folks.

Buddy, here is an impromptu review for you.

In Montana we have large blocks of Public. Once inside those blocks, the ownership thing is useless. We also have a State owned section within each Township. Those aren't marked very clearly, if at all. Comes in very handy in these situations. We also have mis-shaped and totally random pieces of BLM. It's very handy for that as well. We have large ranches that are quite often bordered with small subdivisions. Knowing the boundry between the ranch and someone's prized .25 acres is very important.

I don't care for it ocasionally because my Garmin shows the hourglass while thinking instead of showing me topo lines. It just has a huge ammount of data to sort through to produce a map shot. On my mapsource program on my computer, it's invaluable. If I see some place I would like to go hunt, I know exactly who to call to gain permission..

All in all, I use this map probably 99.8% of the time I use the Garmin or am on the mapsource program. The topo lines are accurate as are the roads and trails. Sometimes the ownership map won't show a little road and sometimes it shows more roads. It's expensive, but with a download you can unlock the map for two GPS units and they will allow you to update it whenever you want for free to keep the owners updated. It's not like once you buy it your on your own. They seem to be good guys that try to make a good product at a reasonable price.

I know that everyone I know wanted me to give them a copy cause it's cool. Not one of them has actually went out and bought it though.

Scott

Thanks. that's kinda where I'm landing on this.

really useful on the computer and I think it's worth the money for that reason when I'm scouting and looking at hunting areas.

Does your unit show the elevation on the GPS? I can't get to See what the elevation on the map is when I pan around?

Buddy.

Buddyw wrote:I Probably will look at a few of those free maps and other Files and Load maps with those as well for folks for the cost of the Chip, Probably something I can add to do for some of the guys that don't want to mess with that stuff.

Buddy, you KNOW there'd be guys looking for that, myself included.


Steve W, if it involves a keyboard and a screen, I'd screw it up! Seriously, my laptops about 7rs old and slower than slugs, but it gets me by and I put my money elsewhere......such as beer for example

Here's some interesting stuff along these lines though. Craig is really into GIS, mapping and Rovers (for some reason). If you have technical questions, he's a good guy to ask.
http://spatialminds.com

Buddyw wrote:Does your unit show the elevation on the GPS? I can't get to See what the elevation on the map is when I pan around?

Buddy.

Yes, mine does. I don't know if it's a setting I have different or I'm just lucky. It will give me the elevation of any topo line that I pan over. I also have the "trip computer" page set up to give me the current elevation of my Astro.

Scott