Where do you get your maps

[Rackum]

My brother and I hunted last season on a float trip and had an absolute blast..I planned the whole trip from over 1000 mile away with the help of many of you, and I'd like to thank-you for that....One planning adventure we had was getting current maps,,So the question is,,Where do you get,,and what kind of maps do you prefer??? TOPO,or SATELITE,AERIAL,,ect :question::question::question::question:

[B&C 04]

My brother and I hunted last season on a float trip and had an absolute blast..I planned the whole trip from over 1000 mile away with the help of many of you, and I'd like to thank-you for that....One planning adventure we had was getting current maps,,So the question is,,Where do you get,,and what kind of maps do you prefer??? TOPO,or SATELITE,AERIAL,,ect :question::question::question::question:

I get mine from "mytopo.com" waterproof, only got topos but an aerial may also come in handy.

[akarrows]

I would recommend TOPO maps and you can order them form the BLM in a quad format. This way you can get a better understanding of ground features. After you have the maps and your route is planned you can then got to google earth and get teh satalite views to supplemt the maps. I usually just make on the topo with a pencil with a number that will fefer you to the google earth image you printed out. Aslo there are several good programs for your GPS that you can download the topo maps and some newr programs have areal maps built into the program, and from there you can add waypoints for spacific areas you would like to hunt during your trip. Maps run about $6 to $7 per map and GPS progams run about $100 to $300 depending on which program you get.

[Alaskadad]

Sportsmans Warehouse has a kiosk that provides decent maps....Pretty resonable and I have got one whenever I do a remote hunt.

[tlingitwarrior]

i bought the TOPO software ~ great purchase.

[danattherock]

I get mine from "mytopo.com" waterproof, only got topos but an aerial may also come in handy.

Same here, awesome maps. I order mine with UTM coordinates, handy feature. They fold up which I prefer to tubing maps as well. Very easy to use website and high quality product.


http://www.mytopo.com/


-Dan

[SkinnyD]

I love map threads!

1. USGS quads are the standard for topo and everything else that you find will be based either entirely or partially from these. NGTOPO and other commercial outlets might change around the contour intervals or the color schemes, but they are not adding anything useful unless you just find them better for your specific purposes.

2. Satellite can be a good friend if you know how to use it. Unfortunately, you'll need a GIS to put most satellite images into a format that you can use. You can certainly download .jpg files and use them as pictures, but they will not be georeferenced and you won't really know what you are looking at.

3. Land Status. The square maps you get from BLM that tell you who owns the land.... don't use them for navigation. They are based on aerial photography flown at the time of statehood (1959ish).

The most important thing to remember about topographic maps and land status maps is that they are very generalized. Alaska is huge and it would take a gazillion maps to show the kind of detail you get on maps in the L48. In short, use your map for what it is: a helpful tool. Just know that the ground probably will not look like the map once you get there.

[Bushwhack Jack]

I usually get mine from the USGS store in Anchorage. That is where the really good maps are sold. You are out of state, so you won't be able to go there. Maybe the next time you are in town you could swing by there. Another resource is the national geographic topographic maps software. You can make your own maps.

[SkinnyD]

I usually get mine from the USGS store in Anchorage. That is where the really good maps are sold. You are out of state, so you won't be able to go there. Maybe the next time you are in town you could swing by there. Another resource is the national geographic topographic maps software. You can make your own maps.

USGS quad maps can be purchased in person in Anchorage, AK, Denver, CO, and Reston, VA. They can also be ordered online.

[SkinnyD]

These two images are at the exact same scale. 1:2,800. Your typical topo map is drawn at a 1:63,360 scale, and you can't zoom in with your eyes like I can with my GIS. So say you want to go moose hunting in downtown Manley Hot Springs, which is the lovely little corner of heaven in the picture... which one do you think gives you the most information about your hunting spot? If you said "neither one," then you're on the right track. Unless you are standing on the ground in Manley, how are you going to get a feel for the lay of the land, the swiftness of the current in the river, the steepness of the nearby hill, etc?



ps disregard the notations of 1:2000 in the pictures... that's overflow annotation from another map

[Rock_skipper]

I like the Rand McNally book.

[danattherock]

[nittanytbone]

I order USGS quads directly from their website. Costs a few bucks for shipping but I figure I'd burn a few bucks of gas to get them at the store in Anchorage too, and the website is faster/easier to find what I need.

[H20Dogg]

National Geoegraphic TOPO! program is the best, you can upload/download waypoints onto your GPS. Tracks and routes too. You can Customize you own Grid. I think the price has come down. I believe I saw 69.99, I paid 99.99 over two years ago. They sell it at sportsmans. You can get other states too that tie into the same program. Its cool. I also sometimes mostly when hunting print out google earth images, it helps for noticing the little things.

Good Luck!

[Alaska_Lanche]

I just pay the $30 per year to be come a member at "mytopo" gives me unlimited number of topos I can print off. At $18 a pop for a 18'X24" laminated map the membership pays for itself fast. I like to be able to select exactly what areas I want to print that may have a bit of a couple of the USGS quads. You have the option to print in 1:35000, 1:50000, 1:63000, 1:75000 and on 8.5"X11" or 11"X17". I just printed up 8 maps for my 2 up coming sheep hunts at 1:35000 on 11X17" and then laminate them back to pack so I don't have as many piece of paper floating around. Had I paid for the maps it would have been $128 right there, that is over 4X the membership. I still gotta print up 2 of those maps for a goat hunt and atleast 4 for the Kodiak hunt for this year.

Plus I can access the maps from any computer unlike Nat Geo or the like, but after 3 years Nat Geo pays for itself over "mytopo" but the being able to use it from any computer is worth it to me.

Lots of options to choose from for sure.