Most of us have our honey holes and sweet spots for hunting and fishing in and around our communities. Places we have been traveling to since we first began our adventures into the great outdoors.
For those places we can tell you when the fish bite and exactly where the deer will come from and go. However, on occasion we tend to go off the beaten trail and adventure to places we have never been before. Most of us roll the dice on where the hot spots will be when we arrive at a new location. Does is have to be this way?
Well the answer is no. With just a little technical savvy you can plan great trips without ever visiting the site. In the past few years the internet has added some great sites with aerial, topographic and water level data that will greatly assist any hunter or fisherman. Here are a few that I rely on to plan my adventures to new places.
Terraserver http://terraserver-usa.com
Terraserver is a free internet site with aerial and topographic data. For those who are a little in the dark, aerial information is air photos of the ground and topographic data is the lay of the land, showing hills and drainage basins. Terraserver is very easy to use and you can download maps of select locations. This site is recommended for the inexperienced internet user.
Google Earth http://earth.google.com/
Google Earth is also a free internet site. This program must be downloaded and installed on the user's computer. It will require some technical knowledge to get started. Once the program is installed it runs a fast track zoom and pan of aerials throughout the world. If you're going on safari to Africa, then this is the program for you. The program allows you to set points and label them. With this you could locate and place every stand in your hunting club and show them on a single map. The only downfall to Google Earth is that it does not have topographic maps only aerials.
Real Time River Levels http://www.landbigfish.com
This site will tell you the exact water level of any river you wish to fish. What I like to do is keep a log of the levels on days that I really tear up the fish. This way the next time I want to go out I can check the river level and see that it is at 5.0'. Then I refer to my log and see that I caught a fair amount of fish when the river was at 5.5'. I then know that I have a good chance at turning in a good catch today. The only thing I have to worry about then is will the river be muddy or not. However this can be guessed at also. You can pull the data for the past week and if the level of the river has not changed greatly then you can determine that the river should not be too muddy. Water color will tend to change with large water level increases or decreases in the past few days. This is a great tool for planning fishing trips.
Go Hunt Georgia http://www.gohuntgeorgia.com
Go Hunt Georgia is the official Georgia Department of Natural Resources - Wildlife Division Site. What I really love about this site is that now you can apply directly online for quota hunts in Georgia. I am sure most everyone has heard of the Sapelo and Ossabaw Island hunts, where deer swarm like gnats. From this site you can apply for these types of hunts. Previously you had to fill out forms to be sent in. Then if you were rejected you had to keep up with your rejection notice until next year so you would have priority when you applied again. Now they will keep up with all this information for you if you have an online user account. This site also has all hunting regulations and licenses can be purchased and printed out without ever going to the store. This is great for the last minute hunter or the family member that just arrived and wants to tag along.
These sites are favorites of mine, and maybe they can help you be a more successful hunter. Planning is usually the difference between having cube steak or pimento cheese when traveling to a new location for your next adventure.
Most of us have our honey holes and sweet spots for hunting and fishing in and around our communities. Places we have been traveling to since we first began our adventures into the great outdoors.