I've never had to read maps for hunting since I've grown up on the ground that I deer hunt and therefore I don't really know what I'm doing or looking for. I've read that elk will bed in bench areas so if you can find that with a food and water source I would assume that is what I should be looking for. Something away from the road or trails too. I've read that north facing hills are good too. Any advice anyone could give me on what to be looking for on maps. We are going to be hunting SE Idaho in Diamond Creek area and I want to get a plan together as to where we will try to pack into. I know Google earth and Idaho has a huntplanner map that shows the location pretty well. I've included the link with the map from Idaho's huntplanner. Any suggestions is much appreciated. http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/ifwis/huntplanner/mapcenter/
The closer the lines are together the steeper the area.....the wider apart the lines are the land will be more level if that makes any sense? I would go to mytopo.com and find the map that you need.
