How to get a good public land topo/aerial map?

I just ordered a map off from mytopo(hope it is ok to name sites). Through no fault but my own, I didn't get exactly what I was hoping for. It has the set box size that you drag over the area you want, but the size of the area in general was too large to get a good scale.

For what it's worth, I'm trying to get a good aerial/topo of Jim Edgar Panther Creek(Site M) in Illinois. I'm sure I didn't put enough research into it, but I still can't find what I'm looking for. The one site that I found offered what I'm looking for doesn't have valid contact info any longer.

Are there any map sites out there that allow you top customize the border areas of the map you want?

Thanks for any and all help

 

http://mapper.acme.com/

I like this site, I just find the area I'm hunting on the aerial ma or road map then switch it to topo to see the topo details.


As far as borders or printing I'm sure you could find a way to save and alter an image on your PC.

 

I use Goggle Earth a lot.

 

I use a combination of maps and it has worked great for me, but I will say that it takes some time to get everything I want on them. Last year I put together a binder of the area I was hunting with topo on one side of the page and sat image on the other side. I also had large area maps and more detailed pages.

I used google maps/earth along with my Garmin maps and National Geographic. The google sat. images help me find great reference points that you can't see with topo maps. I have thought about buying custom maps before but just figured I could do it better myself.

 

Oh yeah, and because I am putting them together myself i can add points for sign that I have seen through the years. That can really help when trying to predict where they are going to be.

 

stuntriders, I did the same thing with the NatGeo maps and it works great. I am going to really fine tune that process the next two months and put together a file on the comp with all my hunting spots I will have all my entrance/exit routes to and from each stand listed along with what stand I want to hunt based on the wind and time of day. So I will just pick a spot that fits the variables and move in to hunt.

 

That is a beautiful piece of public land man!

Aerial--

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=39.98702,-90.05300&z=14&t=S&marker0=39.98635%2C-90.06066%2CJim%20Edgar%20Panther%20Creek


For the topo go up to the right hand side and press "topo"

 

acme mapper is the way to go. Are you hitting up that location because of the recent story in Rack magazine. I'm sure you wont be alone

 

Does anyone else think it's crazy that the huge lake isn't on the map or topo, just the sat. image? How long has that lake been there? Just goes to show you that you really have to scout your hunting spots in person. I have found numerous mistakes with maps and old sat. images.

 

Have you tried the county's GIS Server?

 

BEST MAPPING SITE I'VE FOUND, HANDS DOWN!!!


You're not gonna find anything better..... It uses Mytopo, googleearth, and terraserver ALL simultaneously to get you the perfect map/view of almost anyplace in the WORLD!!!!

 

Many of the topo maps from USGS haven't been updated in over 30, some nearing 40yrs!!! That's why ACME is really nice, it gives you a more updated aerial view to correlate your topo or MAP view. Most of the aerial maps you'll find are between 1-5yrs old. You can still see my camper and my old car on an aerial of my place, and the car has been gone for 4yrs, and the camper over a year..... But using the maps, aerial, topo, in correlation will usually get you what you need....

 

I use Acme Mapper overlayed with Google aerial.

 

Maps

I am a GIS tax mapper in my home county here in NC. The best resource I have found if the county or municipality has a GIS Online Mapping Service. We have color orthos, Boundaries with owners info, Elevations, Soil types, Wetlands, and so on and on. You can manipulate the map to whatever scale you want and zoom in/out wherever you want. I would check to see if the county this is in had a resource like this for you to use.

 

Actually haven't read that magazine, a lot of good bucks are taken out of there. You may be referring to the 16pt a guy from Ga. shot but not really sure. Main reason is it's only a 40 minute drive. I mainly hunt my Uncles land, but being only 70 acres and several hunters I felt like I was overhunting and hurting their end results. Now that I have 3 seasons of hunting and quite a few deer bagged I want to get out more on my own, figured this is the best public land available within same day driving.

Thanks for that ACME Mapper site, looks like a winner to me. Hopefully I can figure out a way to get it printed out. I also mushroom hunt this land every Spring and it'd be nice to carry a quality map anytime I am out there. I like the map I got from mytopo, but it just doesn't have the detail I was hoping for, maybe I'm just a little too optimistic.

The only thing I dread, is hauling a big bodied deer out of there, It's got some wicked hills. May be best to use creek beds though.

Thank you everyone for your help.

 

You can print ACME using Internet Explorer as your browser, sometimes has issues using Firefox, so I usually print maps using IE vs. Firefox which I normally browse from. Use the print tab in the upper RH Corner, and do Print Preview, landscape it, and change the borders, and you can get pert near a full page map. I actually seam some together, and make an 18"x24" map of an area if I wish, and then start figuring out what I want. I'll make a duplicate, cut it in half, and fold it over so I have 1/4 map on each page (1/2 map per laminate sheet as I) if I want to have them waterproof. MyTopo is a waste of time as far as I'm concerned....

 

Here is another one that I like! There are some great bucks here-Mackinaw!

 

i'm sorry ya'll but i've never used a map hunting wise a day in my life so i'm ignorant to its advantages. what would i be looking for besides entry & exit points? i wouldnt know what to look for so if you please school me, cause it maybe something i'm missing out on. sorry cls74 i dont mean to jack your thread this is just something i would love to learn.

 

No need for an apology, my question was already answered. I want one not only for entry/exits but if you can learn to read them like many on here can, you can practically map out deer travel routes without ever setting foot on the land. I also bought Mapping Trophy Bucks last year and would like to reread it while using a map for land I plan to hunt this time. Hoping it will help me out some