A friend at work was telling me about Bing maps and a certain view that was really close with a fair amount of detail. I just checked it out and it's definitely better than most i have used, Mytopo, some of google earth etc. I haven't navigated the US with it, but has the public land close to me on it, which is rather remote. Here is an image I captured for reference, you can dang near see shadows of the trees. It's set on automatic at the road selector option in the far left and zoomed all the way in. Does anyone know of a place to get this same quality of an aerial but with more of a full screen function? Their site uses a small panoramic inlay. Most sites I have used all have the same images as the other, but this is by far a little more detailed. But, it doesn't have a topo function.
See if your state has a geographic map server. That's what I use in Iowa. It's run by Iowa State University and is updated pretty much annually.
I use Bing Maps as well. I believe you can configure Bing to your settings, and see a full screen map view. I agree though, for aerials, Bing is the best in my opinion.
I've used a bunch of different ones, but the bing one I've never heard about. It seems like all of them use the same source for the aerials, but this one is different. Hoythews, do you know what settings to change to get to a full screen shot? Was late last night and using my phone now, so didn't get to tinker with it much. That's all I'm really after, just don't know where they obtain those views. It puts the aerial/topo overlay map I bought to shame.
The aerial view on Bing maps is great. I've actually seen game trails in some of my aerial photos. The benefit that comes from Bing is that the view is so close and clear and actually has several different angles typically and sometimes at different times of the year. If you notice the two slightly curved arrows on either side of the North directional tool, you can actually view it from four different angles. If you are looking for something you can take offline and have access to a states GIS maps like what Iowa Vet was talking about, look into uDig. It's a free tool based on the Eclipse framework that gives you the ability to create your own maps from data you find on the net. If you're not familiar with projections, datum and some of the more common GIS features, I suggest looking for some kind of educational tutorial online. It will make things a lot easier for you. I did a quick look and U of I Champaign-Urbana actually has some files you can download: http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/
I use - www.mapper.acme.com ez, recent (2011), free Also, our county has a nice gis map sytem that can access owners info. Look at you county's website.
I was just messing with it, but I guess its not a Bing feature, but a feature of my computer. I have an iMac, and I use Firefox for my browser. Click on View>Full Screen and whatever page youre looking at covers the entire screen. Im sure its possible with Windows as well, but I dont know how. You can remove a lot of the clutter on the left side of the Bing Maps screen by clicking the arrow next to where you would enter driving directions, etc. I use Bing specifically for the Bird's Eye view feature. As said before, you can literally see deer trails in some of their pics!
I use DeLorme TOPO USA with the maps subscription ($30 a year for unlimited map data). The topo map with the image overlay is priceless. You can't really tell what the terrain is going to be like without them combined! It allows me to identify the funnels without ever putting my boots on the ground.
Ask your Assessors office what is the best maps to use, they have to use the same kind of mapping to support land valuation. I have 4-5 different sources to choose from when I have a mapping project. Google earth will take all the info from you gps and create a user defined map. I have points for my stands, scrapes, rubs, and other hunting features. Also I have highlighted trails for when I go bushwhacking chasing deer tracks. Good luck man. Local gis, state gis, google maps, bing maps, and google earth are good sources.
