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\"Still Hunter\" said:
I\'m curious about that too Brad. Some of my spots are very close to major roads. I consider it great elk habitat, and i\'m wondering if it will show on his map. Who knows? Maybe i\'ll learn about some spots I haven\'t found myself.
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Still Hunter, to answer your first question, your hot spots will probably not show up on my maps. I use a defined distance from roads and if above average elk habitat falls within that area, it is not included in my analysis, so your spots may be safe. Who knows, like you said, my maps may even show you some new areas that you are not familiar with. Following this logic, it may actually help to spread people out more.

Per your second concern about reducing the number of tags, I do not see that happening as a result of hunting pressure. Elk numbers have been steadily increasing or holding steady for the majority of the state. In my opinion, unless we get several hard winters in a row, the numbers will stay relatively the same regarding the number of tags and the number of elk. There are currently many GMUs where second tags are available because they are trying to reduce the number of elk.

Sorry if my last post seemed confrontational. It was not intended to be. Just trying to solicit a healthy and informative debate on the subject where all opinions are respected.

Just to let you know, I do not see myself quitting my day job any time soon.
 
I do not know if I am letting the cat out of the bag here or not. I have not communicated with Mike at all. When I transferred to the Malheur National Forest at Burns, Oregon years ago, I spent many evenings and weekend days going over their GIS maps and Total Resource Inventory TRI maps to make my own maps for scouting. I snooped in every applicable file I legally could, in the winter and spring, so I could focus on quality areas. My maps were unique and included things I found of special interest.
I suspect anyone can do what Mike has done if you know the systems, have access to them and have a lot of time. It is not rocket science, but I can say with certainty that getting a map or two from Mike will save you much time and effort. It will save you hunting time and money if you don\'t have the information he makes available. When I went to the files and GIS, there was nothing that said \"elk are here\" on any date. I still need to locate them myself. I still have to do everything to make the hunt work for me. The maps are just going to get you started in the right places.
 
Bottom line... who dont like to have a few new maps !! :thewave:

I would think that anyone that hunts [or intends to hunt Colorado] would be entering the Free Map Give-Away Contest
 
I have not seen his maps and imagine that the areas they show as being a good area are still quite large and cover a lot of ground.

Yes Brad I like maps. I have US topo on my GPS but I like to have a good hard copy with me too. I like the trails illustrated maps from National Geographic. I have many for Colorado. I will be going to Idaho this year and need to locate some maps for the area. I plan to call the forest service and ask if they have any.
 
\"Swede\" said:
I suspect anyone can do what Mike has done if you know the systems, have access to them and have a lot of time.
Click to expand...

Swede, you may be onto to something with the rest of your comment, but I wanted to address this part in particular just to give everybody some idea of the effort needed to complete this on a statewide scale. It has taken me close to three years now since I first came up with this idea to get to where I am at now. Lot\'s of frustration along the way, but also a lot of reward in the end. Between my day job and family commitments, I was left with working on this late into the night. In fact, about the only time I actually get more than 4-5 hours of sleep a night is when I actually go hunting. So time has definitely been a huge commitment.
I only bring this up because many have said my maps are over priced. In reality, with the limited time most of us has in the field each year, I feel they are well worth the price.

Anyway, thanks for the support from all and happy hunting.
 
As Swede mentioned, no one is ever going to be able to say \'on this day, the elk will be here.\' I think these maps can give newbies a good head start on an area, but can also affirm someone\'s thoughts on an area, like Anthony mentioned. The fact that most of the \'hot spots\' are located a certain distance away from roads makes it even more of a guarantee that this is not going to have an ill effect on elk herds or magically increase the success rates across the state. We all know that the majority of hunters do not venture very far from roads, whether that is by choice or because of physical ability. So even if a map says to hunt an area 3 miles off the road, how many people are actually going to do that?

One final thought: personally, I think these maps are priced perfectly at $35. If a National Geographic map is just over $20, it seems well worth it to spend $15 extra and get all of the additional information. Just my two cents...
 
I agree Mike. When I said it takes a lot of time, I was going on my experience doing what I think you have done. One of the differences is that I did it only for the places I wanted to hunt at the time. It was still was a big job. Another thing you have is the maps by game management unit, and you cover more than one land management jurisdiction.
What I like is that, from your maps a person can add information they gather as they learn new things along the way.
Knowing the time commitment involved, you have no reason to be defensive about your prices. It kind of reminds my of what is involved with writing and publishing a book. If you don\'t love the sport, it would never be worth the effort.

Good luck and best wishes.
 
I\'ll do a little experiment Mike. I\'ll buy a map for my unit. I think I know it pretty well, and have at least 25 honey holes on it that constantly change when I find new ones, and drop others that are found by other hunters. Some are close to roads, and some take a long hike to get to. Some are where elk go when pressured, and some are where they are with no pressure. Some work during the rut, and some work for a lone bull after the rut. I\'ll compare what I know about the unit to your map.

I\'ll also buy another map for an OTC unit I plan on hunting for a new challenge. A unit i\'ve never hunted. I\'ll use your map as a new elk hunter will use it, and see how it works out. I\'ll use it this year for a rifle hunt in Oct, and next year in muzzleloader season. That way I can get a feel for how the map helped in different seasons. Should be fun, and more interesting than hunting my unit that I know where the elk will be. Plus, i\'ll be dealing with a lot more hunters being an OTC unit.

I bought a gun this month, and i\'m poor now. I\'ll get them next month.
 
Pete
That sounds like a good plan.
Just be sure to enter the contest for a free map, one each month for the next 4 months.
This just may be time you win!
 
It will be the first time if I do. I can\'t win anything. When I play Powerball I don\'t even get one number right.

I\'ll enter though. I like the prize.
 
I agree with the majority that these maps would be very useful. To bad Mike doesn\'t have any for Oregon. ;)

I live 3 hours away from my main hunting area. With two young and active kids it can be hard to find time to scout. But I\'m lucky because I get a lot of time off to hunt so a lot of my scouting can be done during season. There are others who have hardly any time for either. These maps can get these hunters out in the woods and give them a little piece of the puzzle that their busy schedule would not allow them to have otherwise.

We come to BTO to give us, the hunter, a little more advantage over the elk we hunt. The price for a map would definitely be worth it especially if you\'re like me and have a three hour drive.
 
Reading maps and using a compass is a lost art.
I am so glad that people are still using them. :upthumb:
 
So I received my map from Mike and have reviewed it thoroughly.

Here is my report:

The map arrived in a cardboard tube, all rolled up.
It not a waterproof map, but it looks like the plotter paper is bonded and coated.

As stated in my above post, it didnt have any \'hot spots\', but that was by default. I know where the \'hot spots\' are on this map.

It has 4 map inserts around the border which cover landownership w/ topo, GMUs, Elk Ranges, Colorado Reference
I liked the insert map that showed nearest trauma centers, EMS, and USFS offices.

The large portion of map was interesting for the location of primary forage, secondary forage and security habitat.
It covers an area about 3 miles X 4 miles
And of course it showed motorized roads, trails and non-motorized.

Upon researching the data on the map, I have now discovered 2 or 3 places that I have over-looked in the past that I will be checking out.
Possible more \'hot spots\' to come.

It is nice to see all the features we may know [or not know] all on one map. Aerial/topo/roads/forage/hot spots

If someone is looking at a certain area, I would consider on getting some maps that connect, as we know elk can travel quite a ways and not having an adjacent map or two to where you are hunting would not be good.

Would I get another one of these maps? YES

Would I recommend these maps to someone? YES

Are they waterproof? NO

Will you see increased hunting pressure from these maps? IMO... NO

Are they over-priced? NO

Will they help you shoot an elk? YES, but you still need to go scout the spots for thermals, blowdowns, cattle use, etc.

I hope this review is helpful
 
Sounds pretty good Brad. I think i\'ll get the one that shows the whole unit, and the hot spots. Sort of what a new elk hunter would get. If later I want to key into one area i\'ll get a map for that. That must be what you got.

Unit 55 is way too big to hunt the whole thing in 9 days. I\'ll pick what I think looks good, and concentrate on it.
 
Great report Brad! A question for Mike: is it possible that someone could end up ordering a map of a certain area and it doesn\'t have hot spots, or was Brad\'s a one-off sort of deal? Just curious. I think someone could end up disappointed if they order a map and there are zero hot spots. Wouldn\'t that mean \'hunt elsewhere and buy a different map?\'
 
On his site he has a list of all the units, and how many hot spots it has. Some of them have a lot. Others not so many. Mine had 21. I think if someone asks for too small of an area they might not have any hot spots.

I think someone new to a unit should get the map that shows the whole unit.
 
By default, the Hot Ppots wont show within 1/2 mile to a motorized road/trail.
If your area is further away than that, it will show them if the data tells it to.

IMO, the forage, cover and road detail was most informative to me.
I compared them to MY hot spots near motorized trails/roads and they were right on.

It puts it all into perspective.

Still Hunter
Im not sure if an entire GMU would be the map to get, unless its pretty small.
Even when I hunt a large unit, I dissect it into quadrants and hunt it that way.
If a person selected a quadrant, then pinpointed the approximate center of it, the map would show plenty.
Or if you know part of a unit and want to learn another part, get the part you dont know and compare
 
Yes Brad. That\'s why I said i\'d start with the whole unit (55), and figure out from it where I want to concentrate on. Then i\'d have to get another map of that area for more detail. I kind of know what area i\'m going to hunt, so maybe I should just start with a map of that area.

We already talked about 55, so maybe i\'ll just go for that area. You know me. I like lots of backup areas. I\'ll be surprised if I can get away with one map.
 
\"Still Hunter\" said:
On his site he has a list of all the units, and how many hot spots it has. Some of them have a lot. Others not so many. Mine had 21.
Click to expand...

Where did you find that Pete? I must have missed it...
 
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