Map Sessions, Bookmarks, My Places, or whatever you want to call it. Yep, that’s it. Well, it’s not really a secret but rather a feature that gets overlooked by everyone. This feature can be found under the “My Maps” section on the side menu bar. It’s pretty simple to use but very beneficial when it comes to e-Scouting. Think of it this way, zoom into a location of interest or an area you want to start scouting, place waypoints, draw paths (cat’s out-of-the-bag, new feature coming soon), or look at elevation, aspect, and vegetation. With that all done, you click save, name your Map Session, and you’re all set. This feature allows you to quickly zoom to your saved area with a click of a button.
We all do it. As we open a map, we are accustomed to zooming in/out, and panning the map right away. Stop doing it and let the application do it for you. The feature allows you to save as many Map Sessions as you would like. There’s a filterable search bar for you to quickly search the Map Session you want to zoom to.
This feature was actually one of the first features developed. We felt that all other mapping applications out there were missing a feature like this, a feature for e-Scouters that would be a must. Our 3D Map is still the only application out there that truly fits the needs of an e-Scouter. But wait, there are more hidden features that come with Map Sessions. Let’s dive into those now.
When e-Scouting, we are constantly tilting the map, panning around, turning on and off available layers, and adding content. Let’s face it, it gets messy at times. Not only will a saved Map Session save your location, but it will also remember all the layers and content you have turned on at the moment you saved your session. So, when you want to return to a previously saved Map Session, it will pan, zoom, and turn on all saved layers and content. Not only does this clean up your map while e-Scouting, but it will allow you to pick up right where you left off the last time you were e-Scouting.
My wife and son have a general rifle deer tag here in Utah. I have been using the heck out of the mapping platform. I have four different areas saved in the My Maps section. Within those four areas, I have different layers turned on and added content to the map. For example, two areas are high in elevation and completely contained within the USFS boundary. We’ve turned on the USFS trails and roads layer, wildfire history, and weather radar. The other two areas are low in elevation and are mixed private, SITLA, and BLM land. I also found a KML file with detailed roads and trials that I added. We are also looking at a fire that took place two years ago. With other hunt planning, e-Scouting tools, after you close the browser, you lose all that information, and ultimately, you would have to recreate the entire scenario all over again. Good luck. With our Map Sessions, it doesn’t matter what computer or device you are using or when. All you have to do is open the My Maps section and click on the Zoom to Map button. Everything appears and turns on for you. Magic! I hope this helps and enhances your e-Scouting sessions.
I know last month’s article mentioned that we would take a deeper dive into our waypoint management system, but we are in the middle of updating and adding some pretty awesome features to it. I wanted to wait another month before I jumped into that, so stay tuned for that topic to come up soon. In the meantime, take a look at our “Mapping Minute” on the Huntin’ Fool YouTube channel.
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