If I had to pick ONE thing that I would rather NOT do without when it comes to deer hunting and scouting , it would have to be aerial photos.

Without a doubt, IMO, the use of aerials has changed my deer hunting life.

I can't tell you how many times, throughout the decades, that I have "wondered" what was just "over there" or , in some cases, actually sneaked over on to an adjoining property for a "peek" in order to try and fine tune my stand locations.

Many times, I placed stands based only on what I saw (tracks, etc.) and not on any sort of "pattern" that I may be able to deduce.

Walking into a stand of timber or into an open field and deciding to hunt there only because I saw tons of fresh sign was the norm, back in those days.

Now, with the help of aerials, I can make educated guesses at when deer use these well "tracked up' areas, based on where they are located. Being able to basically "connect the dots" on an aerial photo helps me decide if I am hunting in a place most often visited at night or whether the tracks and sign were made during daylight times.

Looking at aerials of a square mile or maybe more or less, I can easily pick out the BEST travel routes for deer and where they coincide with food and bedding areas.......

Making notes and then being able to basically stand exactly where I am looking on the map is more of a benefit than I ever dreamed....

Knowing (by looking at the aerial) what's OVER THERE and being able to SEE it without actually walking to it saves time but better than that, there's just something about standing in an area where several trails merge together and be able to know where they are coming from and going to helps me better predict WHEN these trails are used....

Aerials are beneficial more ,IMO, on smaller tracts of land simply because you may not have access to the adjoining land and even though you may not be able to walk over on it, you can still predict movement on your property based on what's on the adjoining properties...

Aerials ARE great for large areas as well because they help eliminate unneeded walking and possibly cut your scouting time in half.

I love these things. I wish I had them back in the day or at least could so easily access them as we all can now.

Great tool, IMO.

BH
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There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict.

Walk away; the battle they are fighting is not with you, but with themselves.