Bill G. asks:
I see that I can enter my hunting areas with expert GPS and did see some farm capabilities. How easy is it to put fence lines and gates on the maps? Can I pull in a Google Earth image and draw directly on that? Can I add and remove layers? example, maybe I don't want to see the deer trails, can I hide them and then view them again later? Thanks for your help!

It's as easy as pointing and clicking. You can trace fence lines directly off the aerial imagery of your fields. ExpertGPS does have a Layers feature, but even easier is to simply hide the data you want to temporarily remove from the map. Select the data, right-click, and Hide. When you want to see it all again, click Show All on the Edit menu.

The View in Google Earth command in ExpertGPS allows you to view your GPS data (waypoints, routes, and tracks) over the detailed color imagery in Google Earth. To use the command, open a GPX file in ExpertGPS, or retrieve the data from your GPS. Press F7, or click View in Google Earth on the View menu. ExpertGPS will instruct Google Earth to synchronize its map to match the map in ExpertGPS, and to show your GPS data.

If Google Earth is not already running when you click View in Google Earth, it may not show your data because it is busy initializing. To prevent this, run Google Earth and let it finish initializing and zoom in on the globe. Then click View in Google Earth in ExpertGPS.

You can also export your data from ExpertGPS to a KML file, which you can then view in Google Earth. Click on the map in ExpertGPS, and then click Export Data on Map on the File menu. Change the file type to .kml, and save to your desktop. Open the KML file in Google Earth.

ExpertGPS cannot display Google Earth's worldwide color imagery directly. Google's terms of use forbid this. You can, however, export an image from Google Earth and use it as a Scanned Map in ExpertGPS.

The ExpertGPS help file has complete details about preparing and geo-referencing your maps for use within the program.

Related Topics Adding a Google Earth image to ExpertGPS

David B. asks:
I'm looking for software for our deer camp. I want to make a map of all of our deer stands on about 3000 acres by giving the latitude and longitude coordinates of our 60 deer stands. Will ExpertGPS do this for me?

ExpertGPS makes it easy to create a map of your deer camp, allowing you to enter the coordinates of your hunting stands by hand (using the New Waypoint command), or by retrieving waypoints marking stand locations directly from your handheld GPS receiver. You can create your map over USGS topo maps, color or black and white aerial photos, scanned paper maps, or digital images or photos of your property.

In addition to marking the locations of deer stands, food plots, rub lines, or other hunting points of interest, you can use your GPS to record tracklogs as you drive around the property in your truck or ATV, and turn those GPS tracks into roads, trails, and property boundaries using the drawing and map editing tools in ExpertGPS.

Once you've created a map of your deer camp or hunting lease, you can share it with others in your hunting group. ExpertGPS can send the waypoints and tracks you draw to every Garmin, Magellan, or Lowrance GPS you might own. ExpertGPS can print out color maps to carry with you into the field, or you can export a huge bitmap image and take it to Kinko's and have them print out a wall-sized map of your hunting property. You can even order custom maps of your hunting property from mytopo.com with your ExpertGPS map data printed right on them.

Because ExpertGPS lets you switch between topos and aerial photos with a single click, it's a great way to perform virtual scouting on your hunting property, letting you quickly find new areas to put up deer blinds, establish food plots, or that you'd like to investigate on foot. And if you carry a digital camera along with your GPS, ExpertGPS will automatically place any photos you take directly on the map when you get back. This is a lightning-fast way to record buck rub lines or your wildlife observations on your hunting lease.

Related Topics Hunting with ExpertGPS map software Hunting map tutorials

Drew S., a rancher in West Texas, asks:
I am a rancher in West Texas. I need mapping software that can print out maps for planning use on the ranch. This is what I need it to do:
1) import GPS routes to create roads and boundary fences and fields (using Garmin GPS 76), and waypoints.
2) The ability to edit the roads or to freehand a road or line on to a Nat. Geo. Topo or to aerial photos or to USGS soil survey maps.
3) Save different maps for each year (where deer blinds where in past years).
4) Use editing tools to mark, name and use symbols to identity areas on the map.
5) Be able to print out a map using my home printer.
Can your software do all this?

Yes, ExpertGPS will be able to do everything you're looking for in a ranch mapping software product. ExpertGPS will retrieve the Garmin waypoints and tracklogs you record around your ranch, marking roads, fences, and fields. ExpertGPS has a bunch of built-in styles so you can give all of the gravel roads on your property a different look than the paved ones, and you can color-code your fields based on crop type or any other attribute.

You can create roads by driving them with the GPS in the truck, or you can draw them in freehand with the Track tool in ExpertGPS, using the aerial photos for reference.

In addition to the built-in aerial photos and USGS topo maps in ExpertGPS, you can add your own scanned maps - I've written detailed instructions on calibrating a scanned map which will allow you to view your USGS soil maps or any other map of your ranch in ExpertGPS.

ExpertGPS stores your data in GPX format, which is the standard format for exchanging GPS data. If you want to compare deer blind, deer feeder, and scouting locations from different years, just save each year's data in a different GPX file. You can view any GPX file over any map in ExpertGPS, so it's easy to compare changes in deer behavior and sightings and place your blinds accordingly.

I've written a paper on using ExpertGPS, your Garmin GPS receiver, and your digital camera to build a photographic map of deer sign or any other data you'd like to collect on your ranch.

ExpertGPS makes it easy to add GPS data, photos, and your own notes to any map - there are tools for drawing directly on the maps and adding symbols and markers. Any map you create can be printed on your home printer, or you can export a huge (8000x8000 pixel) image file to send to a print shop to make a wall-size map for your ranch or hunting lease.

Download the 30 day free demo of ExpertGPS and give it a try. If you have any questions about using ExpertGPS for ranch mapping, hunting, or mapping your property, I'm always here to help.

Kevin C., a hunter from South Dakota, asks:
I have a Lowrance XOG and would like the ability to save maps of Walk In Areas and School Lands from the State of South Dakota's website with the following link: http://arcgis.sd.gov/Website/sdGIS/Data.aspx
Will your program allow me to convert these maps to my XOG so I can see these boundaries similar to how I currently view park and city boundaries.
If so, could I get a step by step instructions on how to save these to a SD card? Any help would be greatly appreciated

South Dakota and many other states put their public and walk-in hunting maps, WMAs, and other vital hunting information on their state GIS Web sites. You can use the GIS import features in ExpertGPS Pro to view all of this public hunting data over topo maps, aerial photos, or your own scanned BLM or other paper maps.

Download the hunting layers you need from your state GIS Website, and make note of the projection information given for each file. In this case, the South Dakota hunting map data is projected in UTM, Zone 14, WGS84 (or NAD83) datum. You'll need to add that coordinate format in ExpertGPS if you're not already working with it. Click Preferences on the Edit menu, switch to the My Coordinate Formats tab, and add UTM, WGS84.

To import the hunting data, click Import on the File menu in ExpertGPS, and select the .shp file that you downloaded and unzipped. (You may need to change the file type selector at the bottom of the Import dialog to show Shapefiles). The Import Polygons dialog will appear - this is where you select the projection used (UTM) and specify the UTM zone (14 North). You can also choose which fields in the shapefile are mapped to the Label and Description of the tracks you create in ExpertGPS. Click OK, and you'll have all of the Walk-in Hunting areas in South Dakota overlaid on your ExpertGPS maps.

Sending Hunting Boundaries to your GPS

There are almost 4000 walk-in, public, and state-owned hunting locations in South Dakota. Your GPS doesn't have enough tracklog memory to display all of them. What you can do, is to use the topo maps and aerial photos in ExpertGPS to scout out the areas where you'd like to hunt, and send these few property boundaries to your GPS.

After you've identified a promising public hunting location, use the Select tool in ExpertGPS to click on a shaded boundary. Hold the Shift key, and keep clicking to select adjacent properties. Right-click, and click Copy Tracks. Create a new file, and Paste the tracks. Now you've got a smaller, more manageable file which you can refer to when planning your hunt. To transfer the property boundaries to your GPS, just click Send to GPS on the GPS menu. Since the Lowrance XOG stores its data on an SD memory card, ExpertGPS will prompt you to save your hunting waypoints and the tracklogs defining the land boundaries in a .USR file on the SD card. Place the SD card back in the battery compartment of your GPS, and use the menu command on the GPS to load the data from the card into the main GPS memory. (Consult your manual for the exact command - each Lowrance GPS is a bit different).

Be sure to print out a topo map from ExpertGPS showing the land boundaries and the terrain. If you print out a UTM grid over your map, and switch your GPS receiver to display its current location in UTM (rather than lat/lon), it's easy to keep track of where you are in the field by referring to the grid lines on your printed topo map.

By combining the wealth of freely-available GIS data from your state GIS and fish and game departments with the mapping capabilities of ExpertGPS Pro, you've got a powerful tool for scouting new public hunting areas and ensuring you'll have a successful hunt. Best of luck this hunting season!