Locating oaks using maps?

[DhD]

I have been scouting a bunch for acorns recently, and it seems there is very little mast in my area. I'm not against burning up some boot leather, but I would like to be a little more efficient while scouting, and I find marking areas ahead of time on my maps can help. Wondering if anyone has any tips for locating groups of oaks from satellite maps or topos. Appreciate the help as always folks.

[Dewey]

Many oaks are usually the last to drop leaves. If you can catch satellite photos like Google Earth at the right time oaks should be easily visible.

[Huntress13]

The maps for my areas aren't helpful. They are like April, July and September. It may have something to do with cloud cover, I don't know.

[DhD]

The maps for my areas aren't helpful. They are like April, July and September. It may have something to do with cloud cover, I don't know.

Yeah I am not a fan of the maps that they are using on on x now, maybe try some different sources.

[DhD]

Many oaks are usually the last to drop leaves. If you can catch satellite photos like Google Earth at the right time oaks should be easily visible.

Thank you, that is the most helpful advice I have gotten on this subject.

[Huntress13]

The maps for my areas aren't helpful. They are like April, July and September. It may have something to do with cloud cover, I don't know.

maybe take a look at Google Earth on desktop. It gives you a choice of satellite photos from different years, you might be able to find one that shows the time that you need

Yes, I have done that and every other mapping programs I can find. Can't find one with the right timing for my areas. And once it goes back a number of years you lose the detail. So just hasn't been helpful in finding oaks.

[KLEMZ]

Many oaks are usually the last to drop leaves. If you can catch satellite photos like Google Earth at the right time oaks should be easily visible.

This.

I happened to notice the county I hunt in northern Wisconsin has GIS photos taken in mid to late October. All the maples had dropped while the oaks still held there leaves. It was simple to circle all the red oak areas in the 25 square mile area I hunt.

A hunter could hire a pilot to fly over their area at the right time of the fall. Or hire some guy with a drone to fly as high as they can and get pictures (I'm not sure how high they are allowed to fly)? Also, You would need to wait till the best time in your area. Northern Wisconsin would be best right about now (mid October). Southern Wisconsin probably not best until into November. The further south you go the later the leaf drop I would assume.

I also noticed that the "Maps" app on my iphone uses that exact mid October picture in the northern region of Wisconsin. I don't know how wide an area uses that exact picture but it's worth checking for hunters in that general. area.

One final thought for Wisconsin hunters, their was an aerial survey done of the entire state back in 1937--1938. Pretty amazing resolution for the time period. I have noticed that in the southern half of the state the giant burr oaks stand out very clearly. Most of those trees are still standing today. Also, it's just plain cool to see what things looked like so long ago. Check out your town!
https://maps.sco.wisc.edu/WHAIFinder/#7/44.750/-89.750

[mnwild]

That is an interesting thought with the timing of the pictures. I looked at some images for my area, and I am thinking this might be showing the oaks but not quite sure. The pines are obvious and it looks like the right time of year. The trees I think might be oaks show up with green leaves for some reason though.

Would this area be oaks you think? I know there are oaks in this area but might have to go walk this and see.

Capture.JPG

[MuskieHunterDave]

mnwild, I'm going to guess, and it's only a guess, that those are smaller spruce or fir shrubs. It just would seem strange to me if all the surrounding trees had lost their leaves yet the oaks still have green leaves. I'd expect them to be orange or red if they were oaks.
I'd be interested in knowing for sure if you ever go check them out!

[elk yinzer]

That is an interesting thought with the timing of the pictures. I looked at some images for my area, and I am thinking this might be showing the oaks but not quite sure. The pines are obvious and it looks like the right time of year. The trees I think might be oaks show up with green leaves for some reason though.

Would this area be oaks you think? I know there are oaks in this area but might have to go walk this and see.

Capture.JPG

That shade of green looks more like early spring and some species that leafs out early.

[A5BLASTER]

OP this is what oaks look like next to pine, I'm in Louisiana.

Those are white, red, pin, stripped, water oaks. You can see the pines on the left and the oaks on the right, can clearly see the transition between the 2 types.

Disregard the mark, that's from a observation sit I did before hurricane delta hit a few days ago.

Hope this helps you.

[Rob loper]

Not to self promote but who doesn't anymore.
It may help
Check some of my cyber scouting videos on my you tube channel.

[mnwild]

TheBuckPsych- thanks for the link, I haven’t see your scouting videos so it will be interesting too watch!

[<DK>]

Look for the large, mature, 'crown' shaped trees. Jeff Murray used to do this w a magnifying glass and paper maps

[KLEMZ]

That is an interesting thought with the timing of the pictures. I looked at some images for my area, and I am thinking this might be showing the oaks but not quite sure. The pines are obvious and it looks like the right time of year. The trees I think might be oaks show up with green leaves for some reason though.

Would this area be oaks you think? I know there are oaks in this area but might have to go walk this and see.

Capture.JPG

mnwild, do you have any known patches of oaks you can look at to see if it looks the same as the photo you attached?