Don't always trust what you see on satellite images!! Public land surprise!!

[Swedishbowhunter]

So I went out today to further scout a huge hunk of public that receives a ton of pressure, but is well known for producing some B&C caliber bucks. At first I could not believe the amount of boot tracks, it had been driven hard, but there was still a ton of deer tracks. I went to check out what looked to be remote islands(i had seen on satellite pics) in the marsh and when I got there it looked great, lots of Oaks, and deer sign but also some boot tracks. I kept going to another spot that looked great on the satellite imagery, (you could easily see where deer trails came across the marsh to a hardwood peninsula). I got there and yes it looked just like what I hoped it would on the satellite image, lots of great trails and lots of oaks, but again also boot tracks and other human sign. I was frustrated so I pulled up ONX and I noticed I had pinned a place to check farther back, it was just a bit different color than the stuff around it. I crossed a deep creek, and made my way back to it. When I got back there I couldn't believe my eyes, there were mature trees that did not show up on ONX at all, and lots of them. The appeared on ONX to look like brush. There was great buck rubs, trails, oaks, big tracks & it didn't take a whole lot to figure out the bedding and where the deer were headed to. I bet I picked out at least 6 trees to sit based on the wind. I did see one spot where someone had trimmed a tree to hunt a long time ago, but that was about it for human sign. As I made my way back closer to the road I started hitting boot tracks, cameras, and illegal stands. The only reason I share this is because I had been trusting what I saw on my PC & phone screen and I am sure that is what a lot of people do. The things that were easily seen on the satellite images, even though they were hard to get too had human sign. The things that you could only find by burning boot rubber seemed to be where the people were not, and the big buck sign was located.

[Maverick1]

So I went out today to further scout a huge hunk of public that receives a ton of pressure, but is well known for producing some B&C caliber bucks. At first I could not believe the amount of boot tracks, it had been driven hard, but there was still a ton of deer tracks. I went to check out what looked to be remote islands(i had seen on satellite pics) in the marsh and when I got there it looked great, lots of Oaks, and deer sign but also some boot tracks. I kept going to another spot that looked great on the satellite imagery, (you could easily see where deer trails came across the marsh to a hardwood peninsula). I got there and yes it looked just like what I hoped it would on the satellite image, lots of great trails and lots of oaks, but again also boot tracks and other human sign. I was frustrated so I pulled up ONX and I noticed I had pinned a place to check farther back, it was just a bit different color than the stuff around it. I crossed a deep creek, and made my way back to it. When I got back there I couldn't believe my eyes, there were mature trees that did not show up on ONX at all, and lots of them. The appeared on ONX to look like brush. There was great buck rubs, trails, oaks, big tracks & it didn't take a whole lot to figure out the bedding and where the deer were headed to. I bet I picked out at least 6 trees to sit based on the wind. I did see one spot where someone had trimmed a tree to hunt a long time ago, but that was about it for human sign. As I made my way back closer to the road I started hitting boot tracks, cameras, and illegal stands. The only reason I share this is because I had been trusting what I saw on my PC & phone screen and I am sure that is what a lot of people do. The things that were easily seen on the satellite images, even though they were hard to get too had human sign. The things that you could only find by burning boot rubber seemed to be where the people were not, and the big buck sign was located.

Yes, the satellite images can be misleading at times. Really goes to show the value of scouting things in person. I virtually scouted a public land area this past winter, drove out in the spring to do some scouting, and discovered the entire wooded area had been logged off quite some time ago. I am really glad I took that scouting trip! It would have been a bummer to show up there this fall and not had a single tree in the clear-cut area.

BTW, I did a google search on your username, "pudster" as I have not heard of such a term before. The results were......not what I expected......

[Lockdown]

Great post. Nothing trumps boots on the ground scouting. I have found small bedding clumps that don’t show up on the aerial very well at all. Once you find them in person you can make them out online, but it’s tough. Finding stuff like that can improve cyber scouting ability big time.

[oldrank]

I ran into this same issue hunting northern lower Michigan this year. The logging can change things quickly. I'm not sure when or why they update Google maps. Some stuff was as recent as last year and some stuff seems to be 3-5 years old.

[Wlog]

I was just thinking about this the other day. There’s so much information out there on the internet now about cyber scouting. The easily identified transitions and terrain features will be getting found and hunted. It’s getting to the point where it’s best to get out there and find the stuff you can’t pick up on a computer screen.

In the big picture though not much has changed. The cyber scouting is just a starting point. A Hunter can pick out good spots from a satellite image and have success going straight to them and hunting but it can’t be the only strategy someone relies on.

[greenhorndave]

Absolutely. I can think of one spot that barely looked like a smudge on all the aerials I could find, which happened to be in the brown periods. Boots on the ground revealed a great bedding spot with old human sign in the vicinity but nowhere near the best potential stand locations. Then the satellite imagery updated to a green period for the first time and that smudge lit up like a Christmas tree. Pressure picked up thereafter.

[Edcyclopedia]

Indobudly my dear Watson!

[Swedishbowhunter]

So I went out today to further scout a huge hunk of public that receives a ton of pressure, but is well known for producing some B&C caliber bucks. At first I could not believe the amount of boot tracks, it had been driven hard, but there was still a ton of deer tracks. I went to check out what looked to be remote islands(i had seen on satellite pics) in the marsh and when I got there it looked great, lots of Oaks, and deer sign but also some boot tracks. I kept going to another spot that looked great on the satellite imagery, (you could easily see where deer trails came across the marsh to a hardwood peninsula). I got there and yes it looked just like what I hoped it would on the satellite image, lots of great trails and lots of oaks, but again also boot tracks and other human sign. I was frustrated so I pulled up ONX and I noticed I had pinned a place to check farther back, it was just a bit different color than the stuff around it. I crossed a deep creek, and made my way back to it. When I got back there I couldn't believe my eyes, there were mature trees that did not show up on ONX at all, and lots of them. The appeared on ONX to look like brush. There was great buck rubs, trails, oaks, big tracks & it didn't take a whole lot to figure out the bedding and where the deer were headed to. I bet I picked out at least 6 trees to sit based on the wind. I did see one spot where someone had trimmed a tree to hunt a long time ago, but that was about it for human sign. As I made my way back closer to the road I started hitting boot tracks, cameras, and illegal stands. The only reason I share this is because I had been trusting what I saw on my PC & phone screen and I am sure that is what a lot of people do. The things that were easily seen on the satellite images, even though they were hard to get too had human sign. The things that you could only find by burning boot rubber seemed to be where the people were not, and the big buck sign was located.

Yes, the satellite images can be misleading at times. Really goes to show the value of scouting things in person. I virtually scouted a public land area this past winter, drove out in the spring to do some scouting, and discovered the entire wooded area had been logged off quite some time ago. I am really glad I took that scouting trip! It would have been a bummer to show up there this fall and not had a single tree in the clear-cut area.

BTW, I did a google search on your username, "pudster" as I have not heard of such a term before. The results were......not what I expected......

OMG, thanks for telling me!!! Now I am going to have to try and change my user name!!! P.s. this time I will google it before using it!!

[Woodsy211]

So I went out today to further scout a huge hunk of public that receives a ton of pressure, but is well known for producing some B&C caliber bucks. At first I could not believe the amount of boot tracks, it had been driven hard, but there was still a ton of deer tracks. I went to check out what looked to be remote islands(i had seen on satellite pics) in the marsh and when I got there it looked great, lots of Oaks, and deer sign but also some boot tracks. I kept going to another spot that looked great on the satellite imagery, (you could easily see where deer trails came across the marsh to a hardwood peninsula). I got there and yes it looked just like what I hoped it would on the satellite image, lots of great trails and lots of oaks, but again also boot tracks and other human sign. I was frustrated so I pulled up ONX and I noticed I had pinned a place to check farther back, it was just a bit different color than the stuff around it. I crossed a deep creek, and made my way back to it. When I got back there I couldn't believe my eyes, there were mature trees that did not show up on ONX at all, and lots of them. The appeared on ONX to look like brush. There was great buck rubs, trails, oaks, big tracks & it didn't take a whole lot to figure out the bedding and where the deer were headed to. I bet I picked out at least 6 trees to sit based on the wind. I did see one spot where someone had trimmed a tree to hunt a long time ago, but that was about it for human sign. As I made my way back closer to the road I started hitting boot tracks, cameras, and illegal stands. The only reason I share this is because I had been trusting what I saw on my PC & phone screen and I am sure that is what a lot of people do. The things that were easily seen on the satellite images, even though they were hard to get too had human sign. The things that you could only find by burning boot rubber seemed to be where the people were not, and the big buck sign was located.

Yes, the satellite images can be misleading at times. Really goes to show the value of scouting things in person. I virtually scouted a public land area this past winter, drove out in the spring to do some scouting, and discovered the entire wooded area had been logged off quite some time ago. I am really glad I took that scouting trip! It would have been a bummer to show up there this fall and not had a single tree in the clear-cut area.

BTW, I did a google search on your username, "pudster" as I have not heard of such a term before. The results were......not what I expected......

OMG, thanks for telling me!!! Now I am going to have to try and change my user name!!! P.s. this time I will google it before using it!!

lol I just looked it up and that’s hilarious!

[wmahunter]

You might want to check out the following before you go scouting for different date photos They might be slightly different.

Google Earth -- historical
Zoom Earth
The county you are scouting in may have a website you can review

Sentinel hub playground -- google it - these are not close ups but you can see changes going back 4-5 years and different days of the year by selecting days of the month and year. Historical data is about 4 years. for example -- see if a highway is being built or if there was a controlled burn and you can see the changes in the image.

gmap4

[Swedishbowhunter]

Absolutely. I can think of one spot that barely looked like a smudge on all the aerials I could find, which happened to be in the brown periods. Boots on the ground revealed a great bedding spot with old human sign in the vicinity but nowhere near the best potential stand locations. Then the satellite imagery updated to a green period for the first time and that smudge lit up like a Christmas tree. Pressure picked up thereafter.

Come to think of it, the bucks I have shot the last few years on public have all come off of spots that I couldnt see on ONX. This years was a small saddle that doesnt show up on Onx that I found 3 years ago on my way to a spot I could see on the map. The spot I could see had a ton of hunter sign.

[Mat-Ch-155]

My brother dragged me to a spot I thought was useless last December. I had only saw it from a computer and I was not interested hunting there in 2022. He said we had to scout it at least. We get there and there is rubs everywhere, trails, the bush is thick and nasty, deadfall everywhere, a small swamp, there is also those small clearings with lots of stuff to browse for deer. Perfect ugly stuff I like. I will never trust a computer again.

[headgear]

Cyber scouting is a great tool but if you aren't walking the land you really are not scouting. I will also say most topo maps, even the good ones can lack a lot of detail that can be great bedding.