Best way to keep track of beds

[JAK]

Just curious how allot of you guys keep track of your hunting spots and what winds to hunt and so on.. I've got hunt stand lte and onxmaps but was thinking bout Ariel's with spots numbered and winds to hunt with notes.

[hunter_mike]

I use google earth and my handheld gps mostly. That is enough to keep track of the real important stuff. I also keep a spreadsheet list of different areas i have scouted. The rest is mostly kept track of by memory of the current year's scouting.

The general area i hunt on a particular day is only partially chosen based on wind direction (mainly dictates access route), but mostly chosen based on hot sign found on or right before the day i hunt.

[<DK>]

Just curious how allot of you guys keep track of your hunting spots and what winds to hunt and so on.. I've got hunt stand lte and onxmaps but was thinking bout Ariel's with spots numbered and winds to hunt with notes.

Tough question and id really like to hear others examples. Right now im dealing w getting off my system w the bed names. Id like to change things up but one issue is numbering a bed, taking footage w the number/name at the beginning only for me to want to change the number at a later date.

I personally rate them w stars * ** *** based on best bedding. Then number then all possible wind directions w the top 2-3 at the beginning to the maybe winds at the end. (***BB 12 - N/W/E?) (**BB 17 - All Winds) Most 1 stars get erased but I keep track of everything until I find what im looking for and look at things big picture w bugger maps on a PC.

One suggestion I have is decide right now if youre going to break the map up into sections and number them based on that section of that specific property. Or start numbering and keep going for the whole property. This should vary based on size. Some properties are small enough or some may just have one area youd actually hunt.

From there I keep a caltopo maps of everything of coarse but I also add them to scoutlook. I dont save many stand locations on there. Mainly beds. If you name them correctly, on their desktop site you can sort alphabetically.

[tgreeno]

Google earth & an exel spreadsheet to cross-reference. I have each bed & kill tree set numbered. With the preferred wind and any other notes I need. Then it's easy to identify the numbered set that I hunted. "I hunted set 25 tonight"

Then every hunt I'll add an entry to my journal reviewing the hunt. #, wind, baro, moon phase & deer sightings.

[seazofcheeze]

I do something similar to Darkknight54 but I include a property name on my way GPS waypoint to keep it manageable.

For a fictional example, if I hunted a property called "Holy Frog Holler" or "HFH", all my waypoints on that property will start with HFH, then a descriptor (e.g. buck bed, rub, scrape, kill tree, white oak, other hunter, etc) and then a 4-digit number. So, the first bed I find would be labeled HFH-Buck Bed-0001. The next one HFH-Buck Bed-0002 and so on. I like this approach because I can sort through the waypoints on that particular property the day of the hunt. I like to look at the waypoints before I access the property and try and scout any food sources or areas of old buck sign on my way to my kill tree to see what's going on with the property the day I hunt.

I then import all my waypoints to Garmin bascamp and back them up on caltopo also. Periodically, I email the master GPS backup file to myself in case my computer crashes I won't lose all my scouting data.

This year, I would like to add printed aerials and topos for each property in a binder to keep in my vehicle.

[PAbowhunter]

This is something I have lacked on last winter/spring. While scouting, I found I would find so much sign in certain areas I would just mark waypoints without any real detail. That was a problem when going back over things. So I took a small notebook along scouting and added notes to waypoints (faster than typing on my gps) but didn't do as good as I wanted to cross referencing everything. I needed to slow down.
One thing I did do like mentioned already was start a binder of maps. I print topos then put them in a plastic sleeve. I want to use map pens to mark them up then erase what doesn't pan out. I have a master saved to caltopo with beds, rubs etc. As I hunt spots I will ad notes directly to the folder as well as a journal. I think as I get more spots added to my folder I will organize them by winds to hunt. That's the plan anyway

[rfickes87]

ONXmaps is an awesome app to try on your phone. This weekend I scouted an area where I get little cell service so I saved an offline map of my area I wanted to scout. It worked great while I was out. I found 3 beds and marked them on my phone. Its very easy to use. And you can go to there website and see your maps too.

[cbay]

Information overload here. Ha, if i think i hear a deer fart i make a waypoint.
Using Gaia i eventually had to make separate folders for stands and other stuff. Still too much but thankfully my memory aint to bad yet...

[docwaters]

ScoutLook allows me to enter good/bad wind directions for each stand/bedding area, as well as record data for encounters which maintains historical data for temp, wind direction, moon phase, etc. I like the ability to have all data including maps, recording at the time I'm there or going back historically all in one spot.

[<DK>]

Information overload here. Ha, if i think i hear a deer fart i make a waypoint.
Using Gaia i eventually had to make separate folders for stands and other stuff. Still too much but thankfully my memory aint to bad yet...

Nice!

The last part of your comment is something I did want to add as well. For me, no matter how many beds I find the best ones and wind directions are never forgotten.

[Jonny]

Microsoft excel has been my best friend for the last 3 years or so. Just use it for everything. If you think it could be important, write it down and record it.

It's hard to organize stuff when you don't have info to organize. It's also hard to organize years worth of information. Organize how you go for how it works for you. I might do things differently, but it only took me about 30 seconds to type this post. Some guys it might take 5+ minutes. Do what works best for you, and that will take time to find it.

I am lucky to be on a computer for school and work every day of the week year round, so its pretty easy for me to record stuff. Write it down in the field, and carry it with me. In between classes or asphalt samples, enter it into excel.

[stash59]

Microsoft excel has been my best friend for the last 3 years or so. Just use it for everything. If you think it could be important, write it down and record it.

It's hard to organize stuff when you don't have info to organize. It's also hard to organize years worth of information. Organize how you go for how it works for you. I might do things differently, but it only took me about 30 seconds to type this post. Some guys it might take 5+ minutes. Do what works best for you, and that will take time to find it.

I am lucky to be on a computer for school and work every day of the week year round, so its pretty easy for me to record stuff. Write it down in the field, and carry it with me. In between classes or asphalt samples, enter it into excel.

Care to come teach an old fart how to do this sometime!! Oh yeah I'm half pollock too!!!

[thwack16]

Microsoft excel has been my best friend for the last 3 years or so. Just use it for everything. If you think it could be important, write it down and record it.

It's hard to organize stuff when you don't have info to organize. It's also hard to organize years worth of information. Organize how you go for how it works for you. I might do things differently, but it only took me about 30 seconds to type this post. Some guys it might take 5+ minutes. Do what works best for you, and that will take time to find it.

I am lucky to be on a computer for school and work every day of the week year round, so its pretty easy for me to record stuff. Write it down in the field, and carry it with me. In between classes or asphalt samples, enter it into excel.

Care to come teach an old fart how to do this sometime!! Oh yeah I'm half pollock too!!!

What all are you looking to learn Stash?

With all the journaling and logging questions lately, I've actually thought it might be useful for some of us that are proficient in Excel to make a post detailing ways that we use it for hunting.

[john1984]

I just mark em on my GPS. I got a bunch of waypoints that just seem to clutter up my small Garmin screen . I havnt done much to organize, prioritize or rate them.. Its a mess

[john1984]

I just mark em on my GPS. I got a bunch of waypoints that just seem to clutter up my small Garmin screen . I havnt done much to organize, prioritize or rate them.. Its a mess.

I don't own a PC so that sucks