# maps of Chat Nat Forest



## Hookedonhunting (Sep 3, 2009)

Hey guys, this isn't a bear issue but you bear guys will know better than the southern boys, so I will ask y'all.  If it gets moved oh well.  So anyhow, where can I get my hands on good line/topo maps of Chat Nat Forest land?  I can download and print or just go buy it.  But preferably download so I can zoom in and capture the local area I plan on hunting.  I could spend time on google looking but I figured one of you guys could save me some time.  Thanks.


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## Russ Toole (Sep 3, 2009)

Just go to your nearest forest service office and get them.  There is one in Gainesville.


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## JayTee (Sep 5, 2009)

You can either download or purchase from the US Forest Service website.
Google has pretty good topo maps, but their National Forest lines ain't exactly accurate.


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## earl (Sep 5, 2009)

If you know what area you are going to hunt ,you can ask for a section map . Greater scale and detail.


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## AliBubba (Sep 5, 2009)

Here is the link. The download sizes are large. You can save them on our PC for quicker access.
http://www.fs.fed.us/conf/maps/


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## Hookedonhunting (Sep 6, 2009)

AliBubba said:


> Here is the link. The download sizes are large. You can save them on our PC for quicker access.
> http://www.fs.fed.us/conf/maps/



found it.  thanks.


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## SmokyMtnSmoke (Sep 7, 2009)

Best maps for your money....

Springer & Cohutta Mountains
http://www.natgeomaps.com/ti_777


Brasstown Bald/Chattooga River
http://www.natgeomaps.com/ti_778


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## Hookedonhunting (Sep 7, 2009)

SmokyMtnSmoke said:


> Best maps for your money....
> 
> Springer & Cohutta Mountains
> http://www.natgeomaps.com/ti_777
> ...



Just bought them.  Thanks a bunch.  They should be here in a few days.


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## Busters Dad (Sep 8, 2009)

Go to Google Earth, a map of the U.S. will come up.  Triple click  (or more) on north georgia, for example Blairsville, then keep clicking to zoom in.  You'll have a satellite view of whatever area you transition to.  Pretty cool.  Shows both the terrain and forest service roads if you go to hybrid.


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## Mattval (Sep 16, 2021)

OnX maps


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## Big7 (Sep 16, 2021)

JayTee said:


> You can either download or purchase from the US Forest Service website.
> Google has pretty good topo maps, but their National Forest lines ain't exactly accurate.


True that.
And... Almost any paper map, even plain road maps are becoming obsolete.

I've been looking for some good maps a while now.
An Atlas that was about $9.99 is now $35.00.


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## pjciii (Sep 17, 2021)

I find that when i am looking at the forest Service maps that when i zoom in it stays out of focus.


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## tr21 (Sep 17, 2021)

i agree the ONx is the best. just download it to your phone and done.


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## Geezer Ray (Sep 17, 2021)

Onx also shows property lines and who the owners are.


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## pak (Sep 17, 2021)

i downloaded the GAIA gps maps app and it is amazing. I can’t remember where I found it but I used a promo code and got the premium membership for one year and it was only $20, well worth it! 

You can download multiple maps and overlay them together so you get topi, wma boundaries  and forrest service roads and boundaries, plus tons of other things I haven’t figured out yet. Best thing is you do t need service, just put you phone on airplane mode and you’ve got a working gps. It tracks your path and will tell you distance travels as well as elevation gain/loss. You can also pre-plan routes and add waypoints. Here’s a screen shot showing NF, with WMA boundaries and then I decreased the topo and added the satellite image. You can increase the amount of satellite and topo you have as well just by sliding the map layers to increase/decrease how they lay over the other maps you have “active”.

I don’t have any experience with other mapping apps but I have been more than pleased with it.


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## GAoutdoor (Sep 17, 2021)

I just downloaded Huntstand, free trial of pro for a week. It has the Google terrain map, which is helpful to visualize the terrain (though you can't zoom in as far as I'd like, and it's worth noting that this is also available free in Google Maps as a layer). It also has the property boundaries and owners - all 50 states included in the $30/yr subscription, plus all the other layers you could want (topo, weather, etc). I used OnX briefly last year and think it's a little clunkier than that, but I also hunt multiple states so a lot better for me. I'm thinking I will get a subscription once the trial runs out.


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## splatek (Sep 19, 2021)

pak said:


> i downloaded the GAIA gps maps app and it is amazing. I can’t remember where I found it but I used a promo code and got the premium membership for one year and it was only $20, well worth it!
> 
> You can download multiple maps and overlay them together so you get topi, wma boundaries  and forrest service roads and boundaries, plus tons of other things I haven’t figured out yet. Best thing is you do t need service, just put you phone on airplane mode and you’ve got a working gps. It tracks your path and will tell you distance travels as well as elevation gain/loss. You can also pre-plan routes and add waypoints. Here’s a screen shot showing NF, with WMA boundaries and then I decreased the topo and added the satellite image. You can increase the amount of satellite and topo you have as well just by sliding the map layers to increase/decrease how they lay over the other maps you have “active”.
> 
> I don’t have any experience with other mapping apps but I have been more than pleased with it.



GAIA will work fine. I love it.
Make sure before going in the woods you download or save maps so that when you are offline in Airplane mode they still work and your GPS still tracks you. 
So many good features in GAIA


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## C.Killmaster (Sep 19, 2021)

splatek said:


> GAIA will work fine. I love it.
> Make sure before going in the woods you download or save maps so that when you are offline in Airplane mode they still work and your GPS still tracks you.
> So many good features in GAIA



Does GAIA accurately show forest service roads and the road numbers or do you still need a forest service map for that?


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## splatek (Sep 19, 2021)

Very accurately
It has ugsg and USFs map layers
It has a ton 
It only doesn’t work for me in one 200 square yard area of my lease. I think an alien ship landed there bc my compass goes nuts. But onx works there
i tend to use both
I also like Gaia slope angle shading for detecting steepness of bluffs


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## GAoutdoor (Sep 19, 2021)

GAoutdoor said:


> I just downloaded Huntstand, free trial of pro for a week. It has the Google terrain map, which is helpful to visualize the terrain (though you can't zoom in as far as I'd like, and it's worth noting that this is also available free in Google Maps as a layer). It also has the property boundaries and owners - all 50 states included in the $30/yr subscription, plus all the other layers you could want (topo, weather, etc). I used OnX briefly last year and think it's a little clunkier than that, but I also hunt multiple states so a lot better for me. I'm thinking I will get a subscription once the trial runs out.



As an update after using in the field, not sure I'm going to continue with it. It worked well for my pre-trip planning, but it was even clunkier to use in the field. It was not intuitive to add markers (different location for animal sighting markers), forced to designate a marker type (I just wanted to add a marker with a label, not select "custom" from the drop down the whole time), and had issues with the path tracking function. Also, not all layers would load in the field on the offline maps. Seems more oriented to established land than learning new terrain in the field.


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## Para Bellum (Sep 20, 2021)

Order directly from USGS.  Great maps.


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## chiefbaron (Sep 21, 2021)

I have been using OnXHunt for 3 seasons. It fits my requirements. If you only hunt 1 state the price point is good. I can drill down to very good detail, see public/private land ownership, add categorized waypoints with photos, hiking tracks, and off-line maps. If there was 1 option I could add it would be winter foliage.

When used in conjunction with USGS 7.5 minute maps and DNR mapping. It provides for very good pre-hunt planning.

YMMV.


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## Ridge runner 82 (Sep 21, 2021)

I like base map the best. Almost the same as onx but way cheaper, nation wide ,and has winter time sat pics. This is great for hunting the mountains and seeing where the ivy thickets are. Here is an example of what I mean same view of topo and satellite


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## longrangedog (Sep 21, 2021)

Can I use onX to find points on a survey plat using the GPS numbers from the plat?


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## EyesUp83 (Sep 30, 2021)

splatek said:


> GAIA will work fine. I love it.
> Make sure before going in the woods you download or save maps so that when you are offline in Airplane mode they still work and your GPS still tracks you.
> So many good features in GAIA



I downloaded the Gaia app and am looking forward to using it based on recommendation from people here. Haven't had a chance to mess with it much over the last month but it seems like its pretty good. 

Also, look into caltopo.com I used this last year to make a map of my hunting area and customized the look, shading, relief, etc all in order to make it easier to read. You can make a very customizable map here. 
I took mine and overlaid it with a grid to enhance communication between members of my hunting party and (if needed) the homefront.


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