Terrain
The best tool for scouting terrain is the topographical (topo) map. When topo scouting for whitetails on Caltopo, I use the following map options. First, from the main base layer option, I select the Scanned 7.5’ topographical map. Second, under the “map overlays” option, I enable “contours” and select “10-foot”. Selecting the 10-foot contours provides a more detailed and nuanced topographical view of the area, which is critical when looking for subtle changes in terrain that might tip me off when e scouting deer bedding areas, travel corridors, etc.
Finally, under “map overlays”, I enable “slope angle shading”, and I prefer the “gradient” option rather than “fixed”. Slope angle shading provides a visual reference, in the form of different colors, of the steepness of a slope. Slope steepness is a variable I consider when cyber scouting, and it is discussed later in this article.
Vegetation
For the next step in my map setup, I used the “+stack an additional layer” option in Caltopo. For this layer, I like to add satellite aerial imagery. I generally select the NAIP 2013-2016 (or similar) aerial imagery. Below the stacked layer, there is an “opacity control”. I generally set the opacity to a value of “50”, so the topographical base map, and the satellite aerial imagery are equally visible. However, depending on the aerial map, I may adjust the opacity to achieve a good balance of aerial imagery and topo lines.