Field guide
Read the layer before you trust the pin
Each explainer covers one map layer: where the records come from, what the bias is, and how to turn it into a plan.
- Layer 3 — Roadkill hotspots6 min
Understanding roadkill data: what iNaturalist tells us
How a crowdsourced dead-animal annotation becomes a movement map, and where the bias hides.
- Layer 2 — Private parcels7 min
Property boundaries explained: reading county parcel data
Why there is no national parcel layer, and what the lines you do see actually mean.
- Layer 5 — Hunt units5 min
Hunt unit boundaries: how states divide land
Units, quotas and controlled hunts — reading the polygon before you buy the tag.
- Layer 6 — Closures & alerts6 min
Seasonal closures 101: reading fire & hunting restrictions
What triggers a closure, how fast it lands on a map, and how much lead time you really get.
- Layer 4 — Wildlife sightings6 min
Using iNaturalist sighting data for scouting
Confidence grades, date clustering and how to turn casual records into a glassing plan.
- Layer 9 — Weather radar5 min
Weather radar: reading real-time conditions on your map
Reflectivity, storm motion and what radar cannot see in mountain country.
- Field guide — Tags & seasons7 min
Idaho OTC tags explained: deer tags and elk A/B tags
What you can actually buy over the counter in Idaho, what the letters on an elk tag mean, and where hunters get tripped up.
- Field guide — Scouting8 min
How to e-scout Idaho for elk and mule deer
A practical workflow — unit, public land, water, pressure — that eliminates dead ground before you burn a tank of gas.
- Field guide — Tags & seasons6 min
Idaho elk zones vs GMUs: what actually controls your season
Units draw the lines and zones set the rules — understanding the layer that decides when your tag is valid.
- Choosing your map8 min
Free onX Alternatives Compared
An honest look at what you actually get for free from HuntTrack, onX, Gaia GPS, CalTopo and Basemap — and where each one wins.
- Field guide — Tags & seasons7 min
Pennsylvania Elk: October Rifle Season, Zones & 2026 Tags
Pennsylvania added an October rifle season for 2026, redrew elk zones, and put 155 tags up for grabs. How the seasons, zones, and bull rule work.
- Privacy7 min
Your hunting app is tracking you: what onX knows
Every waypoint, track, and kill location you save in a hunting app lives on someone else's servers. Here's what that means and what you can do about it.
- Privacy5 min
Hunting maps without tracking: keep your spots yours
A practical guide to scouting and saving waypoints without handing your best locations to an app company.
- Weather — Burn scars6 min
Free burn scar map: hunt recent wildfires for elk and deer
Every mapped wildfire perimeter since 2005, shaded by age. Burns 3–15 years old grow the best elk and deer feed — and the data is public.
- Land — Timber harvest & disturbance6 min
Free timber map: find logged ground that holds elk and deer
Every mapped clearcut, harvest, and thinning from the last four years — all ownerships. Logged ground grows feed, and the data is public.
- Animals - Migration & movement6 min
Where elk go in October: post-rut movement & rifle tactics
The rut is over and elk are feeding machines. What changes in October, what collar data shows, and how to hunt it to the first snow.
- Animals - Roadkill hotspots7 min
357,076 roadkill records: where deer and elk actually move
HuntTrack maps 357,076 roadkill records across 11 states. Here is what they show about fall movement, habitual crossings, and how to scout them before season.
- Field guide — Scouting6 min
How to read a hunt unit map
Every state hunts by unit, zone, or district. How to read the boundary, tag type, seasons, and public land on the free HuntTrack map.
- Animals: Migration and movement7 min
Migration corridors: the published routes elk and mule deer walk every fall
States publish GPS-collar migration routes for elk, mule deer, pronghorn and moose. How to read them, where they bottleneck, and how to hunt the October version.
- Field guide: Seasons8 min
Mid October hunting calendar 2026: what is open right now in the West
The middle of October packs more western big game opportunity into one week than any other stretch of fall. What is open this week in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, and how to hunt it.
- Field guide: Tactics8 min
Late season mule deer tactics: where November bucks go and how to hunt them
The mule deer rut peaks in November and mature bucks are on their feet in daylight. How to find staging does, read corridors and feed, and set up for a cruising buck.
- Field guide: E-scouting8 min
Elk water: find every creek, spring and seep with free map data
Elk drink every day and October pressure makes the pattern predictable. How to read free NHD hydrography, wetlands and drought data to find the water the animals actually use.
- Seasonal: Openers8 min
The Oct 24 rifle opener: e-scouting Montana general rifle and Colorado 2nd rifle
Montana general deer and elk and Colorado second rifle both open Saturday, Oct 24. Where the animals will be after the pressure hits, and how to read the free map layers before the trucks show up.
- Idaho: Elk zones9 min
Idaho elk units explained: pick the right zone for your OTC tag
Idaho doesn't do elk units. It does zones, and A and B tags, and the season you hunt depends on the tag you buy. Here is how to read it, with the season dates that matter right now.
- Data-driven: Movement timing8 min
First push: when elk actually start migrating, and how to read it on a free map
Elk migrate on a trigger, not a calendar. Snow, dry feed and hunter pressure start the fall push. Here is what the collar data shows about the timing, and how to read each trigger on HuntTrack's free layers.
- Gear and maps: Free alternatives8 min
Free onX alternative: what HuntTrack actually covers (and what it does not)
HuntTrack is a free hunting map with public land, private parcels, hunt units, burn scars, water and migration corridors. Here is an honest look at what it replaces, what it does not, and how to switch without losing your spots.
- Seasonal: November calendar9 min
November hunting calendar 2026: rut, late seasons, and the last big weekends
November is the best month of the hunting year in the West. The mule deer rut peaks, Colorado runs its third and fourth rifle seasons, Montana general rifle runs to Nov 29, and Idaho's late antlerless hunts open. Here is what is open, week by week, and how to read it on a free map.