Layer 4 — Wildlife sightings

Using iNaturalist sighting data for scouting

Confidence grades, date clustering and how to turn casual records into a glassing plan.

Why the data matters

Filter by month before you filter by species — timing beats presence.

Research grade versus casual

Research grade means the identification was confirmed by community consensus with a date and coordinates. Casual records may still be correct, but treat them as leads rather than evidence.

Obscured coordinates

Sensitive taxa have their locations randomised inside a roughly 25-kilometre box. For big game that mostly affects rare species, but never treat a single pin as a precise location.

Building a pattern

Stack sightings by month against elevation. A species drifting 2,000 feet down between September and November is showing you the migration band to hunt.

Sources & further reading

This explainer is a stub — expand it with regional examples and screenshots as the layer matures.

Keep reading