Welcome Elk Finder & win 1-year access

[realunlucky]

Welcome this App looks pretty awesome and scary at the same time. I'll get you on the Rokcast to get all the details on this new mind blowing technology

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

 

[kcm2]

Anything that could help me find an elk with a bow in my hand is welcomed......

Welcome to Rokslide.

 

[NorthIdahoDude]

Thank you! A walkthrough video is one of my top priorities right now, along with a sample map people can view/test before signing up. I know it’s hard to evaluate a mapping tool from screenshots alone, so I want to make it much easier to see what Elk Finder actually does, how the layers work, and how I personally use it when scouting.

In the meantime, I’m happy to answer any specific questions about the data, layers, or how it works.

Welcome! I am perhaps the world's worst successful elk hunter. I've killed a few over the years, but I think my ratio works out to near 100 days/partial days hunting elk for every elk I've put in my freezer. So I would LOVE a test drive of a tool to help me perhaps not suck so bad at it, and would be a happily paying customer if it truly ups my game.

I've hunted rifle and bow over the years, but rifle only these days. No cow hunts in North Idaho for rifle hunters anymore, other than on the draw/controlled hunt system, so bulls only for me until the laws change.

 

[insanelupus]

Welcome @Jon Olson and Elk Finder. Bow, rifle, & muzzleloader, in that order!

Interesting concept and marketplace niche.

Questions:

1. What is the cost of the service?

2. Does the elk finding utilize information such as season, weather patterns, personal/ area anomolies (personal hunting styles, pressure from hunters/ season timing and/or increased predator populations, trail head/ human activity, fire activity, etc. ), as well as herd dynamics (population density) to predict elk presence? Essentially, is this an "elk are generally always here" model or an "elk are likely here today with the conditions you are currently facing/input" model?

3. What advantages does your service provide that I can't find from other mapping software using map layers for predictions/classifying of landscapes traits/qualities I may already be using to successful located elk based off of past experiences?

4. Does your system also provide an educational component allowing users to understand why elk are predicted in a certain area? It's one thing to give a fella a fish and something altogether different to teach a man to fish.

5. Is this a stand alone replacement mapping tool or does it interface with say OnX for waypoint export?


Neat concept, I am intrigued and curious. I love learning the why of things and see potential for my own uses.

I also have concerns in that, in my limited experience, elk do different things in different places. True, there are "elk things"which may be universal, but so many things local and regional affect season to season locations, I'm skeptical about a national product predicting elk locations.

And I would be untruthful if I didn't excpress my concern regarding pointing all folks to the same area. For years, I've had a pat answer for new folks in our area on where to hunt. Those two areas I refer folks to always have a large number of elk killed, but also a high hunter density. They are also areas I rarely personally hunt because I don't care to hunt with others.

For the right price, I'd try it out for a few months. To be a sustainable model for year to year use, I'd require it to be highly individualized rather than just a generic "elk are likely here" predictor I can gain from extra layer work in already subscribed apps like OnX.

I certainly applaud the work and effort as well as the creativity. Very neat concept if you can execute it well. I wish you the best with it and hope it is successful for you.

 

[Jon Olson]

Welcome @Jon Olson and Elk Finder. Bow, rifle, & muzzleloader, in that order!

Interesting concept and marketplace niche.

Questions:

1. What is the cost of the service?

2. Does the elk finding utilize information such as season, weather patterns, personal/ area anomolies (personal hunting styles, pressure from hunters/ season timing and/or increased predator populations, trail head/ human activity, fire activity, etc. ), as well as herd dynamics (population density) to predict elk presence? Essentially, is this an "elk are generally always here" model or an "elk are likely here today with the conditions you are currently facing/input" model?

3. What advantages does your service provide that I can't find from other mapping software using map layers for predictions/classifying of landscapes traits/qualities I may already be using to successful located elk based off of past experiences?

4. Does your system also provide an educational component allowing users to understand why elk are predicted in a certain area? It's one thing to give a fella a fish and something altogether different to teach a man to fish.

5. Is this a stand alone replacement mapping tool or does it interface with say OnX for waypoint export?


Neat concept, I am intrigued and curious. I love learning the why of things and see potential for my own uses.

I also have concerns in that, in my limited experience, elk do different things in different places. True, there are "elk things"which may be universal, but so many things local and regional affect season to season locations, I'm skeptical about a national product predicting elk locations.

And I would be untruthful if I didn't excpress my concern regarding pointing all folks to the same area. For years, I've had a pat answer for new folks in our area on where to hunt. Those two areas I refer folks to always have a large number of elk killed, but also a high hunter density. They are also areas I rarely personally hunt because I don't care to hunt with others.

For the right price, I'd try it out for a few months. To be a sustainable model for year to year use, I'd require it to be highly individualized rather than just a generic "elk are likely here" predictor I can gain from extra layer work in already subscribed apps like OnX.

I certainly applaud the work and effort as well as the creativity. Very neat concept if you can execute it well. I wish you the best with it and hope it is successful for you.

1. Launch pricing is $49/year (expires 365 days from when you sign up). This won't last long.

2. The Hunt Mode (top 5 elk spots in viewport) finds the best convergence of vegetation moisture, tree canopy height & cover AND ideal terrain slope.
There is an option to "Avoid roads/pressure" which takes into account distance to nearest road or trail (includes MVUM).
There is also an option to "Include burns" which takes into account distance to nearest "disturbance" which counts as clearcut or fire in the past 10 years (this comes from landfire.gov).

3. Elk Finder provides a better starting point for country you are unfamiliar with, which is useful for out-of-state hunters who draw a ~$700 tag. It's also useful for local hunters who want to find more elky hunting spots. I also think it will be a huge help for when you bump elk out of an area and want to find nearby sanctuaries where they could have gone. Where I archery hunt in Idaho Weiser unit, I have bumped elk and they only went about 1/2 mile and I later find them in the afternoon. It took me two years to really understand this particular spot of mine, but Elk Finder could speed up that process in new areas I plan to scout.

4. First, I plan to add a scientific section with articles that cite background elk research on topics such as elk feeding patterns, thermal regulation, use of slope for predator detection, and distance from roads during rifle season.
Second, there are colored layers for Vegetation Moisture/Feed, Bedding/Cover and Slope. These layers can be analyzed individually to find the best sources of vegetation moisture or bedding; then can be cross checked against the satellite view. This is the biggest source of future improvement as I plan to add modes for "Find the best bedding" versus "Find the best feed". I already have Top 5 Likely Elk Zones which account for where bedding+feed+slope converge. I can see hunting a specific area and only caring about finding the best bedding/canopy area and ignore everything else given the situation.

5. I don't have a mobile app yet, so it's not a replacement to existing mapping apps. Adding waypoints and export of waypoints is planned soon.


Regarding your comments about individualization: my goal was to create an easy to use product that does one thing well which is to show likely elk areas given an elk's needs. At the same time, I also personally built the tool to have an advanced analysis mode where I can toggle layers and analyze terrain just as I do in other apps.

Being the "right price" is relative based on the potential customer. When I drew New Mexico, the tag and license was over $700. The drive there and back was over $1000 in gas. My new Exo Mountain pack was $700. The multi-state onX was around $79. The list of gear goes on and on. I took 2 weeks off of work. I strongly believe that my early launch pricing of $49/year for all western states is a fantastic value. The hardest part is convincing others. After validating it with local friends, one of their first comments was "how much money do you need so that we pay you NOT to release this app so we can keep it for yourselves?"

The feedback about trying it out, seeing a demo video, etc was very useful to me. I'm getting close to including the full featured map on my website landing page. See screenshot.

 

[WBT]

Welcome and archery.

 

[insanelupus]

@Jon Olson , thank you for taking the time to reply. I was curious and at this stage of the game, I appreciate the invitation you provided. I'll be signing up in the near future to try it out. Thank you!

 

[HairyScandinavian]

I'm intrigued, seems like it's always good to get more data for me to overthink and get stuck in analysis paralysis. LOL... Hopefully I win a free year so I can really put it to the test and report back.

Just chime in with your favorite way to hunt elk: rifle, bow, muzzleloader and he'll draw somewhere in the next few weeks.

Rifle because my wife loves to torture me with knee deep snow but sooner or later I'll find an archery buddy with similar points and get after them.

 

[Thebigbaby]

Welcome @Jon Olson. My favorite way to hunt elk if rifle and muzzle loader.

 

[NeHunter13]

Welcome, Elk Finder! I enjoy the Colorado muzzleloader season.

 

[TheM1DoesMyTalking]

I rifle hunt Western Washington Roosevelt elk. Most of the elk resources out there focus on Rocky Mountain elk and aren't very relevant for coastal elk hunting. How does elk finder address these differences?

 

[Brendan]

Welcome aboard! September Archery in the peak of the rut for me!

 

[CV335]

Welcome! I am primarily an eastern whitetail/turkey hunter but look forward to my annual September archery elk hunt every year. Nothing beats the rut. Looks like Elk Finder could be a very valuable tool for me!

 

[Jon Olson]

I rifle hunt Western Washington Roosevelt elk. Most of the elk resources out there focus on Rocky Mountain elk and aren't very relevant for coastal elk hunting. How does elk finder address these differences?

My father-in-law hunts roosevelts on the Oregon coast near Powers, OR, which was the primary driver for adding the burn/disturbance layer.

It seems that the combination of canopy cover for bedding and vegetation moisture works well on the clearcut edges I see all along the area he hunts and it was pretty good at highlighting the area he shot his cow elk last year (even though he had a Nov or Dec hunt).

The problem is that the habitat on the coast all looks good. The top 5 elk zones for any given area show 89% to 92%, whereas the spot I shot my spike last season was around 50% in the Idaho mountains. I would like to have feedback in the future from more people who hunt coastal elk.