Welcome Elk Finder & win 1-year access

[smellslikesteelcase]

Rifle. Definitely interested in the app for my first elk hunt.

 

[rbachleitner]

View attachment 1080899
Hey Rokslide, welcome Elk Finder, an online interactive map to help you find elk--"stop guessing" as they say! Owner & designer, @Jon Olson is a long-time member and has designed a very unique product that will take your e-scouting to the next level.

Check it out at https://elkfinder.com/

You can purchase there, or if you're feeling lucky, give him a welcome on this thread and he'll draw for one Rokslider to take home 1-year complimentary access to Elk Finder.

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

Welcome. Archery.

 

[Elkman17]

Welcome! Gotta be bow

 

[406RoadToad]

Welcome! Favorite way to hunt elk is with a bow!

 

[Redbaron307]

Cool looking tool, I’d love to give it a try! I just like to hunt elk, no favorite weapon in particular.

 

[WanderingWapiti]

Archery! Curious to learn more!

 

[voltage]

Rifle!

Welcome to RS. I have an extremely sought after last season rifle tag for this fall. I am interested to hear how your program differentiates between "quality" of units, or does that matter?

 

[Jon Olson]

Rifle!

Welcome to RS. I have an extremely sought after last season rifle tag for this fall. I am interested to hear how your program differentiates between "quality" of units, or does that matter?

Elk Finder can be useful for comparing two units based on how much high convergence habitat each unit has, but I would not call that the same thing as ranking overall unit quality.

Unit quality can mean herd numbers, age class, bull ratios, hunting pressure, public/private checkerboarding, etc., and Elk Finder does not claim to measure that.

Where I think it can help is comparing the type and amount of habitat opportunity inside each unit. For example, if Unit A has several top spots where feed, bedding, and ideal slope stack together 2+ miles from road/trail access, and Unit B has more moderate scoring spots closer to access, that gives you useful information.

One hunter may prefer the more remote option; another may prefer spots that are easier to scout, glass, or pack out of. I personally like spots about a mile from a road where I can bushwack uphill because hunters seem drawn to trails and old decommissioned roads as they are easier to navigate.

So I would use Elk Finder as a habitat comparison tool to see what type of hunting areas look good to you, not as a unit ranking system.

 

[voltage]

Elk Finder can be useful for comparing two units based on how much high convergence habitat each unit has, but I would not call that the same thing as ranking overall unit quality.

Unit quality can mean herd numbers, age class, bull ratios, hunting pressure, public/private checkerboarding, etc., and Elk Finder does not claim to measure that.

Where I think it can help is comparing the type and amount of habitat opportunity inside each unit. For example, if Unit A has several top spots where feed, bedding, and ideal slope stack together 2+ miles from road/trail access, and Unit B has more moderate scoring spots closer to access, that gives you useful information.

One hunter may prefer the more remote option; another may prefer spots that are easier to scout, glass, or pack out of. I personally like spots about a mile from a road where I can bushwack uphill because hunters seem drawn to trails and old decommissioned roads as they are easier to navigate.

So I would use Elk Finder as a habitat comparison tool to see what type of hunting areas look good to you, not as a unit ranking system.

Thank you for the feedback, but I don’t think I asked the question correctly.

Hypothetically speaking, let’s say there are two units that are absolutely identical. Every square inch of each unit is exactly the same. The difference is one is managed for opportunity and the other is managed for trophy quality. In unit A, they give out 5000 tags and run 15% success. In unit B, they give out 200 tags, and average 80% success. Would your program spit out the same results for both units?

I’m asking this because I have a tag that I will likely never draw again. I understand it’s only $50 and then the grand scheme of things, that isn’t much. If this unit was managed for opportunity, I think I would be looking in the deepest, darkest hole for a November elk. But I’ve driven past this unit and have seen bulls standing next to the highway, which is something I assume wouldn’t happen nearly as often if this unit would have been managed for opportunity instead of quality.

 

[Jon Olson]

Thank you for the feedback, but I don’t think I asked the question correctly.

Hypothetically speaking, let’s say there are two units that are absolutely identical. Every square inch of each unit is exactly the same. The difference is one is managed for opportunity and the other is managed for trophy quality. In unit A, they give out 5000 tags and run 15% success. In unit B, they give out 200 tags, and average 80% success. Would your program spit out the same results for both units?

I’m asking this because I have a tag that I will likely never draw again. I understand it’s only $50 and then the grand scheme of things, that isn’t much. If this unit was managed for opportunity, I think I would be looking in the deepest, darkest hole for a November elk. But I’ve driven past this unit and have seen bulls standing next to the highway, which is something I assume wouldn’t happen nearly as often if this unit would have been managed for opportunity instead of quality.

Yes, in your hypothetical example, if two units were truly identical in terrain, vegetation, moisture, bedding cover, slope, access, roads/trails, water, disturbance history, etc, then Elk Finder would produce essentially the same habitat results for both units.

Just to clarify, Elk Finder is not using AI to guess where elk are. It is a model built from geospatial data, primarily using:

• Sentinel-2 near-infrared and shortwave-infrared bands to estimate vegetation moisture/greenness using NDMI
• LANDFIRE canopy cover and canopy height data for bedding/security cover
• USGS 3DEP elevation data to calculate slope

Elk Finder does not factor in tag quotas, harvest success, bull age class, bull ratios, or whether a unit is managed for opportunity versus trophy quality.

 

[Clarkdale17]

Interesting concept. I'd be curious to see how it works in heavily timbered units. I certainly won't be spending $50 a year since I enjoy the process of figuring out where the elk are, but I'd like to try it out free to see how it stacks up against past experiences.

I enjoy archery elk, but I'll take any tag I can get