Apps for hunters have changed the way hunters approach the game. Deer hunting apps with GPS hunting map capabilities elevate scouting effectiveness. Of course, while most require paid subscriptions, some options include free apps for hunters. Check out some of the best hunting apps below.
State Agency Apps
Historically, buying licenses and tags were completed at a store. Hunters had to go to in-person check stations to report their deer harvests. Then, phones were allowed to complete these processes. Followed by websites. Now, modern deer hunters are buying licenses, purchasing tags, reporting deer, and more, via apps.
Today, a significant number of state wildlife agencies have apps available for the public to use. A few examples include Kansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and more.
HuntStand
The mighty HuntStand is a premier hunting app. It’s an excellent tool for hunters, and has many capabilities. Base layers include Hybrid, Natural Atlas, Quad Topo, National Aerial Imagery, Satellite, Mapbox Satellite, Terrain, and more. Of course, benefit from the property line features, landowner information, etc. Plus, toggle overlays, such as Contour, Hunting Lands, Public Lands, Crop History, HuntZone (wind direction tool), etc. It also has various powerful tools, including the Whitetail Activity Forecast, Monthly Satellite, Nationwide Rut Map, and Whitetail Habitat Map. Plus, enjoy the 3D Map for incredible realistic viewing. Of course, the map building capabilities, and array of available icons, are second-to-none. It even provides cellular trail camera integration. Use offline mapping with areas of little to no service.
“I tend to use HuntStand, especially for whitetail hunting,” said Rob Herrmann, a Whitetail Properties broker and land specialist in Colorado. “There are a lot of benefits to being able to properly identify property boundaries. I like to use apps that help with the wind. These can show where your projected wind is blowing."
onX Hunt
Another fan favorite, onX Hunt is useful for big game hunters. It offers many features, such as nationwide public and private land boundaries. Like other services, it’s custom map tools help build out your hunting properties. Base maps include satellite, hybrid, or topo views. It even offers nuanced layers, such as NDA’s CWD Distribution, USFWS Hunt Areas, B&C Trophy Big Game Records, and more. Plus, toggle between 2D and 3D. Benefit from its popular offline mapping service, too.
“With onX Hunt, there are a lot of features that you can dig into,” Herrmann said. “With the contour and rugged terrain of Colorado [and other places], it’s really nice to use the contour maps. They also have a 3D feature, which is great for getting more perspective for what you’re looking at. With the mountains and steep terrain, it’s a great bonus to figure things out before you get there.”
BaseMap
Another common hunting app, BaseMap offers accurate land boundaries nationwide. It includes precise, up-to-date information for landowner data and boundaries. Plus, it has a Hunt Planner, which assists with draw odds, harvest stats, unit filtering, and more. Interestingly, it provides a seven-day wind forecast showing ideal, risky, and poor times to hunt stand locations. Like most apps, it implements custom map markers, where you can add photos, mark stand locations, and more. It too has offline mapping, location sharing, etc.
DeerCast
DeerCast is another heavy-hitting hunting app. It helps predict whitetail movement (one-, five-, 10-, or 14-day outlooks). Of course, it has a wind direction tool, among other benefits. Plus, it has a deer recovery tool, which helps make better decisions when searching for wounded and dead game. The app is also popular for the massive volume of content available to users.
HuntWise
Rounding out the more popular and generalized hunting apps, HuntWise is similar to those outlined above. It allows for map building, 3D viewing, sharing hunt areas with family and friends, and more. It even offers a hunt forecasting feature (with species-specific predictions). Enjoy other tools, such as rut timelines.
Land ID
A commonly used app in the real estate world, Land ID also works for hunters. This is crafted more for professionals than hunters, but it can serve landowners, builders, real estate professionals, farmers, ranchers, and more. It provides an accurate depiction of landowner information and accurate boundaries.
Cell Cam Apps
With the advent of cellular trail cameras, most companies that offer such products have affiliated apps. The trail cameras are managed within the app, which is also where photos and videos are viewed. Whatever cellular trail camera brand you choose, it should have an affiliated intuitive app that makes operation a breeze.
AccuWeather, Weather Bug, and Weather Underground
Most hunters still use dedicated weather apps. Herrmann, Dustin Prievo, a Whitetail Properties land specialist in Pennsylvania, and others, use various weather apps. Three of the most popular include AccuWeather, Weather Bug, and Weather Underground. These are excellent tools for very specific data, including precipitation, temperature, barometric pressure, and more.
Plant and Tree Identification
A commonly overlooked app category is plant identification. Most hunters can’t identify every plant or tree they see. Some can’t even identify a short list of the most common ones. Therefore, consider a plant ID app. These are great woodsmanship-based tools that can help develop your capabilities. Picture This and Seek by iNaturalist are two of the most popular within this category.
CamoSpace
Those seeking a social media platform that’s safe for hunters might consider CamoSpace. This was created by and for those who enjoy hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities. It’s a great place to find like-minded individuals who enjoy time spent in nature.
Web-Based Resources
Apps aside, there are many web-based resources that hunters can benefit from. Examples include DeerLab, which is a trail camera management tool.
“You can upload all of your trail camera photos,” Prievo said. “You can tag certain photos, and it will spit out deer movement reports. Isolate for specific times of year, moon phases, etc.”
Google Earth is great, too, which provides detailed aerial viewing.
“I use Google Earth on the computer,” Prievo said. “I still do a lot of public land hunting and hunting from the ground. I chase a lot of deer in unknown territories."
Furthermore, acres.com is another solid resource, among others.
Hunting App Tips and Tricks
There are many other tips and tricks associated with hunting apps. That said, become familiar with the ones you use. Then, milk each tool offered to positively impact your hunt.
“I use apps for hunting and property boundaries,” Prievo said. “Any app that shows contour lines in a mapping system is probably an app worth using. I look for contour lines for benchmarks on mountains or hillsides. This helps access certain places and in certain ways.
“I actually built my own app,” Prievo continued. “We use it for land observations. It’s all of the data we collect in the field on each individual property. How many deer are observed, number of bucks and does, good day or bad day, good or poor movement, etc. It’s not available on the market, but it’s one we built for us to use. Over the years, I’ve collected a lot of data, but I’m a big nerd.”
In essence, it’s an electronic journal that he uses to recall info and generate reports. For example, due to a lot of compiled data, he knows that he tends to see more deer movement with steady winds blowing 6-10 mph. If it’s less than that, he must be mindful of where he’s hunting and where his access is located.
Prievo says he doesn’t do much differently from the next guy, though. Most hunters use these in the same fashion or form. That said, it’s data analysis that takes your effort to the next level.
“I’m so busy that I’m not so ingrained with my hunting as I used to be,” Prievo said. “I used to know every single deer on the property and every movement. I’d know that, on December 18, a specific buck would come back after he left for four or five weeks. This requires organization, and the trail camera photos and observation logs help.
“There’s a lot of repetition in the whitetail woods,” Prievo continued. “If you have good logs of what’s moving around on your property, that can be very beneficial.”
So, begin using must-have hunting apps, and experience more success in the deer woods.
