This is a guest post from Craig Boline, Huntinmaps.com's technical lead.

Recently I received a question asking if we had a paper map of Colorado game management unit 20 (near Estes Park, CO). After doing some digging and searching it seems that is an area our paper maps don't cover. Not wanting to disappoint the customer, I wrote this simple howto on using the Hunt Planner to create a much better map.

First open the hunt planner, do this by clicking the "Hunt Planner" link under your name on the left. If you don't see that link (or your user name) try logging in. If you still don't see it, you'll need to buy the hunt planner (keep reading to find out why). As a blog reader use coupon code: BLOGRDR to save 20% off your first month.

After you have the hunt planner up, you can zoom into unit 20. Start by adding the gmu bounds to the map, then zoom in and center on unit 20. Things should look something like this (click the image for a larger view):

Now, for illustration sake, lets say you want to hunt elk on public land in unit 20. Specifically you want to hunt in the southwest corner. First start by zooming into the that corner. Things will look something like this (click the image for a larger view):

At this level you can clearly see some gmu boundaries, plus you have a larger picture of the hunting area. We could stop here, save it or print it and have a great map. But we won't :)

Lets take things further. Last time you were hunting this area you weren't sure where unit 20 stopped. With the hunt planner you can switch to aerial and zoom way in, this lets you see some landmarks to get your bearings. Then you can see where the unit stops (click the image for a larger view):

Also, in that image you'll see the topography lines. These are in Feet which is something you don't see too often in topography. We did this since most of our customers think in feet, and don't want to be bothered with conversions from metric.

Finally, the last and most helpful example. Our example hunter has decided to hunt near the beaver reservoir area. Since there is some public and private land here, it is best to show some boundaries to be avoided. In this last image the private land is highlighted in orange. The blue line / green area shows where the elk are concentrated. By doing this our hunter can be sure to be in the right area! (click the image for a larger view):

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