Just in time for hunting season, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has put maps of its game lands on its web site.
Maps for nearly all of the 300 game lands are on the site, though more maps will be added later as game lands are added or new maps are drawn up.
The maps are not designed to replace the hard copies you can buy from the PGC. Those are already a bargain at $1 each.
These internet maps are meant to let hunters download images showing contour lines, parking areas, trails, food plots and other features. They come as Adobe Acrobat files, in either high-resolution or low-resolution images.
Even the high-resolution images are not the best, if you try to print them. You probably won't want to throw away your hard copies and stockpile these instead.
They do provide a lot of the basics, though, and I think will prove to be a hit with hunters, and even anglers and hikers.
That's the goal of the project.
"Placing these State Game Lands maps on the web site provides an extremely important service to hunters and trappers," said Game Commission Executive Director Vern Ross. "It gives them the opportunity to view our 1.4 million-acre State Game Lands system in the comfort of their home or office. Picking a place to hunt on State Game Lands just got a whole lot easier!"
Indeed it did, and that's always a good thing.
Hunter and others have been after the PGC to get their maps on-line. In fact, that's been one of the most-frequently requested things since the web page was developed.
When looking for a map, there are certainly lots of game lands to pick from. The PGC's game lands system covers about 1.4 million acres now, and the agency is always looking to add more. Game Commissioner Sam Dunkle, for example, sees land acquisition as a goal near and dear to his heart, and he's always pushing the agency to buy more land.
Hopefully, he and the other commissioners and agency staff will keep that goal in mind, and make it a priority. Pennsylvania is losing land to development each year, and other private property either gets posted or leased to small groups of hunters who have money to spend.
There's nothing wrong with either thing, necessarily. Landowners should be able to decide what to do with their own property.
It's nice having lots of public ground to hunt, though, without having to ask permission or join a club or spend a single nickel. We take that for granted in Pennsylvania, but ask hunters in other eastern states if they'd like to be able to enjoy the same opportunities. You'll see we're pretty fortunate here.
Hopefully, hunters and others will take advantage of these maps.
Then, adventure awaits.
