Introducing Battlemap
We are excited to introduce our newest feature, Battlemap! This is unlike anything else on the current market and is a gamechanger for escouting and real-time planning. Whether it is organizing a deer drive or working a stalk on a bedded mule deer in the high country, you will find this new feature extremely useful!
Up until this point, if you wanted to build a complex plan of action on a mapping app, you needed to get creative with the tools you had at hand. This usually meant using a combination of measurements and dropping pins to draw appropriate shapes and formulate a plan. Now, with Battlemap, all of that has changed.
What Is Battlemap?
Battlemap is a tool designed to help you turn your app into an organized, visual plan of attack. In its simplest form, the Battlemap tool allows you to freehand draw and add text to the map. It is meant to increase your spatial awareness of the area that you are in or targeting.
You can change your stylus size, color, and style in the tools bottom sheet, as well as text size and color. The map drawings that you create are then saved to the map and treated like any other piece of content. They can be edited, deleted, or hidden by simply clicking on them, and accessed through “My Content” on the tool bottom menu.
This tool can be used to organize group hunts, plan access to your stands, map out an area’s thermals, or build a complete strategy around terrain. As you can imagine, the possibilities here are endless.
Example Uses of Battlemap
Deer Drives: If you have ever participated in a deer drive, you know how unorganized they can be and how someone almost always gets off their planned path. With Battlemap, you can draw the exact route you want everyone to follow based on the terrain and foliage. Something that previously would require multiple pin drops and measurements drawn on the map can now be done in one tool.
Planning a Stalk: Locating bedded game is something that is very common in hunting the western states. Glassing up that giant Muley and planning a stalk to get within bow range is not for the faint of heart. With Battlemap, you can easily draw the route and map your predicted thermals for a stalk, increasing your odds of sealing the deal.
Mapping Thermals: I’ve now mentioned this a few times so it is worth explaining. Looking at the terrain as a whole is difficult to picture what is happening with the thermals. By breaking it down into individual points and drainages and drawing on the map using the arrow stylus, you can easily gain better understanding of how those thermals will flow over a landscape.
Laying Out a Decoy Spread: Often done in the wee hours of the morning, the importance of laying out a decoy spread properly can’t be understated. Planning it out the night before and drawing the wind direction, blind placement, and decoys can save valuable time in the field and ensure that everyone is on the same page when the time comes!
Guides: If you have ever had to explain an approach to a stand or access route to a client, you know the pain it can be to ensure they are getting there without issue. Drawing the route on the map and any other pertinent information can really help your client get the full picture before the hunt even begins!
How to Start Using Battlemap
Battlemap is available on both mobile and web platforms. Access it by clicking the “Tools” tab on the navigation menu at the bottom of your mobile app(left side of the web app), then clicking the “Battlemap” tool.
The bottom sheet will open up with all of your tool options and you can start drawing on the map. If you select the “Text” button a text box will appear on the screen and your keyboard will show. Anytime the text button is selected, you are able to drag and move the existing text in that map.
Saving the map instantly makes it available on both web and mobile. It will overlay on your map unless hidden by the user. To hide a Battlemap you have two options: 1) accessing it through my content and unchecking the checkbox, or 2) clicking on the Battlemap and selecting the eye that is next to the edit button.
Limitations: For this first release, Battlemaps can only be drawn in 2D mode. Once drawn it can be viewed in 3D mode without issue! Additionally, for the time being Battlemaps can not be shared between users. We understand the importance of this and will have sharing capability soon!
Final Thoughts
Battlemap was built to help you create and execute a plan, its that simple. Whether it is drawing your perfect route to your stand based on the wind or planning a group deer drive, it will help you put your plan to action. We know we have not scratched the surface of what all this tool can be used for, so we look forward to seeing how everyone uses it in the field!
