About Free Hunting Map

Free Hunting Map is a free, open-source web map for planning hunts and keeping field observations. Devan Metz makes and maintains the project. It runs in a browser and can be installed on a phone as a progressive web app.

Free to use and inspect

The code is released under the MIT license. Browse it, report an issue or contribute on GitHub. There is no subscription and core map use does not require an account.

Scouting tools

Organize pins and tracks into categories, control their visibility and search saved data offline. Trail cam pins have draggable view cones and camera records. Layers groups public land, federal trails, vegetation, crops, water, terrain and fire datasets with opacity controls and legends.

Your data on your device

Saved pins and tracks live in your browser's local database. Viewed map tiles are cached for offline use. Optional Google sign-in syncs map items, saved lidar candidates and map preferences. Tile and weather providers receive network requests for the area you use.

The app has no ads and does not sell personal data. Optional anonymous usage analytics can be disabled in Layers and respects Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control. Read the privacy policy for storage, analytics, hosting and deletion details.

Data sources and attribution

Topo and aerial imagery

USGS The National Map, including USGS orthoimagery. USGS public-domain data; attribution requested.

Streets and labels

OpenFreeMap and OpenMapTiles, using © OpenStreetMap contributors data under ODbL. Map attribution is shown in the app.

Public land

USGS GAP PAD-US 4.1 fee lands, public domain. Manager categories are a research aid, not hunting permission or a boundary survey.

Public trails

USFS, BLM, NPS and USGS federal public-domain inventories, including Forest Service motor routes. The regional pilot covers Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois plus nearby territory within its bounds; it is not a complete trail or access inventory.

Cover, crops and terrain

USGS Annual NLCD land cover (2025); USFS tree canopy (2025), forest type (2018), broad forest ownership and LCMS vegetation loss (1985–2024); USGS/USFS LANDFIRE vegetation (2024); USDA NASS crops (2025), NRCS SSURGO soils; EPA ecoregions; USGS contours and elevation. Federal public-domain data, with coverage and vintage varying by layer.

Fire

USFS wildfire hazard potential, NIFC current fire records and NIFC historic perimeters. Federal data; current feeds are refreshed online and can fall back to cached views.

Hillshade and lidar

USGS 3DEP public-domain elevation and point clouds. Trail finder coverage is limited to WI_Clark_2018 and WI_12County_9_B22.

Wisconsin parcels

Wisconsin Statewide Parcels V12, State Cartographer's Office, served through ArcGIS. Public-domain data; Wisconsin coverage only, visible at closer zoom levels.

Water

USGS National Hydrography Dataset and US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory and USGS/USDA watershed boundaries. Springs, streams and lake identification use USGS NHD. Public-domain federal data.

Wisconsin deer units

Wisconsin DNR map service; agency terms apply. Viewed imagery is cached; tap identification requires a connection.

Weather

Open-Meteo; weather data under CC BY 4.0, with service terms for non-commercial use. Attribution appears in Conditions.

Sun and moon

Calculated locally with SunCalc (BSD-2-Clause). Civil twilight is not a statement of legal hunting hours.

Map imagery, source datasets and libraries retain their own terms. See the repository's data-source documentation for service details.

Maps can be incomplete or outdated. Confirm access and rules with official sources and read the terms.