DENTRY: The trappings of success

By Ed Dentry, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 18, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Photo by Special To The Rocky (above); Ed Dentry / The Rocky (below)

Since 1994, Dave and Donnelle Johnson have been making virtual sense of Colorado's finest big-game hunting terrain.

Dave Johnson climbed an alpine ridge, stepped into space and soared to a craggy place where mountain goats hang out.

He performed the superhuman feat without the slightest hint of nosebleed. "These are the kill sites dating back to 2003," he said, indicating his laptop screen, where red dots were superimposed on a 3D satellite photo.

Since 1994, Johnson and his wife and business partner, Donnelle, have employed the mysteries of computer science to help hunters. They started with spreadsheets on CD, and now they are flying.

At a hunter orientation last Saturday, the couple showed their newest maps to the chosen few hunters who drew 2008 goat and bighorn sheep tags. The response was overwhelming.

A hunting license so rare deserves some serious planning. More than a few wallets flipped open.

At a Starbucks in Castle Rock the other day, the Johnsons, of Franktown, demonstrated how even couch potatoes can visit anyplace in Colorado where big game is hunted.

Their new masterpiece is Big Game CD 7.0, which combines years of hunting data with land ownership and game unit boundaries, seasonal herd concentrations and just about everything except where to find another Starbucks.

Added to the miracle are Big Game Digital Maps (about 25 gigabytes worth) for all game units west of Interstate 25. The digital maps overlay land-use and herd-concentration lines atop 3D satellite photos, like a translucent blanket.

For the past year, when they weren't bowhunting, the Johnsons were dabbling in terrain generators and fly-through mapping tools -- blending hunting data from the Colorado Division of Wildlife with the stunning effects of Google Earth.

"It makes Google Earth hunter-friendly, if you will," Donnelle said.

A statistics search provides hunters with exhaustive information including success rates, number of hunters and points needed to draw in a limited game unit.

Let's say you're an elk hunter who always hunts in the same general area, and maybe you're not faring too well.

"There are lots of ways you can slice and dice the data and compare your favorite units," Donnelle said. "Sometimes just moving to a different (rifle) season can make all the difference."

Maybe you're feeling adventurous and ready to check out new hunting grounds. But you are an average elk hunter: no preference points, targeting a bull in the second rifle season with an over-the-counter license.

Dave taps a few computer keys, and a state map lights up with yellow "unlimited" units. Then he asks the electrons to find a few where hunter success is greater than 50 percent. Curiously, there are a few.

"But there were only six hunters in this one," Donnelle explains.

One of the CD collection's most useful features helps hunters match their preference points to units where they might draw. You punch in your point total and chosen hunting season. Up pops a map.

Then you can get down and dirty, zooming in on land wrinkles and rock slides, identifying game unit and public lands boundaries, even winging along stream meanders and studying trees.

Dave Johnson programs for the hard-core hunt planner, but he admits dreaming plays a big part in his own cyber-soaring adventures.

He tapped some keys and zoomed in to a delicious backcountry niche in the San Juan Mountains. "I've always wanted to explore there," he sighed.

"But we don't have enough animals. A local guy told me if you have a good mule train, you can do it in two weeks."

Big Game CD 7.0 costs $49.95. The Big Game CD maps cost $59.95 for the statewide set. A combo with both costs $79.95. The CDs and paper maps also are available at huntdata.com.

These discs will not pack out game. But they could make that pleasant dilemma more likely to unfold.

• July 19, 2008

  3:34 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  dgoerz writes:

  Dave and Donnelle have helped me have an enjoyable hunt with their tool.

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