The onX Difference: Our GIS Data

Our 19-person GIS team spends their days managing data that make your days in the field better.

We’re proud to produce the most accurate and up-to-date private and public hunting land maps in the country. Our data is the landmark by which other technology is judged, thanks to the tireless efforts of our Missoula, Montana-based GIS (geographic information system) team—a team and process unique to onX. Day in and day out, this group works with our system to ensure you can place your trust in our data every single time you go into the field.

Two people use the onXHunt App on a mobile device. Both people point at features on the screen.

The data-driven GIS team focuses on a complex system to ensure our information is as distinct, accurate, and useful as possible. Our data is sourced from a collection of carefully vetted sources including counties, state agencies and federal governmental agencies. We balance accuracy with efficiency—always double-checking for updates and the most current information. Our human validation and data conflict resolution is the onX difference, ensuring the best-quality data for our end product and maximum consumer usefulness. By combining GPS capabilities, hunting information, land ownership maps, and our own curated layers, we provide all the information you need in one easy-to-use destination.

THE #1 GPS HUNTING APP
Make Sure You’re Opener Ready. Try the Hunt App for Free.

We continually strive to push the limits—finding fresh, more accurate data, adding in new layers and strengthening our partnerships. As we look to extend beyond our loyal customer base in the Western U.S. we are strengthening partnerships with agencies in the East to ensure acquisition of the best-quality data. Using information from the National Wild Turkey Federation, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the National Deer Association (NDA), and others, we’re constantly updating our data to ensure maximum effectiveness in the field. We also take in error reports, utilizing user-generated updates and corrections to better our information.

Our layers overlay the map, providing useful information for when you’re “boots on the ground.” Layers include private parcels, public lands, hunting unit boundaries, walk-in areas, and more. We also feature specialty hunting layers (such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Nationwide Layer, the Historic Wildfires, and the Boone & Crockett Layer), as well as trail and information layers (Trail Slope is a favorite layer of ambitious hikers). These layers are designed to improve usefulness and the overall outdoor experience.

A wilderness sunset in the mountains, as the sun sets below the horizon.

It all boils down to hard work: developing partnerships, delving through data, listening to our users, and ensuring the end product is as useful as possible in the field. We’re hunters, anglers, hikers, and mountain bikers too—we understand the importance of high-quality, reliable, and accurate data when you need it. Our 421 map overlays encompass 121 million private properties, 985 million acres of public land, and more than 400,000 miles of trails, and we wholeheartedly trust our maps when we’re in the field. We wouldn’t ask you to trust our data if we didn’t.

THE #1 GPS HUNTING APP
Make Sure You’re Opener Ready. Try the Hunt App for Free.

Jess McGlothlin

Before coming to onX, Jess McGlothlin worked as a freelance photographer and writer in the fly-fishing and outdoor industries. While on assignment in the past few years she’s learned how to throw spears at coconuts in French Polynesia, dodge saltwater crocodiles in Cuba, stand-up paddleboard down Peruvian Amazon tributaries, and eat all manner of unidentifiable food.