Contents

Xpert Guide 1.0 is a program to help you predict where animals will be on a particular date and time.  Using your input and your field data, Xpert Guide will use artificial intelligent algorithms to forecast where your tracking items are at any moment in time.  The more you use Xpert Guide the more accurate it will become.   Xpert Guide is your next step to becoming a better woodsman or woodswoman.  Use it to establish a series of probable paths wounded game may take.  Use it to determine which blind or tree stand you should be in the next morning or evening.  Use it to predict where your animal will be next week, next month!

Function or Speed keys

Common Questions

Fast Start

Menu Selections

Defining your hunting area

AI and Pattern Information

The User data base

Hunting Methods

Weather

Hints


Hints

HINTS

After you have defined your hunting area you can let Xpert Guide show you the most likely place to place a blind for the game you have introduced.  A method that we use is to go to [Options] select [Data Tracking] and set trail duration to 48, meaning track the last 48 hours of movement per track item.  Set the Show tracking selection to on, an X will appear in the box and select [OK].  Now go to [Options] and select [Forecasts] and select [Forecasts in days] and enter 2 days and select [OK].

This will move the tracked item around in the map and keep track of each location for 48 hours.  You will see a percent complete label at the bottom of the screen.  When 100% is reached Xpert Guide will refresh the screen and you will see the Track lines on the map for the last 48 hours each game item has taken.  By looking at the lines you can locate predicted frequented trails.  We have located our blinds and tree stands on these paths in the Sample data, with success.


Function or Speed Keys

F1	Zooms in 25% of screen.  Minimum grid size is 10 feet.

F2	Zooms out 25% of screen. Maximum gird size is 5280 feet.

F3	Forecasts the current map items forward 1 hour.

F4	Refreshes the screen.  Clears screen then redraws everything.

F5	Toggles the showing of the tracking names on or off.

F6	Sets the map to maximum zoom or the default 10 mile screen.

F7	Toggles the showing of the terrain items on or off.

F8	Quits Xpert Guide.  If you have made changes you will have a chance to save it.


Patterns

With Xpert Guide, you can establish patterns certain game take.  You can track specific game.  In other words, when you add a tracking item to the map, lets say a deer, you have the option to name this item.  You can pick a name like Broken Tine.  You can then go to Options and select the Data Tracking menu.  When the menu appears check the Track Patterns box.  Now when you want to update the location of the Broken Tine object  you merely place the arrow on the item and hold down the right mouse button.  Move the item to where you last saw the item and release the button.  A new menu appears asking for the date and time for this location.  You do not have to but it is recommended to enter climate information too.  When you say ok, Xpert Guide saves this information and will use this in forecasting the most likely location of the item in the future.  The more sittings you input into the system the more accurate it will become.

Without the track patterns option set, Xpert Guide will only use the movement rules to forecast probable locations.  The movement is faster, but for tracking Big Bucks or specific game we suggest using the Track Patterns option.


Weather

Wind Chill

Weather plays an important part to any outing.  With Xpert Guide, when you enter your climate data not only does Xpert Guide let you know how your scent affects the hunting area, but also will warn you of dangerous weather conditions to let you take appropriate measures.


Hunting Methods

Still hunting - Locating a spot within the woods and remain there, or walking very slowly.

Tree Stand  - Climbing into a tree, overlooking the area in question

Drive hunt   - Having a party of hunters walk slowly through the woods pushing the game to you.

Tracking      - Similar to Still hunting but following a defined game trail.

 Rattling      - Simulating two bucks fighting, with antlers or plastic rattlers.


Wind Chill

Wind chill can be a killer to the unprepared hunter.  You can be hunting on a bright sunny winter day at 5 degrees.  You may get chilly but  you can put up with it.  But if a 20 mph wind comes up, you can be in trouble.  5 degrees with a 20 mph wind creates a wind chill of -32 degrees.  Any exposed flesh will freeze in seconds.  When planning an outing, always dress appropriately and plan for the worst.  Layer your clothing in the winter and carry some kind of emergency heating pads or the like.  Always let someone know where you are going and when you plan to return.  Make your hunting memories pleasant ones.

Wind chill readings are adjusted in the Climate menu and are displayed when ever you change the wind speed and/or temperature.  Be aware that these reading are only an estimate of the wind chill.  It depends upon the clothes you are wearing and the moisture content of such.  Xpert Guide will warn you of extreme wind chill and advise you to use caution.


User AI definitions

Xpert Guide 1.0 comes with a default data base set .  It defines some basic world objects and a few animal types.  This is the data you modify to tailor Xpert Guide 1.0 to your specific needs.  User.def defines the world objects. User.clr defines the various colors you can select for these objects.  User.atr defines the attributes you can add to you objects.  User.wld is the file holding a saved world environment you have defined.


USER.DEF

When you go to the Create menu item in the top menu bar, a list made of this file is posted.  These are the world objects you can create.  An example of your world file is below.

1 Road - LINE LGTGRAY - 1 20

2 River Water LINE BLUE - 1 15

3 Pond Water AREA BLUE - 1

4 Corn Food AREA YELLOW HORIZONTAL 4

5 Acorns Food AREA BROWN - 4

6 Roosts Rest AREA BROWN - 4

7 Beds Rest AREA BROWN RDIAGONAL 4

8 Brush - AREA BROWN LDIAGONAL 4

9 Marsh - AREA CYAN VERTICAL 1

10 Beans Food AREA DRKBROWN CROSS 4

11 Tree - CIRCLE GREEN - 3 45

12 Timber Cover AREA BROWN DIAGCROSS 4

Each line is a world object you can create.  The first item is the number, these must be sequenced as above.  The second item is the name of the object that will appear in the MENU.  The third item is the TAG you can associate to your tracking items to use in rule comparisons.  This can be food, water, etc.  Watch the spelling, because if you enter it incorrectly somewhere else it will not be checked!.  The fourth item is the type of object it is.  It is either a LINE, AREA, or CIRCLE.  The fifth item is the color of the item when it is drawn on the screen or printer.  The sixth item is the type of color it is.  Hashed, solid(default), criss-crossed etc. The seventh item is the objects default weight.  The eight item is the default size of the item, this will only apply to CIRCLES and LINES, and the size is in feet.

Any changes you make to this file will not be reflected in the Xpert Guide Menu until you quit Xpert Guide and start again.  This file is read a start up time only.


Weights

When a tracked object intersects or enters a map item, the movement rule will generate a weight of the intersection.  The lower the weight the least likely the tracked item will use this route.


USER.ATR

This file is generated by Xpert Guide.  Do not attempt to modify it.


USER.CLR

This is the file that defines the colors you state in the user.def file.  Usually you will not have to modify this file but if you do the first field is the color name.  The next 3 numbers are the Red, Green, Blue mixtures to achieve that color.  You might experiment with this file but keep a good practice by keeping a backup copy of any data file you work on.  The minimum number you may enter is 0 while the maximum number is 255.

BLACK 0 0 0

RED 255 0 0

GREEN 0 255 0

BLUE 0 0 255

YELLOW 255 255 0

MAGENTA 255 0 255

CYAN 0 255 255

WHITE 255 255 255

DRKGRAY 128 128 128

LGTGRAY 192 192 192

OLIVE 128 128 0

ORANGE 255 128 0

DRKBROWN 128 64 0

BROWN 90 45 0


USER.WLD

These are the data files of each map world you save.  The name is not really user.wld, but track#.wld.  The file tracker.fls is the mapping file.  The first line is the file name you see in the menu.  The next line is the file name on disk.  It will be track0.wld, or track1.wld.  This allows you to name your map files without the eight character limitation of DOS.

There in no reason for you to modify this file.  It is created by Xpert Guide.


Common Questions about Xpert_Guide 1.0
Common Questions about Xpert Guide 1.0

What follows are the most common questions about Xpert Guide 1.0.  If you have a specific question about this product please call the support number, included below, and ask for technical help. 1 319 486-2277

1.  What is AI or artificial intelligence and what does it do for Xpert Guide 1.0.

AI or artificial intelligence is a computer program designed to act  against a data base.  The data base is a file or group of files describing various pieces of information and the possible avenues to act upon such information.  In most cases it is a set of IF these things are TRUE THEN do these things.

In real life, the computer is not intelligent but is acting upon your data very fast and comparing information you may not have considered.

2.  I dont hunt, can I still use Xpert Guide 1.0.

Yes, Xpert Guide 1.0 can help you locate any animal you place in the data base.  This can be for nature walks or photography.

3.  Do I need to write AI rules and create files, I currently know nothing about?

No.  Xpert Guide comes with enough default data to run until you become familiar with how things interact.  Or you may use Xpert Guide and change nothing ever!


Fast Start

When you start Xpert Guide 1.0 a default area of 10 square miles is brought up on screen.  This is where you will define your hunting area or areas.  Go to [Open] and select [Sample Area].  This map will then be viewed on screen.  You can see timber, a pond, and pasture.  If you look closely youll see Deer.  If the Deer are still not clear to you press the [F5] key.  This will toggle the tracking names on or off.  Once you see the Deer mouse the left mouse button on one of the Deer.  You will see two circlular objects.  This displays the closest time the Deer was actually sited before and after the current screen time.

See Defining Hunting Areas.


Defining hunting areas

In Xpert Guide 1.0 you must define the hunting area or areas you are going to hunt.  These areas can be within the same 5 mile radius or saved as different files.  It is best if each hunting area is their own separate file.  If they are very close to each other, then by all means include them together.

Included with Xpert Guide 1.0 is a sample hunting area, with some deer and turkey.  You can go to [Location] select [Open] select [Sample Area] and it will be placed upon your screen.  It will be very small, as it is only about a square mile in size.  Go to [Options] select [Zoom] and the mouse cursor will turn into a cross hair.  Move this to the upper left corner of the sample data and hold the left mouse key down.  Now move the cross hair to the lower right of the sample data and release the mouse button.  This will Zoom the data to full screen size.  Here you can see the hunting area more easily.  This sample data was created from aerial photographs of an actual hunting area.  It was free handed into the system.  See Mapping to review how this is done.  The areas need not be drawn down to the foot in accuracy.  The general layout is important.  What is more important is the food and beds and trails.  These are where the game is more likely to be.   The more you use Xpert Guide you can adjust the Rules to bring the degree of accuracy closer to reality.

You can either free hand your data by using your memory or go to the local Land Management or government agency and request a photo of it.  With this data, Zoom the center of the screen to get at least a 1 mile picture, or about 500 feet grid sizes.  This is where you should start.  Start in the upper left hand corner and work down.  You should start with rivers, ponds and marshes.  Use these as anchor points for the rest.  Remember, this is like building a house, start with a good foundation before putting on the roof. i.e.  Try not to lay in a timber area and then place a pond on it.  This will work, but the pond will have timber under it and will slow down processing for quite large areas.  When all done go to [Location] select [Save] and enter a name for your area. Select [OK].

To create a new one go to [Location] select [New] and start again.

ATTENTION::  The next release of Xpert Guide will include a direct mapping mode.  This will allow you to enter the scale of your map and trace the map with the mouse to ease the entering of map data.  Registered users of Xpert Guide 1.0 will get a flyer and discount coupon for the new release.


Menu Selections

At the top of the Xpert Guide window is a Menu bar with selections.  This is where you will navigate within Xpert Guide 1.0.  Below is the menu map and definitions.

[Location] 	Where to go get, save, and print your hunting areas

[Create]	Where to create or add to your hunting areas

[Edit]	Where to edit your hunting areas

[Delete]	Where to delete items from your hunting areas

[Options]	Where to request information and forecasts of your hunting area

[Help]	This file and the About Xpert Guide menu


Location Menu

[New]	Clears all data off the screen to allow the creation of a new data file.

[Open]	Shows and allows the selection of all saved data files

[Save]	If any changes have been made, save the data to the current file.

[Save As]	Saves the current file under a different name.

[Print]	Prints the viewed screen to a printer.

[Delete]	Removes a file from the Open menu and disk.

[Quit]	Quits and exits Xpert Guide 1.0.


Create Menu

[Track Items]	A menu of defined items Xpert Guide is to track.  Selecting one and clicking the mouse at the locations on the map will place this type of item in the tracking map.

[Map Data]	A menu of defined map terrain items to select and place in the map.


Edit Menu

[Areas]	Allows the setting of the Flag slots of areas.

[Tracked Items]	Allows the setting of the Flag slots of Tracked items.  Tracked items can also be tagged as having a scent cone.  All tracked items will have a scent trail.

[Lines]	Allows the setting of the Flag slots of lines.


Delete Menu

[Areas]	Allows the deleting of areas.

[Tracked Items]	Allows the deleting of Tracked items.

[Lines]	Allows the deleting of lines.


Options Menu

[Zoom]	Selecting this item turns the cursor into a cross hair.  Move the mouse to the upper left corner of the area you want to be the upper left corner of the screen and hold down the left mouse button and move the cross hair to the place on the map you want to be the lower right corner of the screen.  Release the mouse and this will zoom the area to the full screen size.

[Forecasts]	Brings up a forecast menu to enter the date and time to update and for cast the current map data.  Selecting [OK] will analysis the data and rules and project the probable location of all tracked items on the date and time.

[Climate Control]

[Legends]	Shows the color and patterns of the map data.

[Create]	Allows the creation of Attributes and Tracked items.

[Save Defined Attributes]  	Saves any defined attributes.

[Save Defined Tracked Items]  Saves any defined tracked objects.

[Data Tracking]	Allows the setting of pattern matching and data correlation items.


Help Menu

[Help]	This file.

[About]	The About Xpert Guide 1.0 menu.


Mapping

All map items in Xpert Guide are either LINES, AREAS, or CIRCLES.  When you select a LINE item, which may be a road or river, your mouse is used to define the location of this item.  The first mouse click establishes the start and if you move the mouse you see a line anchored at that point.  You just move the mouse to the next point and press the mouse button.  Keep doing this until the item is defined.  When you are done press the [ESC] key and you can select another item.

AREAS are the same as LINES except when you press the [ESC] key the last position will be connected to the first one, closing the AREA up.

CIRCLES are used for trees and are just placed at the first mouse position only.

The TRACKED items will be placed at the first mouse clicks also.


Rules

Below is the user.wts file.  This is the Rules that Xpert Guide uses to move objects around inside the map.  You must ignore the extra lines, they are added for clarity.  Also the Explaination column is not part of the file.

If you decide to add to or change this file DO NOT have any blank lines in this file.  Each rule will be explained.

EXPLAINATION

# Deer	Applies to the Deer objects

TRACK Rut False	If the Deer is NOT in Rut (Rut is an attribute of MM/DD MM/DD

TRACK Active True	If the Deer is Active (Active is an attribute of TIMEFROM TIMETO

DIRECTION Food 	Then look for Food.  (Food is a tag in the user.def file)

!	End of Rule

# Deer	Applies to the Deer items

TRACK Rut False	If the Deer is NOT in Rut

TRACK Active False	If the Deer is NOT Active

DIRECTION Rest GOAL	The look for Rest (Rest is a tag in the user.def file)

!	End of Rule

# Deer	Applies to Deer

TRACK Rut True	If the Deer is in Rut

TRACK Active True	If the Deer is Active

DIRECTION Scrapes 	Then look for Scrapes (Scrapes is a tag in the user.def file)

!	End of Rule

# Deer	Applies to Deer

TRACK Rut True	If Deer is in Rut

TRACK Active False	If the Deer is NOT Active

DIRECTION Rest GOAL	THEN go to Rest and Stay

!	End of Rule

# Deer	Applies to Deer

OBJECT ScentTrack	If the Deer crosses a Scent Track

FLAG 1 1	If the Flag[1] is set to 1 (Flag[1] will mean a doe)

FOLLOW 	Then Follow this track

WEIGHT 5	Give it an additional weight of 5

!	End of Rule

# Deer	Applies to Deer

OBJECT ScentCone	If the Deer crosses a ScentCone

FLAG 1 2	If Flag[1] is set to 2 ( Flag[1] set to 2 is a human scent)

MOVE 35	Then Move rate is 35 feet per minute

LEAVE -	Leave the area oppisite the direction the Deer came

TIMES 15	Do this for 15 moves or 15 minutes

IMMEDIATE	Do it NOW

!	End of Rule


Climate Information

Here is where you can enter weather and temperature conditions into your map data.  These will control the direction and size of your scent cones.  The following is the information you can track.

[Wind Speed] from Calm to 40 mph	[Wind Direction]  from N,NE,E,SE,S,SW,W,NW

[Temperature] -35 to 95 degrees F.	steady, rising, falling

[Barometer]  28.00 to 32.90	steady, rising, falling

[Sky Conditions] Clear, Partly Cloudy, or Overcast

[Precipitation]      None, Raining, Snowing, Drizzle

Wind chill warnings depending upon the temperature and/or wind speed.

Also note in the menu is the current moon FULL, 1st Qtr, etc. and the number of days to the next cycle.

Also is the sunrise and sunset for the current date of the lower left of the map data screen.


Data Tracking

Here is where you set what elements to track and display.

[Track Climate Information]	Clicking this box and Xpert Guide will save the climate conditions for the Tracked dates and use this information in analyzing data to predict the location of the tracked items.

[Track Pattern Information]	Clicking this box and Xpert Guide will keep the location and climate information of the tracked items to establish a pattern .  This can play an important role in forecasting locations.

[Show scent cones]	This will turn on or off the scent cones options.  When scent cones are not shown they are not considered in analyzing tracked data.

[Scent cone wind sweep] 	This is a value applied to wind speeds in figuring the length of the scent cones.  You may change this to accommodate the data within your area.  The larger the number the longer the scent cones.

[Show scent trails]	This will turn on or off the scent trail options.  When scent trails are not shown they are not considered in analyzing tracked data.

[Scent trail duration]	This is the number of hours the laid down scent trail of the tracked object will remain.

[Show terrain names]	This will turn on or off the ability to display the names of the terrain objects on the map.

[Show tracked names]	This will turn on or off the ability to display the tracked names on the map.


Create Attributes and Tracked Items

Before any tracked items can be created you must have attributes to associate with them.  The attributes are how you control your data.  The attributes are what the rules look at to decide what to do.  This is how you define periods of activity and sleep, or even decision paths to take in inclement weather.  There are already tested rules that come with Xpert Guide.  But feel free to rewrite and experiment to turn the product to your particular needs.

To create an attribute you must give a name to it, with no leading, trailing, of embedded spaces. i.e. one word.

Next you select what type of data this attribute contains.  It can be on of the following.

[Number]	a number

[Text]	a length of text. Food, Beds, Roosts, etc.

[RangeMM]	a month to month range, ex.  9  12

[RangeM/DM/D] 	a month day to month day range

[RangeTimeTime] 	a range of time. ex.  6 15   meaning 6 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon

[Increment/min]      	add one every minute

[Increment/hour]     	add one every hour

[Increment/day]	add one ever day

After setting this data select [OK] and continue making all the attributes you can think of.  Be sure to [Save defined Attributes] when you are done.  You can add to this later at any time.

To create new tracking items use the [Create defined tracked items] selection.  A menu will appear.  You must enter a one word name of your new tracked item.  Below the name are two columns.  Current attributes, the attributes associate with your new item, and the attributes you can select to add to the Current attributes.  Just double click on any attribute to add or remove from your new object.  When done select [OK].  A menu will come up requesting you to enter the default values of these attributes.  Fill in the appropriate values and select [OK].  Be sure to [Save defined tracked items].  These items will be available the next time you start Xpert Guide.  To user them now, just [Quit] Xpert Guide and start it again.