Onxmaps Washington vs Northwest

[dmv9]

What's the difference between the Garmin GPS chip for Washington vs Northwest?

They are both $99 and $30 for the update.

With Northwest, do I just get Oregon and Idaho for free?

[DaveMonti]

The WA chip has landowners on it.  The NW chip has public and private lands, but does not have landowner names. 

[KFhunter]

IMO the only reason to get onXmaps is for the landowners overlay. 

[Bob33]

IMO the only reason to get onXmaps is for the landowners overlay.

In most instances I don't care who the landowner is, because I'm not hunting his property. If someone is interested in only hunting public land, knowing who the name of landowners where he is not hunting is irrelevant.

[KFhunter]

There's other places to get that for free depending on what public land is being hunted

[ballpark]

And it covers Oregon, Idaho as well.

[Bob33]

There's other places to get that for free depending on what public land is being hunted

There is, but I also need to know where I am. My GPS shows that I'm on public land - I can hunt there.

[KFhunter]

 

I guess it would be convenient in that regard, plug and play.

[jackelope]

On the other side of the spectrum...
OnXmaps is a great tool to have to facilitate getting access to private land if you so choose. Without the landowner names on there, it will do you no good. Granted, there are other avenues as mentioned, but to have it all there as one handy tool makes life easier. I wouldn't personally buy the NW card for that reason.

[Bob33]

Landowner information is nice, but for me in many instances it is not essential.

This is an image of a place that I've hunted pronghorns in Wyoming the last few years. I need to know where I can legally park and access the public property, and how far I can go before I'm off public land and on private land. In a few instances I was hunting right up to the boundaries.

Knowing who the adjacent landowners are is meaningless information to me in this instance as I have no intention of going on private property.

Obviously more information is helpful, but for me the greatest benefit is often simply knowing if I'm on public land.

[DaveMonti]

IMO the only reason to get onXmaps is for the landowners overlay.

In most instances I don't care who the landowner is, because I'm not hunting his property. If someone is interested in only hunting public land, knowing who the name of landowners where he is not hunting is irrelevant.

I agree with Bob33 here.  I only need to know if land is public or private.  Other I don't need to know WHO the private land owner is.  I do have the Montana chip, so I do have landowner names, but I've only needed the GPS to verify that I'm on public land. 

Some do use the private landowner names when the research and approach the landowner for permission.  Just knowing if the land is public or private is good enough for me!

[pianoman9701]

So, it comes down to what the OP wants out of the chip. If he wants landowners so he can approach them to access their land, he needs state-by-state. If he doesn't care about accessing private land, the NW chip is the way to go.

[Bob33]

So, it comes down to what the OP wants out of the chip. If he wants landowners so he can approach them to access their land, he needs state-by-state. If he doesn't care about accessing private land, the NW chip is the way to go.

[bobcat]

The landowner names can be very useful if you are hunting in areas that have private timber company land. Some of these companies still allow the public to hunt their land, so it's good to have that info available on your maps.

[dmv9]

I'm still new to hunting so for now having more information is beneficial and I don't see myself hunting out of state just yet.

Thanks for clarifying this.

[Bob33]

I don't think anyone would deny that having landowner information could be helpful.

The question is whether or not it is useful enough to justify the higher cost of the chip with it, and that depends on how each individual uses it.

[KFhunter]

The landowner names can be very useful if you are hunting in areas that have private timber company land. Some of these companies still allow the public to hunt their land, so it's good to have that info available on your maps.

Yes, although free timber access is getting rare with some of my hunting spots being sold over to pay-for-access companies.  If I bought permits to hunt IEP or Hancock land (for example) the onXmaps would show me the private boundaries for that with the WA only chip.



good discussion 

[lamrith]

Devil's advocate here to everyone saying you do not care about private owners info.  You (we) actually should.  The image posted had a number of markers for game right in a corner.  We all know as hunters that game does not always just drop.  It is very easy for game to cross boundaries after being shot.  As responsible hunters it is our duty and obligation to get landowner permission before we enter their land.  Anything less is trespassing and makes all hunters look bad. just 

My plan to counter that is to hunt deep in public lands not near the fringes, for that reason I would go for the NW chip since I hunt WA and ID.  That said though, game goes where game goes, so having the extra info is nice when you get to you hunt area and find they are all hovering around the borders.  They know better than we do were it is safe!

[KFhunter]

"ethical hunters do hunt so close to private lands, make clean shots to limit the possibility of game running onto private land"


There I said it before someone else could 



excellent point lamrith - stuff happens

[jackelope]

Devil's advocate here to everyone saying you do not care about private owners info.  You (we) actually should.  The image posted had a number of markers for game right in a corner.  We all know as hunters that game does not always just drop.  It is very easy for game to cross boundaries after being shot.  As responsible hunters it is our duty and obligation to get landowner permission before we enter their land.  Anything less is trespassing and makes all hunters look bad. just 

My plan to counter that is to hunt deep in public lands not near the fringes, for that reason I would go for the NW chip since I hunt WA and ID.  That said though, game goes where game goes, so having the extra info is nice when you get to you hunt area and find they are all hovering around the borders.  They know better than we do were it is safe!

Solid points, lamrith... Stuff happens.

[pd]

The landowner names can be very useful if you are hunting in areas that have private timber company land. Some of these companies still allow the public to hunt their land, so it's good to have that info available on your maps.

This is precisely the reason why I have the WA state data.

[timberghost72]

How often is OnX map data updated and do you update online or do you have to buy another chip?

 Most counties have parcel data online for free and it is updated at least monthly if not daily/weekly. So you can do your homework of possible private land access parcels at home and have current information.     

Edit. Also some counties provide .kml/.kmz files of parcel data to then use in Google Earth.

[DaveMonti]

I'm pretty sure you can get updates through Onyx for something like $20 per year.  I don't know how often the updates occur. 

[pianoman9701]

$30

[huntnnw]

don't rely on Oxmaps to work if you have no service! Getting a refund on my purchase. I bought ID this year for 1 hunt and the POS didn't work. Saved my maps and they would not load. Ended up back in town re saving the maps and still did not work! deleted the app and started over same result!

[huntandjeep]

don't rely on Oxmaps to work if you have no service! Getting a refund on my purchase. I bought ID this year for 1 hunt and the POS didn't work. Saved my maps and they would not load. Ended up back in town re saving the maps and still did not work! deleted the app and started over same result!

Cell phone ?