To GPS or not to GPS

[Reidus]

Something I’ve used a GPS for on multiple occasions is creating a waypoint for an animal I’m hunting, and making a blind stalk. I range the animal, take a bearing on it, and plug the waypoint into my GPS. I can then “go to” the animal’s waypoint staying completely out of sight. The GPS tells me the distance to the animal as I stalk it. When I get to a shootable distance, I can start looking for a good spot to shoot from.  I’ve done that innumerable times with antelope, and a couple times with elk.  The last elk I did it with was 1360 yards away when I started. I blind-stalked within 115 yards before peeking over a ridge to see and shoot it; it never knew I was there.

With mapping programs I know exactly where I am, and where the boundaries are of the property I’m on. I can see landowner information for private land. I can find access to public properties that have just a tiny sliver accessible that I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.

I know which GMU I’m in, which deer area I’m in, which elk area I’m in.

I can mark my dead animal and easily find it without flagging tape when making multiple retrievals. I can leave a bread crumb track of the path I walked out, so if I need to return in the dark I can follow it.

Sunrise/sunset information is available for my location, and any location I choose. I’ve hunted some special hunts in February and March. When does the regulation pamphlet indicate that legal shooting time ends on February 15?

If I get lost or injured I can give my exact location. With RINO models the information is transmitted automatically.

I do use maps to see the “large picture” sometimes, but just can’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to also take advantage of the many functions a tool that weighs half a pound offers.

To each his own.

Last spring I spotted a bear from over a mile off. I was able to mark which basin it was in from where I was sitting in my car, I then drove around to the opposite side of the ridge where I had planned to set camp, set my camp and made about a mile and a half trek to the basin where I knew the bear to be. I did all of that with onx maps on my phone. After I shot the bear I switched over to phone and called my wife and a buddy to let them know of my success. There is almost no reason in this day for a dedicated GPS. I have yet to see a time when my phone could not be used for navigation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

when the battery is dead? When it breaks?

I think my garmin is a little tougher than my phone and when the batteries go i just slap some aa's in it. I use my phone a lot when hunting but i ain't givin up the garmin yet

[Stein]

Get a AA charger for your phone or a battery pack than can charge it 3-4 times.  Stand alone GPS units are dead, they just don't know it yet.  In a few years, they will be in the same drawer as your iPod and Tom Tom.

[pianoman9701]

Something I’ve used a GPS for on multiple occasions is creating a waypoint for an animal I’m hunting, and making a blind stalk. I range the animal, take a bearing on it, and plug the waypoint into my GPS. I can then “go to” the animal’s waypoint staying completely out of sight. The GPS tells me the distance to the animal as I stalk it. When I get to a shootable distance, I can start looking for a good spot to shoot from.  I’ve done that innumerable times with antelope, and a couple times with elk.  The last elk I did it with was 1360 yards away when I started. I blind-stalked within 115 yards before peeking over a ridge to see and shoot it; it never knew I was there.

With mapping programs I know exactly where I am, and where the boundaries are of the property I’m on. I can see landowner information for private land. I can find access to public properties that have just a tiny sliver accessible that I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.

I know which GMU I’m in, which deer area I’m in, which elk area I’m in.

I can mark my dead animal and easily find it without flagging tape when making multiple retrievals. I can leave a bread crumb track of the path I walked out, so if I need to return in the dark I can follow it.

Sunrise/sunset information is available for my location, and any location I choose. I’ve hunted some special hunts in February and March. When does the regulation pamphlet indicate that legal shooting time ends on February 15?

If I get lost or injured I can give my exact location. With RINO models the information is transmitted automatically.

I do use maps to see the “large picture” sometimes, but just can’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to also take advantage of the many functions a tool that weighs half a pound offers.

To each his own.

Last spring I spotted a bear from over a mile off. I was able to mark which basin it was in from where I was sitting in my car, I then drove around to the opposite side of the ridge where I had planned to set camp, set my camp and made about a mile and a half trek to the basin where I knew the bear to be. I did all of that with onx maps on my phone. After I shot the bear I switched over to phone and called my wife and a buddy to let them know of my success. There is almost no reason in this day for a dedicated GPS. I have yet to see a time when my phone could not be used for navigation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

when the battery is dead? When it breaks?

I think my garmin is a little tougher than my phone and when the batteries go i just slap some aa's in it. I use my phone a lot when hunting but i ain't givin up the garmin yet

You take out your map and compass. I also keep a AAA battery pack in my pack if the lithium battery dies.

[Magnum_Willys]

Get a AA charger for your phone or a battery pack than can charge it 3-4 times.  Stand alone GPS units are dead, they just don't know it yet.  In a few years, they will be in the same drawer as your iPod and Tom Tom.

Its Already there!

[pianoman9701]

GPS units are far from experiencing the fate of the dinosaur, especially multi-function units like the more advanced Rinos.

[Bob33]

Phones have some advantages over dedicated GPS units, but I still prefer a dedicated GPS in most instances for the following reasons:

1.   Durability. My GPS has been through rain, mud, dragged along the ground while I belly crawl through sage brush, tossed in my pack, jammed in a pocket, thrown in my truck, and it works. Every time.
2.   Cost. See #1. If and when my GPS fails it will cost me $250-$300 to replace. If my phone breaks, it will cost me $600 to $800 to replace.
3.   Battery life. My GPS runs 16 hours on two AAs. To change them takes about 15 seconds. The two AAs cost me about $.50 and weigh a couple ounces.
4.   Functionality. When I need to keep track of partners, I take my RINOs which provide peer-to-peer positioning without cell service. The radio provides the ability to contact emergency services in areas without cell coverage. I also don’t need to carry a separate walkie-talkie.
5.   Custom maps. I’ve created and loaded a large number of custom maps for my GPS. It may be that the same technology exists with cellular devices if I’m willing to learn how to use it.

[runamuk]

That will be a nope I find GPS very unreliable to even get people to where I have lived the last 3 locations.  No way I trust electronic devices over a good map and my own sense of direction.  Especially in the forest.

[pianoman9701]

That will be a nope I find GPS very unreliable to even get people to where I have lived the last 3 locations.  No way I trust electronic devices over a good map and my own sense of direction.  Especially in the forest.

I think you may have missed the point. No one's saying that while using a GPS you should discard your map and compass - quite the opposite. Always have a map and compass.

I'm unsure what kind of GPS you've used, Run, but there are exceptional models available for hunting which lock up quickly in deep cover and are quite accurate to within a couple of feet.

[bracer40]

That will be a nope I find GPS very unreliable to even get people to where I have lived the last 3 locations.  No way I trust electronic devices over a good map and my own sense of direction.  Especially in the forest.

I think you may have missed the point. No one's saying that while using a GPS you should discard your map and compass - quite the opposite. Always have a map and compass.

I'm unsure what kind of GPS you've used, Run, but there are exceptional models available for hunting which lock up quickly in deep cover and are quite accurate to within a couple of feet.

I used to rely on my old etrex model (15+ yrs old) to guide me into my tree stands in the dark. The first time or two going in the dark, nothing looked familiar by flashlight. But the gps guidance was spot on.