On all these GPS threads guys say take a compass in case your batts go dead in your GPS. The way I understand it, a compass by itself is more or less useless unless you have a map to go along with it and the orienting ability to use both together. And to orient you need land features which you can't see in the dark right?
Now you can use a GPS and a compass together with no map.Right? The GPS will tell you which compass heading to be on to return to camp, truck, whatever
Talk to me.
Where I hunt, I don't use map, gps and compass to get unlost. I'm usually using it for finding stuff. I'll look at maps and find the spots I want to scout and poke around in, get the coordinates for my GPS off the map and then use compass to get close then hone in with the GPS. I also mark my treestands so I don't forget where they are! :biglaugh:
I am always glad I took my compass and my toilet paper. :bigsmyl:
Even though I carry a GPS. I would much rather put my fate in the hands of my abilities with a compass. GPS's have gotten better since the first one that I owned. One year I relied on a GPS only and it got me so turned around that I didn't know up from down. Its my opinion that a GPS is a good insurance policy, but it is no substitude for good woodmanship skills. One other thing I see far to often GPS's being used to mark water holes, honey holes, etc. Once again, its my opinion that this really isn't hunting, and the ones with radios......we'll leave that one alone for now.
A compass isn't nessarly usless with out a map. When I was a kid in Scouts we would go on long hikes and use a compass to get us back to where we started.
>>>Tim------->
I'm a gps man myself I rarely carry a compass where I usually hunt you can hear civilization somewhere. I prefer the gps for marking features and then maybe transfering them to an aerial such as usaphotmap to view on the computer.
I can think of some remote areas adirondacks here in NYS comes to mind,heck theres people that have never been found up there it is a vast forrest. Here I would want a gps and compass too, depending heavily on the gps.
Made a couple of trips out west to Colorado and I don't think I could walk far enough in one day to get lost. I would feel more comfortable here with just a gps and no compass there are so many huge land features compared to some heavily wooded remote area.
The gps is really handy if your outfitter out west is familiar with one. You can just call him or text message your utm's to him and wait for the pack horses to show up.
Mickey, seriously.
It's foolish to go way off back of beyond without a map-the paper kind. If a man made it (gps) it can fail. Mr. Murphy says it will do that when you need it most. I'd rather have a nice waterproofed map and not need it, than to have none.....well, You know.
Like VTer said, you can use a map with a compass to find things. Yes, this includes your way home. But you don't have to have a map for that one. If you know that you travelled west to leave the road and go hunt, then you can follow your compass east, even in the dark, to return to the road. Better yet, travel east/northeast and when you hit the road you know to turn south to get to your starting point. That is a really simple example and many things will confuse the issue.
A map and compass can be pretty efficient. A GPS can be very efficient if the batteries are good. But a compass can be used to accomplish things if efficiency is not priority. If it is an emergency then you may be best served to build fire and hunker down if you can afford to do it.
Forester is right on. In another life I was a boat captain and literally spent weeks at sea, yes we had gps and everything else on board but always kept an eye on a compass and the compass is what guided us, everything else was just back-up. You can do some great navigating with a compass but you need to practise, you can't just go to wal-mart pick one up and put batteries in it and go.
As far as sending a text message to someone I don't think I want to touch that one.
The compass has been used to navigate for a very, very long time. To use one with a map is the best thing, but it's not always necessary. For instance if you leave your truck at 0dark:30 AM. You can take a compass heading as you walk into the woods. ie; you leave heading North. To return you just head South. This sound very elementary, but at dark it can be a little difficult staying on course. And this is just a general description. For more look up Orienteering.
I like my GPS's very much but I wouldn't stake my being lost on it. Always have a plan "B".
You can use a compass without a map. A map is a great help, but you can still get directional ideas and lines with out one. I would take a paper map over a GPS for any serious trek personally. Batteries die, clouds/storm tend to mess with sattelite aqcuisition, etc etc. A paper map only requires light. Of course, with a backlit screen, you can make your way to a spot at oh-dark thirty no problem, providing you have fresh batts. To each their own I guess...
You're right Mickey on using the compass and gps together. I use my gps out west to mark or go to a waypoint and then use the compass to get there. Especially when travelling in the trees, the compass will work better than a gps without having to wait to acquire satellites. I check out the maps of areas I want to hunt here at home on the computer and load the coordinates into the gps. When I get out there, I hit the go to button and use the compass to get real close and then may turn on the gps to get to the spot I marked at home. I think it's best to have a map,compass, and a gps when in country that is as vast as the Rockies where there is a real chance of getting lost and dying. Together they don't weigh a pound and take up hardly any sapce. I have the basic etrex and it has taken me miles from camp in the dark and back again with no problems.
Rob
Just to throw a monkey wrench at you old timers. In areas of northern MI there is so much iron that a compass is about as usefull as a dead battery.
Now back to your regularly scheduled discussion :p
I also us a gps mostly for scouting and charting hot dpots and treestands on maps. But what I dislike most is that I find myself holding the unit in one hand and constantly checking if I lost reception. I wish they would make an external antenna so you can clip it on to your shoulder or pack so you don't loss reception and you can keep it in your pocket or pack and take it out when needed. I use a garmin legend. And always have a compass.
I never get lost,,, only temporarily disoreinted! So, I don't need a GPS or compass.
Lost is a state of mind... Hello,,,,,, you're on Earth! :knothead:
I have all the gadgets, but this season I'll have an orienteering compass on a lanyard around my neck. I grew accustomed to using a "wrist-top computer" for navigation. I hunt a lot of thick timber in rugged terrain and it's easy to get turned around. I always take bearings as I'm going to make sure I'm headed where I want to go. I was scouting with a friend a couple weeks ago and my fancy watch compass quit working - but not before I had used it for a half dozen bearings over four miles into the wilderness. Let me tell you, when I realized the compass wasn't working I had a "holy s**t" moment. Luckily, the compass on my GPS was working and we got out of there after a lunch break and some map work.
Point is, I just don't have any confinence in digital compasses anymore. Even on the way out I was seriously doubting the GPS. I'm still going to carry it, but the old school compass is going to be my primary.
I grew up long before the GPS was even thought about. I spent a lot of time on the Great Lakes in small boats. Often fog was so thick I couldn't see the bow of the boat, so I learned to navigate, by time and direction. ie, I knew what direction I needed to go, I knew how far I had to go and how fast I was going, so I knew how long it should take to get there. I still do the same thing with a compass, I don't always carry a map with me, but if I look at one before I go, I know what direction and how long. To tell the truth, if I can see the sun, I seldom use the compass, I know what direction the san is at various times of the day. It did confuse me for a while when I went to the southern hemisphere, but I got used to that also. As was said above, a compass dosn't always work, places in Michigan, Alaska and I have watched the needle swing 180 degrees wrong in one step in Australia and then a few steps later swing back. I do us a Suunto wrist compass a lot, just because it is convenient and the sun dosn't always shine. I do use the GPS, but I don't ever rely on it to find my way home, I do use it to mark a spot so I can find that easily again from any direction, such as an elk carcase. I know of several elk that were killed and never found again!
Mickey,
Please refer to the following links. I think many/most of your questions will be answered.
http://kifaru.net/compass1.htm
http://kifaru.net/navigate1.htm
http://kifaru.net/plot_blust.htm
A GPS is a wonderful tool but so is a good compass. Knowing how to use each is important and increases their worth accordingly.
John
I used a compass and map together long before I even heard of a GPS. Learned how in the Army, and got even better later in life when I learned to fly, pre-GPS.
Private pilots now barely learn how to navigate, they rely on the GPS, and as soon as they are allowed, the auto-pilot slaved to it. To me, flying means manual controls, a map on your kneeboard and a compass used in conjunction with common sense and dead reckoning.
When I'm hunting unfamilar territory, I carry two GOOD compasses (I like Silva's) a map, and a GPS. The GPS is a cool tool, but I rely on my compass & map...
I suppose I'm in the old school category because I learned to navigate with a map and compass. It was the only choice at the time and teaching new boy scouts orienteering at least once every year or giving brief refreshers as needed I'm, well, bias. Even so someone always packs a gps on outings and it has settled many 'no we're here' arguments.
If anyone was to plan on chasin' critters like elk in the big mountains, if for no other reason, with a GPS you can track your travels and record the changes in elevation and altitude, that alone is pretty cool! Beware though when you only travel 4 miles horizontal, 2500' verticle and you'd swear then bet your best... it was farther and higher you might be disappointed in the accuracy in a GPS.
Rusty
i won't tell you that a GPS is the end all, but i will tell you if used correctly they are dead on accurate. last year i marked a waypoint to a stand that i hung in the mountains. two days later in the pitch black dark i decided to hunt the stand and my GPS took me right to the stand. i could have used a compass, but i know from 10 years in the U.S. Army Infantry that trying to to reach a waypoint in the dark with a compass is a lot harder and a lot more time consuming.
i will always have a compass as backup, but i feel confident with the GPS. as far as batteries going bad, well that's easy to remedy. pack extra batteries or take them out of your flash light. all of the electronic equipment that i have in my pack use AA batteries by design.
I agree with Paleface. I use my GPS (along with my maps) primarily, and the compass is a backup. I spent 7 years in the U.S. Army, and I've done night landnav courses, and even taught landnav courses to my soldiers.
When I need to go to a specific tree, wallow, or trail/crossing, and its 4am, I'm going to follow the waypoint in my GPS, not do pacecounts on an azimuth thats going to take a heck of lot more time.
Although I have seen issues with my GPS losing signal in thick timber, if its on and already acquired a handful of satellites, it tends to stay connected, versus trying to turn it on and have it acquire them in a sketchy area. Also, if you use lithium AA's instead of alkaline, they will last alot longer.
"Captain's in the chart room navigating on a star. Can't know where we're going when he don't know where we are.." :)
-Joe Walsh, The James Gang
I got lost twice with GUIDES! Believe it or not it was me that got us out of there despite the protestations from the guides in both cases that they'd: "been hunting this area all their lives" and the direction I'd said to go was the way to go (though once the challenge was just getting the guide to be quiet for a moment so I could listen for any road traffic). ANYONE can get turned around in the woods and in the compass/survival class I went to, I was taught that anyone can panic and they gave some real life examples of experienced guys found dead etc. After dark it all looks the same, no?! I use a compass, a GPS, AND mark landmarks where I can. It is important to practice compass/orienteering skills but if it comes to life or death I prefer life over my pride of being an "expert woodsman" and want every advantage I can get!
Curveman nailed it as far as I am concerned. I have been lost with a freind and he swore up and down that we were going in the wrong direction... even told me my compass was wrong., So to appease him I let him lead for about 20 minutes and we ended up crossing our backtrail. I told him I was going home and he could follow or take his own course, we were back home in about an hour and 20 minutes on foot on a new moon. We have not hunted together in the evening since... LOL Use all of what you have available when hunting deep and dont be afraid to bunker down for the night if need be. :readit: Lost is a bad thing but twice as bad at night.
A good GPS is a great tool for marking stands, water holes, swamps, routes what have you. As far as using up the batteries. Duh...carry and extra set. I do for everything I take in the woods that uses batteries.
Roger what John Nail says, my GPS batts died on me and a friend the other day, wife had taken spare batts out of my pack so she could use her digital camera!!! my dummy self did not check this before leaving on scouting trip deep into croatan.
Compass, map, AND situational awreness got us home.
Told my friend "you watch man vs. wild?" he says yeah I asked "did ya pay attention?" :D he got worried as he is from Michigan and his first year hunting here.
Always have spare batts, map and compass. And if you have spare batts don't pull a "me" :knothead: and be SURE they are where they are suppose to be.
I take both
It sounds like those of you with training in orienteering from Uncle Sam and know how to use a compass with a map rely on that cause you have been trained to do so.For those of us without that training it's black magic LOL
Hunting in featureless places like south Texas, the cypress swamps in Florida, the tamarack swamps of the UP of Michigan, the big woods in Northern Wisconsin where every direction looks the same and there are no Hills, I can't understand how compass in particular or a map and compass can help you.Especially in the dark.
I can read my compass in the dark...it glows.
If you walk in and hunt west, turn around and walk east...you're back!
If you veer off and walk north 30 minutes, you'll have to remember to walk south 30 minutes. Keep up with it and you can get back.
It is simple.
I get aerial photo's of the area I hunt and have a plan when I hunt. I don't take the map. You could however. Keep notes in a little pocket notebook how long in each direction you have walked and reverse directions to get out. :archer:
I love maps and use them for every spot I hunt. I wouldn't dare go in the woods without a compass.
I really like a GPS for out west. Around home they are sure nice for finding tree stands too. But the GPS supplements the compass and map.
Order of My Orienteering Tools Preference.
( If I only could have 1)
1. Compass..I need to know direction. I know if I get in trouble then I'll remember for example" oh so and so road Hwy 3 runs east and west and it was 2 miles below me then I'll head 180 degrees till I step on it"...I may be way off but I'll be someplace I can build another plan.
2.Topo Map...7.5 Quad or 24,000 scale.....I print mine free off the internet..If you like paying $10 ..use some a company that has ads on internet....I study topos all the time..if it's daylight and I have a topo, i can move around a decent set of woods by the sun..I just can't tell how valuable they are.Most of ya'll know that.
3. GPS..If I can't have a compass, or topo then i'll take a GPS...I know I can mark my truck and walk to king dom come and it will tell how to get back SO LONG AS I BELIEVE it (Thats if it has an electronic compass). I have been using a GPS for so long I can remember when the government use to jack with the settings during war... I love my GPS..I have used it from plotting roads of my hunting clubs to marking fruit trees and stands to water routes to my duck blinds on the mississippi river and lakes..Then print all this off on a 7.5 topo map that I laminate and carry in my fanny pack...I also label all my deer stand by favorable wind condition....Like a locust tree may be labeled S17L....If I need a south wind that morning I'll pull up all my "S" stands..I could go on and on how I use my GPS..I lost most of you by now...
My last advice is learn how to use UTM as I have said earlier on my threads..When you can orientate your compass to your topo map while looking at your GPS at UTM coords of where you are exactly on the topo....You will always have 100% piece of mind of your where abouts..Some newer models may have 7.5 topos on them but learn the UTM to map route first.....good luck everyone and hope I've helped someone
...maps, compasses, and GPS...I use and like all three...But, surveying is my choice of careers, so that's no surprise.
Read the articles Mr. Havard linked. They are top notch.
I use Terrain Navigator and print my own maps. I use UTM's and a compass that has scale on the baseplate.
http://www.thecompassstore.com/51gpsg.html
I use the UTM's like Mr. Blust describes in the Kifaru articles and they are REALLY simple once you get tinkering with them.
ive only found 2 people lost that i had to help out of the chunk of state land behind my place..both of them had a gps.. i also had to help a fellow locate his deer stand when he walked into my front yard with his gps.... i think a gps would be great if the person understands how to use it.... but i like a plain jane compass for hunting areas im not familiar with...
I also like to add that you may feel more comfortable using a scale for measuring UTM at first but when you get to using it so much, you can basically eyeball the line intersections providing you have drawn your north/south and east/grid lines from the sides of the map.
I spent a WEEK ONE NIGHT in the woods. You can bet I have a compass with me, now. GPS is great until it dies, or you get to a place with no signal. I try to get a good Topo of every place that I plan to hunt. (don't forget to get 'em laminated!) I scout areas on the topo, before I head out. Thaen, at least I have an idea of where I want to look.
Keep it safe out there.
Take an IBEP Course, just for grins and giggles, if nothing else. You might learn something new.
Whichever tool you decide to use, you have to know how to use it, and you have to learn to always trust your instrument, whether it be a GPS or a compass. You can never let your gut instinct override what your compass or GPS says (if you are certain of your abilities).
Another thing is you have to always be on top of where you are. If you are using a compass that becomes much more complicated because the only true way to do this is know your 100m pace count, and continue to mark your pace, stopping every few hundred meters to update your position on the map. Like Mickey mentioned, if you are in a featureless forest with no hills, you had better have been paying attention to where you are, because it is really hard to determine specific location in that type of environment. With no landmarks to triangulate your position from, determining your exact location becomes almost impossible if you haven't been paying close attention to where you are on the map.
GPS's are a great thing but I can guarentee you that nobody in the military heads out on a mission with just a GPS and not also carrying a map and compass. Just like the cell phone and microwave that we think we can't live without. If a GPS is going to fail you it will do so at the most inopertune time possible. Mankind navigated the earth a million times over before its invention and knowing how to get along without it is just plain smart. One of the sayings I heard a lot while in the Army and that applies here is; Failure to plan is planning to fail! Joseph
Hunting with my father when I was younger we always took a compass bearing before setting out into the woods. These were usually situations where we started from a road, field or clear cut so it was always easy to find your way back using a simple compass bearing. Even someone with limited experience using a compass can usually find their way back to their starting point within 100 yards or so by simply taking a bearing going in and following the reverse going out. Granted this won't work everywhere but it has worked well enough in the areas I've hunted.
I still take a compass bearing before entering the woods on any hunt even though I carry a GPS. I have got into a lot of places with thick tree cover where reception is poor and you can't get a lock on a satellite. Problems like that are usually intermittent, but I think it's good to have some sort of backup in case of failure of any device.
I'm not sure if it's true but I've heard that most people who get lost in the woods are found within a few hundred yards of a road or their intended destination point. It's always a good idea to use a compass or GPS even if you are not planning on going far.
I agree with Titan in that the orienteering articles I have read talked about pace count and triangulation of features like he said. Heck I can't keep track of the number of spoons of sugar I put in my tea sometimes "did I put in one or two spoons.or if I even sugared it at all..(got to stir it and taste it)?" there is no way on Gods green earth I'm going to be able to keep a pace count. And when you're hunting, creeping along slowly that's not the same as pacing. And if you deviate from a straight line to look at something how do you count that? Or in really thick places you can't pace in a straight line, going around trees, or cacti, or blowdowns how do you pace that?
"If you walk in and hunt west, turn around and walk east...you're back!If you veer off and walk north 30 minutes, you'll have to remember to walk south 30 minutes. Keep up with it and you can get back.
It is simple." Woodduck
I wish it were as easy as walking north off an east west road and then turning south but in alot of places I've hunted it just isn't that simple.
I know people have been navigating for ten thousand years with a compass but I'm afraid I'd have fallen off the edge of the earth if I had to use one.
Lots of good books on orienteering/compass navigating/GPS use.
I carry compass and GPS (with a two way radio)
At the military base where I work, there are certain people who go out during exercises, and corrupt GPS Sat. signals, this forces the troops to use thier compasses and maps, instead of blindly following a GPS reading.
Need to know how to use them both.
Nothing wrong with either really, but I carry a compass. Even without a map, you can do the whole walk this direction for this amount of time, then this direction for that amount of time, etc. If you know roughly where you want to go, a compass can help you get "unlost". A compass is small and uses very little space in you pack or pocket. You still have to keep your wits about you though. A GPS simplifies all of this for you. The tradeoff is that it's electronic, hungry for power and, eventually, prone to failure. That said, I like the Rhinos. A buddy calling for help instantly gives you his coordinates, That's cool. If I were going to Elk country or Alaska for the first time, I'd consider taking a GPS, but I'll always carry a compass. I've never been lost though, so I guess I've never felt the need for a GPS.
I've never used a GPS and rarely use a compass. I've never really needed to. I always thought a compass was for city slickers who don't know how to hike in the mountains, that is until I got lost in my own backyard one time. Couldn't see any land marks or the sun and I had no idea of north, south, east or west. Panic started to set in, it wasn't a good feeling! I've been disoriented a couple times since then. I carry a compass now and get a bearing before I enter the woods.
i used to coon hunt alot...i found out quickly how important a compass is... you could be in your back yard in the pitch black and walk out the opposite direction...compass is very handy...especially in the dark.
I didn't have time too read all the posts this morning so I am sorry if this has already been stated but a UTM scale, a map and a GPS.
Unabelievable tools, both fun and accurate.
Ok John Havard, I read your links. Now I have a headache and need some advils. Holy crap, how complicated is that? :knothead:
You're only lost if you have to be somewhere. Otherwise you're just out for a walk.....
If hunting a new area I will have at least a map and compass and more times than not a GPS and extra batteries.
Ferret,
I use everything. Mostly the GPS is for plotting places I want to remember (like my truck) and looking at my elevation and how many miles I've walked. I take it out and look at it occassionally but mostly I use the map. Where I'm hunting there are features I can use to determine my location, like mountains and creeks. But I grew up in the flat tidalwaters of Eastern Virginia where the highest elevation change is 10 feet. One thing I learned to do is figure out where the boundaries are for where I am hunting East, West, North, and South. Rarely on the east coast do we hunt anywhere that doesn't have some sort of boundary within a day's walk. So what I do is figure out what my boundaries are and every so often I reacquaint myself to where I am in relation to my borders. (The river is the east boundary and that way is east so the river is that way...) If you know that you can eventual figure out where you are, it may just take a while. This works well when driving in unfamilar territory too. If you know what roads are running either N/S or E/W and you haven't crossed them yet you have a general idea of where you are. If you need to know precisely just head in one direction until you hit your boundary. I try to keep a general idea of the direction I'm walking in all the time anyway using the sun and a compass.
ferret,
I highly recommend you read through Dick Blust's essays on the Kifaru website, which John Harvard was kind enough to post links to in this thread. It will no longer be "black magic". Dick has done a wonderful job on those essays. He emphasizes the use of a "system", which includes map, compass AND GPS. Good luck to you.
A lat/long is an absolute, the best compass heading is a guess....
A compass and map obviously works. It's been used to navigate for hundreds of years, at least. A person with practice and training really doesn't need anything else.
HOWEVER.....
The arguments against a decent GPS unit are just silly. You cannot tell me that sticking an extra set of AA batteries in your pocket or pack is something you aren't doing ANYWAY. If you are using a flashlight to look at that map in the dark, you are already carrying the tools to get your dead GPS back up and working.
If all I want to know is "where am I, and where is my truck?", a GPS is going to be quicker, more reliable and simpler than a map and compass for 99% of the population.
Everyone should learn how a GPS works, even down to taking a class on orienteering and compass use. After that, unless you really enjoy orienteering I suggest you get a decent GPS unit and an extra set of batteries.
BTW, those of you still using duracells, do yourself a favor and look at rechargable NiMH batteries. You will save yourself a lot of trouble and money.
Jeff,
Keep in mind that rechargeables have a shorter use life during cold weather. Better to have Lithium batteries than rechargeable. I've tried both and once the temp drops rechargeables aren't very useful.
Most GPS units' power lasts -- what?? -- less than two hours. This is fine, perhaps until you need the device. If the power source is drained, through use (unlikely), through defect, through misadventure, you have a problem. Severe ionospheric disruption, I understand, may also cause problems.
***
The easiest compass to use in an emergency, I believe, is the Suunto KB-14 360R/D. These are sighting compasses that show the azimuth going and coming, and allow you to adjust for declination.
If you live on the eastern seaboard and take a trip to visit me in Montana, magnetic north is in a different position relative to grid/true north. Most compasses rely on your ability to remember the difference, and to apply the arithmetic to the map. When you're frightened, you might neglect the arithmetic.
Declination adjustment allows you to rotate the compasses degree card at will. When you sight your mark, your reading will match the map. And you can do this in the comfort of your home.
The downside is that convenience costs.
Another thing that I think is at play here... Alot of folks that say you dont use or need a GPS and simply take a bearing when you leave the truck.
I think that hunting style and hunting area dictate how extensive you may need to use land navigation skills more than anything else. If I'm in a SC woodlot that I've hunted a hundred times before, sure, a GPS is not real important. But if I'm trying to find a specific wallow 5 miles back in a Colorado wilderness area that I've only seen once before on a summer scouting trip, and its 4am, a GPS becomes an invaluable tool to have. Sure, with my military training, I know how to find it with just a map and a compass, but I would wager that most folks could not.
I'm not saying that a GPS is the end-all solution, but it really opens up opportunities if you use it correctly.
Talon,
Maybe on a regular rechargable. I haven't found that to be the case on NiMH rechargables.
Maybe it's just that the higher mh batteris I use are so far above a standard battery that the loss doesn't matter. I can run my flashlights for eight-ten times as long on a 2500mh battery over a regular duracell.
Naph....two hours of continuos use, maybe. That's days worth of real time. Again, if you are silly enought to go into the woods without extra batteris, the term is "natural selection", not "bad GPS".
Does anyone here go out into the woods without spares for your flashlight?
Yup, lithium batteries are the way to go. I can sure get lots more than -less than two hours- out of mine in my Foretrex 101. They make the unit lighter weight as well. With fresh liths in the unit and a set of spares, and using my GPS as the backup to my compass, I can go an awfully long time without running out of juice.
QuoteI read your links. Now I have a headache and need some advils. Holy crap, how complicated is that?
Here is one that is explained a little better I think.
http://www.compassdude.com/compass-description.shtml
My Magellan will run about 8 hours continuously, and thats with regular AA's. Of course I have the bare bones model that doesnt inlcude color maps and all, so that may have a big impact on battery life. You dont need all the fancy map animations and everything anyways.
I was pretty good at landnav in the Army. I still know my pace count etc, etc. I have always relied upon a good map,a lensatic compass, common sense, and woodsmanship(depending on the situation).
Recently I borrowed a buds gps, cause my boy wanted to try geocaching. I didn't know thing one about it, but in less than an hours time we were finding the local "stashes" from the coordinates he got on the net. All I can say is; I gotta get me one of these! Now, I wouldn't bet my life one one. I would still carry a map and compass, but gps devices are pretty darned handy. Geocaching is a great(and fun actually) way to learn how to use one too.
btw along with all the tips above, a backup gps can be had pretty cheap. A couple of weeks ago I saw a magellan xplorist 200 on clearance at wally world for $85. just my .02
To me a GPS isn't about getting unlost. It is about finding stuff. And finding it quickly so I can hunt there. To me hunting is all about increasing your odds of being in the right place at the right time.
So if I can get to better spots - faster - I am hunting longer.
As far as being lost or unlost. I carry a compass and know the major cardinal direction of a road or river that I could not by-pass no matter what. True, sometimes that road or river may be 10-20 miles away, but hey, I will get there eventually.
Yet I don't want to get to my "good spots" eventually.
QuoteTo me a GPS isn't about getting unlost. It is about finding stuff. And finding it quickly so I can hunt there. To me hunting is all about increasing your odds of being in the right place at the right time.
So if I can get to better spots - faster - I am hunting longer.
As far as being lost or unlost. I carry a compass and know the major cardinal direction of a road or river that I could not by-pass no matter what. True, sometimes that road or river may be 10-20 miles away, but hey, I will get there eventually.
Yet I don't want to get to my "good spots" eventually.
Well said!
Think of this way, if you were going to a movie or a restaurant you might take a look at the reviews first. May even ask a few friends what they thought... So why is it a big deal to do the basic homework on your hunting area? You all seem to do that anyway, so planning how you get in and out is part and parcel of the hunt. Not to knock anyone, the choice of 'system' is not the issue but how good are you at using it when the chips are down? Having a couple of backups is always good.In Botswana all bush trucks carry two spare tyres and a repair kit. We used to teach GPS, compass and mapwork, pacing etc and then take students out with nothing and show that good fieldcraft is the absolute base of everything else. In most places you can navigate by the stars, sun, wind and major landforms. Animal and bird movement too. Everyone makes mistakes, assumption and denial are your enemies. I spent three hours walking too and fro with a radio mast in plain sight that I knew well,it was overcast and the wind was strong but changed direction 180 degrees, I finally used termite heaps to get my bearings and was back at my truck in fifteen minutes, twit!!!
I carry a Silva orienteering compass with two base plate scales plus a button compass and used to carry a garmin IIplus until it was stolen!Maps are cheap,free on the web, tell me where is the problem?
chrisg
The yellow etrex is good for about 20 hours on a set of AA batteries if it's in battery save mode. It's not fancy but it does everything it needs to. If you put a new set of batteries in and they run down before you get back to camp, you're probably lost.
Rob
Hey guys something else I do is mark all the scrapes,rubs trails w/direction (N-S or E-W) Anything of importance. then when your at home zoom out your GPS and see where the concentration of sign is at or where it is heading.
Works!
I enjoy a map and compass, practical purposes though the GPS is easier, and more conveniant, use all the tools at hand, use them in conjunction w/each other, a map and compass is pretty easy when you sit down and learn. Those sites some of yall speak of are great and there are a ton more on line. GPS is also like 4 wheel drive, 4 wheel drive has gotten more people stuck than 2 wheel drive ever will, due to overconfidence. GPS will make guys strike out to areasthey never thought they could make without it.
Chris-pacing is what I spoke of in another thread, I try to tell the guys that as we have no land marks(flat and wooded visibility is like 30 yards.) There is a big difference in actual navigation and a SWAG. Most of my hunting areas being truthfull if all I have is map and compass I am taking a SWAG. but it works when you mix in situational awareness.
Later
J
Man Law #1
We are men!
Men DO NOT get lost!
We just take the sceanic route.... :bigsmyl:
Hi Mickey, Tom here; For years I fished in the Atlantic in a small boat {17 feet} and I would go out 30 miles on a Loran with a compass for back-up. The First time I used a GPS I threw the Loran away and still use compass for back- up. Ths Gps is very good at getting home or back to the truck and that's all I need because the rest of the time i'm hunting.
Yes of course,in SAR you use everything you can and have radio backup etc.Flat and wooded is a dog so to be certain you keep track, use a GPS, it's efficient, you are there to hunt. There are areas in the bushveld like that too. We also take careful note of sun, wind, sound, road sound and such carries a long way as does light at night, overflying aircraft is another trick. Talondale mentioned knowing your absolute boundaries. This is good in most of SA but the Kalahari has 'boundaries' you'd never walk out of before you ran out of water! Skilled navigation can actually be fun and interesting! Especially when its not under pressure.
Strutter, does that not sound a bit like "Ok guys, if your batteries are flat your time is Uppp! Bring on the undertakers!"?
chrisg :bigsmyl:
I'm not very traditional... I prefer my Garmin 60CSx with uploaded topos and color screen! hehehehe... I do carry a compass and one 1:24K map, one 1:50K map and several googleearth color perspective aerial views. I ain't gettin lost!
I do prefer the GPS for it's ease of use and the fact that I can get ultra accurate waypoints and upload them into my computer for cyber scouting and route planning when I return to hunt. Can't get that detailed with a compass.
Oh... and using the GPS at night is a BREEZE!
-ZA
A few years ago my bro Randy got lost in the U.P. of Michigan like 3 times in one week. I told him when we got back we were going to buy GPS's. We did. First time we used em we marked a waypoint where the truck was and went out and got lost in a local state park. We turned them on and said "Go to" truck. At first we thought they were all wrong and thought we had wasted our money but we followed them and lo and behold we walked out of the woods 18 steps from the truck. I was sold then.
A fellow tradganger (I won't mention names) told me his GPS was way off, 180 degrees wrong (same model as mine). I asked him to send it to me. When it arrived I compared his with mine and they both read the same. So I made a stake of 1" square wood and put orange tape around the top. Told my son to go to the local state park (3400 acres), walk out in the woods and pound it in and set a way point. When he got back, I took said members GPS and went back to the park, turned it on, hit "go to " waypoint and walked right to the stick. It worked fine. Offered to buy it for half price but he wanted it back so I mailed it back to him.
Javi hunting in AZ I waypointed camp, walked with abandon, and when I wanted to return to camp hit "Go to " camp and it led me right to the tent.
In lower Michgan I set a treestand and marked the waypoint. The next day in the dark I came in from a completely opposite direction and after hitting "go to" on my GPS walked right to it.
I love my GPS, find them simply amazing, and won't go on an out of state hunt without it.
Mickey, that is exactly my point earlier. You have to learn to trust your instrumentation. Sure, a GPS could malfunction, but I guarantee that the chances of human error are much, much higher than the chance the GPS is going to malfunction. Learn to use it properly, and don't let your "gut instinct" override what it says.
"I've never been lost, just mighty confused for a few days!"
-Davy Crockett?
You no longer need to give the directions "you remember where that old milk pail was down by the creek?, yes you do where Uncle Joe shot that spike?? Who?? Anyhow just go 100yds or so.... Everything is always 100yds or so from some place
Now you just give I like using UTM's and they will be within 3 meters