Hunting w/GPS - The Firearms Forum

liberty1 · 09-19-2009, 05:09 PM

Does anyone hunt with GPS? I'm looking to start a hardcore discussion about integrating the technology into hunting.

younggunslearner · 09-19-2009, 07:23 PM

I hunt with a GPS, I have a Garmin Rino 520 with the Radio Built into it and my dad and I love them.

kutaho · 09-19-2009, 08:05 PM

I carry a compass.
hunt as low tech.
as possible.
it's a lot funner

carver · 09-20-2009, 09:54 AM

I carry both a compass and a GPS when hunting on public lands, or unfamiliar territory. At home I use neither, it's only 100yds to my stand, and feeder!

Country101 · 09-20-2009, 08:25 PM

I use one some, but I'm not real good at using it so I don't use it as much as I want to. I have the topo software on it and I am trying to figure out how to use it to scout new spots. I need to get more tips on stuff like that. Anybody know anything about it?

21bravo · 09-20-2009, 09:18 PM

i dont even own a gps system. i only take a compass... and a topo map if im in unfamiliar territory. growing up in boy scouts (earning my Eagle) and then being in the military, Land Nav is not a skill im short on.

flannelman · 09-21-2009, 07:12 PM

I have a Garmin 60CSx and I really like it. I have the topo maps for it too. I usually use it to navigate around on the backroads and for insurance in case I forget how to get back to my rig. I like being able to mark waypoints for sign I may find while in the woods. I love maps too so I will often spend a lot of time looking at maps to figure out routes or good places to hunt.

questor · 09-23-2009, 02:51 PM

If hunting in the western states or the big woods of Northern Maine, I never leave home without my etrex Vista (old but works great), compass and topo map. I still hunt (age-old technique of walking very slowly and quietly through the bush, never could sit still) with the gps on (recording every step) and appended to my ruck with velcro. When I come upon scrapings, rubs, trails, droppings, I set a waypoint with proper label. In the evening from my camp site, I print out the days hunt and chat with my hunting partner. Yes I carry a notebook with Canon i80 Color Bubble Jet Printer, of course you need extra batteries.

Upon returning home, I upload to my PC and save for the next time I am in that area. Therefore I have all routes, tracks and waypoints saved and ready for reloading the next time I return to that area.

If you want detailed info, beyond the scope of this thread, send private msg and we can communicate via phone.

Marlin · 09-23-2009, 03:00 PM

I have hunted with a GPS and compass for years.

My newest hand-held GPS is a Magellan unit that is a fine piece of equipment.

Terry_P · 09-23-2009, 05:30 PM

I was out in Colorado several years ago and I got turned around in some thick stuff in big country and pulled out the GPS and it pointed the way back to the truck. I was glad I had it. I used to go with a compass and have had some adventures due to lack of attention on my part so when they came out I got one. The main thing is to know how to use it before you take it out.

cranky cj · 10-01-2009, 09:27 AM

I have one of the least expensive units, the garmin etrex. no maps just basic position information. mark the spot where you leave your vehicle and it creates a track for you. when its time to start heading back to the jeep, it will tell you right where to go. has allthe extra goodies like altitude, course, compass, trip time, speed etc. i take a topo map with me and can get my lat and long off it and if i want to move to a particular place i can do the land navigation that way. very handy and cheap.

fyimo · 10-01-2009, 12:27 PM

I have an older Garmin Vista and I use it when hunting in a new area or when we park some where new. When we Elk hunt in Colorado we move constantly and we cover a lot of ground so have the parking area in the GPS as a waypoint makes getting back quicker and easier.

I hunted in Arkansas where I live for Deer 4 years with a friend and buddy of his from Texas. We agreed to me at the truck at 1:00 PM and the guy from Texas got lost and we waited around for and extra hour and a half before he finally heard our shots and got a location in his head came back. He was a ball of sweat as he had been humping hard for a while. I showed him the Garmin and told him to get one he wouldn't regret it.

We always carry walkie talkies in case someone gets hurt or has game down and we all carry a GPS when hunting.

questor · 10-01-2009, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranky cj

I have one of the least expensive units, the garmin etrex. no maps just basic position information.

My hunting partner who is in his late 70's finally retired his top of line Garmin for the etrex. He is just toooooooooooo friggin old to learn and it was just getting him LBS (loss bigger than ****). In the morning he sets (of course with my assistance) a waypoint for the 4x4 and then turns it off. When it is time to come home, he powers it back on and then retrieves the instructions I typed/laminated, enters the procedure to return to the 4x4.

As my wife, technology is just something they don't want to understand or for that matter try to understand.

When I 1st purchased a GPS for the vehicle and entered a destination after about an hour, he said "how does that girl know where we are going!" LOL

cranky cj · 10-04-2009, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by questor

My hunting partner who is in his late 70's

Ummmh, the fact that he is still hunting at that age says a lot......more power to him.....

questor · 10-08-2009, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranky cj

Ummmh, the fact that he is still hunting at that age says a lot......more power to him.....

Amen, he is a trooper and still humps the big woods of Northern Maine. He has been hunting in Eagle Lake, Maine since 1961, hopefully he will make it to 2011. Imagine 50 years of hunting, WOW pray to god I can hunt in my late 70's.

09-19-2009, 05:09 PM	#1
liberty1 Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 3	Hunting w/GPS Does anyone hunt with GPS? I'm looking to start a hardcore discussion about integrating the technology into hunting. -->

09-19-2009, 07:23 PM	#2
younggunslearner Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Lakewood, CO Gateway to the High Country Posts: 19	Re: Hunting w/GPS I hunt with a GPS, I have a Garmin Rino 520 with the Radio Built into it and my dad and I love them.

09-19-2009, 08:05 PM	#3
kutaho Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Peoples Republic of the Pacific Northwest Posts: 1,852	Re: Hunting w/GPS I carry a compass. hunt as low tech. as possible. it's a lot funner __________________ No man stands in the same river twice If all else fails grab a rock Mi Taku oyasin

09-20-2009, 09:54 AM	#4
carver TFF Moderator/Host Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: DAV, Deep in the Pineywoods of East Texas, just west of Shreveport, LA Contributor Posts: 11,221	Re: Hunting w/GPS I carry both a compass and a GPS when hunting on public lands, or unfamiliar territory. At home I use neither, it's only 100yds to my stand, and feeder! __________________ Y'all be safe now, ya hear! Lamentations Chapter 5: 1. Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. 2. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. 3. We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers [are] as widows. 5. Our necks [are] under persecution: we labour, [and] have no rest. 16. The crown is fallen [from] our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! 21. Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

09-20-2009, 08:25 PM	#5
Country101 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Dardanelle, AR Contributor Posts: 2,026	Re: Hunting w/GPS I use one some, but I'm not real good at using it so I don't use it as much as I want to. I have the topo software on it and I am trying to figure out how to use it to scout new spots. I need to get more tips on stuff like that. Anybody know anything about it? __________________ Gainfully employed= shooting somebody elses bullets and getting paid for it Country101

09-20-2009, 09:18 PM	#6
21bravo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: wilkes county, nc Posts: 790	Re: Hunting w/GPS i dont even own a gps system. i only take a compass... and a topo map if im in unfamiliar territory. growing up in boy scouts (earning my Eagle) and then being in the military, Land Nav is not a skill im short on. __________________ "BIG MOMMA BRAVO" If everything seems to be going well, you obviously do not know what the hell is going on --"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crime." - Thomas Jefferson

09-21-2009, 07:12 PM	#7
flannelman Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Rural Arkansas. But isn't all of Arkansas rural? Posts: 1,176	Re: Hunting w/GPS I have a Garmin 60CSx and I really like it. I have the topo maps for it too. I usually use it to navigate around on the backroads and for insurance in case I forget how to get back to my rig. I like being able to mark waypoints for sign I may find while in the woods. I love maps too so I will often spend a lot of time looking at maps to figure out routes or good places to hunt. __________________ What we do in life echoes in eternity! **** Liberals, they make about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine. If you want to be a looser the best way to get there is to hang around with other loosers.

09-23-2009, 02:51 PM	#8
questor V.I.P. Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Slickville, Pa Posts: 388	Re: Hunting w/GPS If hunting in the western states or the big woods of Northern Maine, I never leave home without my etrex Vista (old but works great), compass and topo map. I still hunt (age-old technique of walking very slowly and quietly through the bush, never could sit still) with the gps on (recording every step) and appended to my ruck with velcro. When I come upon scrapings, rubs, trails, droppings, I set a waypoint with proper label. In the evening from my camp site, I print out the days hunt and chat with my hunting partner. Yes I carry a notebook with Canon i80 Color Bubble Jet Printer, of course you need extra batteries. Upon returning home, I upload to my PC and save for the next time I am in that area. Therefore I have all routes, tracks and waypoints saved and ready for reloading the next time I return to that area. If you want detailed info, beyond the scope of this thread, send private msg and we can communicate via phone. Last edited by questor; 09-23-2009 at 02:57 PM..

09-23-2009, 03:00 PM	#9
Marlin TFF Admin Staff Chief Counselor Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: At SouthernMoss' side forever! Contributor Posts: 13,853	Re: Hunting w/GPS I have hunted with a GPS and compass for years. My newest hand-held GPS is a Magellan unit that is a fine piece of equipment. __________________ *The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.* *The only criminal class native to the United States is Congress.*

09-23-2009, 05:30 PM	#10
Terry_P Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: NH Posts: 2,513	Re: Hunting w/GPS I was out in Colorado several years ago and I got turned around in some thick stuff in big country and pulled out the GPS and it pointed the way back to the truck. I was glad I had it. I used to go with a compass and have had some adventures due to lack of attention on my part so when they came out I got one. The main thing is to know how to use it before you take it out. __________________ NRA and NAHC Life "Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms." -Aristotle

10-01-2009, 09:27 AM	#11
cranky cj V.I.P. Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Northern Colorado Posts: 59	Re: Hunting w/GPS I have one of the least expensive units, the garmin etrex. no maps just basic position information. mark the spot where you leave your vehicle and it creates a track for you. when its time to start heading back to the jeep, it will tell you right where to go. has allthe extra goodies like altitude, course, compass, trip time, speed etc. i take a topo map with me and can get my lat and long off it and if i want to move to a particular place i can do the land navigation that way. very handy and cheap.

10-01-2009, 12:27 PM	#12
fyimo V.I.P. Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Arkansas Posts: 187	Re: Hunting w/GPS I have an older Garmin Vista and I use it when hunting in a new area or when we park some where new. When we Elk hunt in Colorado we move constantly and we cover a lot of ground so have the parking area in the GPS as a waypoint makes getting back quicker and easier. I hunted in Arkansas where I live for Deer 4 years with a friend and buddy of his from Texas. We agreed to me at the truck at 1:00 PM and the guy from Texas got lost and we waited around for and extra hour and a half before he finally heard our shots and got a location in his head came back. He was a ball of sweat as he had been humping hard for a while. I showed him the Garmin and told him to get one he wouldn't regret it. We always carry walkie talkies in case someone gets hurt or has game down and we all carry a GPS when hunting.