What do ya guys think of GPSs, I dont care for them to much. Out on the big water they come in handy but in the woods I have never found a use for them but as a toy when ya are board. I have never been lost exept with a GPS, twice it has hapened when I was using one and not my own instincts. I perfer my good old compass.
I have always used acompass to navigate and became very good at using both compass and map while serving in the US Army (infantry). Last year on an elk hunting trip with an outfitter I learned how valuable GPS can be. If your in an area that is well known to you it may not come in as handy, but in new areas I have learned to like using them. Whenever I leave the vehicle I mark that point on the GPS (known as a waypoint), and you can set a course to that point from anywhere that you end up. If I'm scouting and find an extremely good area but not exactly certain how I got to that precise spot (because I do like to wander alot) you can easily mark it and find it at a later date. traveling to a treestand predawn in a new area can be done easily without blazing a trail. those are just some the basics, you can download your waypoints onto topographical maps, and plot routes to various points as well. I'm just a beginer and there is alot to learn about using them. I didn't trust using it at first; it took a little time and practice. I still carry my compass, GPS do have limitations and certainly could break.
I think they have their uses, especially in case of an accident or something like a heart attack in the woods. But only if you're conscious and have a cell phone or radio to use to call for help. You could give your GPS coordinates and really help medical people find you a lot quicker. When it comes down to being traditional or dying... I think it's a no brainer.
For just getting around in the boonies, yeah, I'd be much more comfortable relying on a compass.
I like mine. I can scout an area I'm not familiar with mounths before the season starts, mark the tree I want to hunt out of and come right back to in season, in the dark. I can also mark way more stand spots than I can remember. Hard just to remember what I named them. You can also have another mark spots that you have never seen and go right to them. I hunt out of state with my brother and this comes in handy.
A lot depends on the terrain. In very thick woods it's hard to get a good reading. In some of the land that I hunt there are miles in between roads. If you happen to find an area you'd like to hunt, markng on the GPS will get you close when you want to get back in. In small lots of woods mabe a square mile or so, a GPS is reall not all that necessary.
When I hunt in Colorado, a GPS is a very good thing to have, especially if you are in dark timber and can not see any landmarks. Safety issues are also important.
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"I do not Hunt animals to Kill them. I kill animals because I Hunt." Roger Rothhaar
One thing I have done with a GPS is to find a spot to hunt and mark it, then I drive all the roas close to it to see what spot is the best approach from. This also helps with the old walk so far into the woods that you end up walking out syndrome. I have set up some blinds that ended up being a 20min walk in but only 100ft from a main road.
I hunt public land 95% of the time. The area that I hunt has roads running parallel with good size creeks in between that are too deep to cross during deer season. I can walk up to the creek and see something that I want to hunt on the other side, set a waypoint on my GPS, and then come in on the other road and hunt the place. I also use TOPO maps of the areas. Those, along with the GPS and compass, have found lots of good hunting spots for me,such as a large bend in a large creek next to an opening = FUNNEL.TOPO maps have UTM grids on them. Between each grid line is 1 kilometer, so I always set my GPS to the UTM grid. I can set a waypoint in the woods somewhere on my GPS, and then go home and precisely mark it on the TOPO map. To me a kilometer is alot easier to figure than a degree.
go into an unfamiliar swamp on a cloudy day - you'll beg for a GPS
go out across a vast western prarie (like South Dakota) on a cloudy day - you'll beg for a GPS
Those two above have really messed with my sense of direction and I'm very good at never getting turned around. Got really turned around on both of the above. GPS would have helped
Oh, and a snowfall in the mtns of Colorado messed me up one day too
In your Traditional opinion
