id say you did great your first day out hunting! took me a long while to learn the shortest way is almost NEVER the smartest...ive gotten poison ivey allover my body...had to walk through giant puddles while dad was nice and dry and still beat me...had to back out because i could never get through....bust a giant patch of jagurs or cross a creek my waders couldnt handle so the jagurs got hte best of me....and a gps can be good...but you were in the marines what do you need one for? a compass should do you good i would think...but gps sounds great i may get one even though im being trained little by little on navigationg with a compass....and seeing an 8pt and knowing what a ruband bedding area looks like and finding them is great! hope you and your son have a good time in the great outdoors...me and my dad do!

mauser06