It looks like I need to explain a bit more.

I scout a lot. Now that i'm retired I scout at least 200 days a year, and then just hike known areas another 100 days. I love being in the mountains.

When I go to a new area I like to find a lot of new areas, and different ways into them. They're mostly wildlife areas, and it's rare i'll ever see anybody else. I'll go in and out the same way so i'll know how it looks in both directions. I use the tape at first to keep from getting lost. In time I can tie them together , and make a loop, but I need to know my way back on any of the routes to recognize i'm on a route that I know. It always look different coming back than it does going in. If I don't take enough trips back the way I went in. I lose track of where I am.

At some point I can tie the whole area together, and I know where I am, and how to get back no matter where I am. I only use the tape during this process of learning the area. I don't hang tape during the hunting seasons. By then I don't need it.

Right or wrong. That's how I do it, and it's never failed me. I don't want to depend on an electronic device to keep me safe. They can fail. Getting my boots dirty, and learning the area can't fail on me.