Hi BeaverJack,
I'm assuming that unless you
never hunt a different section of land.....that at some point in your "scouting" you had to set foot on that ground for a "first time"....at least once. And of course if you ever hunt out of state for the first time....you've haven't seen it before. And then of course there are those of us that yearn to get out and "explore" places we've never been before...on a regular basis. Not to mention boat trips, plane trips, and maybe even just an unexpected change in environment...that makes taking a known route impassable.....calling for a "new detour".
If you've been hunting the same country all your life....and don't know that section after the first several years...I'd tend to agree with you...you aren't likely to be helped much by any navigational aids. But many people regularly enjoy challenging themselves in new environments. And in these cases the enumerated navigational aids can be indispensable.
The "old timers" didn't have these devices available and usually managed without them. The best of them spent their lives living outdoors and knew wilderness lore like the back of their hands. (Many less experienced people fared less well....."Danner Party" perhaps being one of the more infamous.) Most of the people in the outdoors today....are lucky if they get a week or two dedicated to being outdoors. And many fewer still manage to get that two weeks "straight". So there is a very definite need for these tools.
Hey elknut1.....I never intended for any one to interpret my comments to mean that the GPS isn't the more precise and/or useful tool. Only that I
don't entirely trust it well enough yet to be my "only" navigational tool. And that if "forced" to choose "only" one.....it would have to be the compass with topo map. Short of my breaking the compass (I have an M2 mil spec compass) which would be a feat in itself....it will always work (plus I have a smaller, less elaborate spare either on my wrist....or affixed to my clothing). But even if I lost it or broke it....I'd still have the topo. Could I lose them both? Yea...but if we start playing that scenario then we have to assume we would have lost the GPS and batteries. GPS are wonderful tools....but have not yet reached the point that they are as "bulletproof" as a good compass. Close maybe....but not quite. And the batteries are the real "achilles heel". You can carry spares, and should, but even a dozen batteries are not an infinite supply. And for the people most dependent upon a GPS, they are the same people that will leave the GPS "turned on" all the time. Thus even further reducing battery life.
But like I said in an earlier post...for those that travel off road for vast distances like Alaska and some other western states.....some ATV's are now being equipped with GPS "built in the system". So the issue of battery life may well be "less and less of an issue".
In the final analysis....any one that regularly spends time outdoors (further than the back forty).....or any one traveling to destinations unknown, have everything to gain by knowing how to use both GPS, and map and compass. (And I think that is how it will remain until we have chips implanted in our bodies that are powered by body heat and capable of instantly downloading "maps" into a receiving device!)
That last sentence will start a "whole new thread of debate"!
