GPS Uses

[Silvertip Marc]

Thinking of ideas for Christmas and am considering a GPS.  How does everyone use them?  Does anyone use while shed hunting and then record good places to hang a treestand?  Lets hear how you use them and what kind you have.

[Bowwild]

I'm sorry to say I have a very nice Garmin with lots of bells and whistles. I have never used it.

I know the places I hunt so well a GPS would be of little value to me, I could find a particular tree again quite readily I'm sure.   However, I should use mine so I'll trust enough to use it on out-of-state (west) hunts (with a compass as a back-up).

[Bowwild]

I have always counted on aerial photographs to help me get to know my area and farms around me.  These days if you get a GPS coordinate you can go to "Google Earth" or "Terra-Server" and find the location on your computer. You can then print maps.  I used aerial photographs throughout my career and find them invaluable especially to someone like me that uses topography and various types of edge to predict deer travel.

[Gil Verwey]

We use GPSes alot. We do alot of DIY hunts and go in far.

We use Topos, Google Earth and Map Source to scout long distance. That gives us a place to start when we get out where we intend to hunt. We take several GPS reading from Google Earth and Map Source and put them in our GPS. We mark them on Topos we carry. We hunt remote areas and they work great for us. It is also great for marking sign that you find to get an idea of movement and how to get back the same spot in the dark.  

I wouldn't be without mine.

[centaur]

I have several elk wallows marked on my gps. It is great for marking other points of interest in the back country that a topo map probably won't show; old cabins, a great fishing hole, etc.

[dirtguy]

I find GPS very useful when scoping out a new-to-me piece of land.  It helps you get back to the same spot, and to build a picture of the site in terms of trails, good stand sites etc.  In the end, you really want to know a piece of land so well that you don't need the GPS, like Bowild said.  

I had a lot of fun with my sons recording our tracking in the snow last winter.  We tracked a single turkey a mile from where it flew down from its roost to where it met up with the flock.  

Darned if they aren't pretty useful for navigating streets too!

[kennyb]

hey marc-i have a real nice lowrance and use it some, but wish i could be better with it because it is a little complex! I'm like most people and learn best by visual, so there needs to be another way to learn how to use it to it's full capacity! thanks
kenny

[DeerSpotter]

I have a new piece of land ,But I originally bought mine because I was going to go elk hunting. I have the Garmin model Vista HCx ,I've used it to mark But tree stands ,Old hunting stands ,Locations of water holes ,And most importantly the boundaries and the corners of my land .Eventually I will probably get to know my land like everyone else has .But it does come in handy .One of the neighbors calls me "Gadget man".

I think if you're gonna go with a GPS I would go with a Garmin ,they are the easiest to operate and to update .And they come with a lot of stuff that you have to buy extra for others if .I've seen some pretty good deals on the Legend GPS. But if you're going to use it for hunting in thick cover HCX Has a better Antenna,And when you have a thick cover you need a good antenna.And you want the WASS

Now's a good time to buy one ,Because you may be able to get the TOPO Maps with it .


Carl

[Benny Nganabbarru]

We mostly use them to mark the car, or mark swamps or donkey playgrounds, or watering points, or mark a downed animal that we need to return to.

[Silvertip Marc]

great stuff guys...thanks!!!  I like the idea of boundaries.  I hunt a huge piece of land that I could mark the boundaries off of google earth!!

[ron w]

I know most of the spots I hunt very well....but.... The GPS is priceless finding a new ground blind or tree stand in the dark no matter how well you know the area...good for marking a blood trail also, if you need to come back to finish 3 hours later.

[Earl Jeff]

GPS is a must have. I use it mostly to get to my stands in the dark. Mark sign then bring it up on the map (Via USA Photo maps). I have a Garmin Etrex w/high sensitivity antenna.

[Huntschool]

I am kinda with Bowwild here.  I am a bit old school and use topos and aerial stuff.  Truthfully, here at home I don't need much.

My students are using these things like a "By God".  I have even added a class for them on GPS/GIS because it is how a good bit of wildlife work is done today.  I have one graduate who logs every quial covey pointed and then lists all data regarding that, day, time, temps etc and then matches a crop survey for birds killed out of that covey.  He has it down to a gnats butt.

I can see their value when working new, really unfamiluar ground.  I need to learn how to work them.

[Orion]

I don't have one, but my hunting partner's primary use is to mark violation spots -- baiting violations, ATVs in restricted areas, hang on tree stands hung permanently on public lands, etc. -- and report them to the game warden or appropriate local authorities.  Makes it a lot easier for them to catch the slobs.

[Bowwild]

Bruce,
I know some guys with bored bird dogs that would pay a lot for that student's GPS with Quail coveys!

[Huntschool]

Yea.. they likely would.  Its on a ranch West of Falfurius, TX.  When the water is right its one of those 30 covey a day jobs...

Clay Sisson and the guys with the Albany study group in GA did the same thing...  amazing data.