Hand held GPS

[wdtaylor509]

I have neve used a hand held GPS and was wondering what one to buy?  I just want a good all around one.  I would like to be able to see topo maps and mark waypoints.  The only experance I have with GPS is the one my dad has on his boat.  We used it alot when halibut fishing in alaska, it made it easy to get back to the hot spots we found.

[flcracker]

Anything by Garmin is great . All you realy need is the basic modle that stores waypoints  , routes , and shows direction , ect...
 I'm not sure but I think thats the one Cody uses in his class.
 I use the basic modle and it works fine . I have been in some VERY remote places with it and it was all I really needed . As long as you have a good map you should be fine.
 And ALWAYS have a compass or two with you as a back up , learn that first.

[wdtaylor509]

Been working a little with a compass but mostly want the GPS to remember spots that i find out in the woods.  I can remember this little wallow that my granddad and I found when I was in high school but to this day nethier one of us can find it again. 

[royaltine]

I've always used just the ol Garmin etrex, and that really is all you need, but it sure is nice to see maps.  I really like the looks of the Oregon/Dakota/Colorado series Garmins in the Cabelas catalog. 

[Steve]

I've got a garman e-trex.

They sure come in handy, and are worth the money.

There's been a few times when I really needed one.  A couple times I've been really turned around in the dark,  once in the fog, and twice in white-out snow storms.  The flat country in Eastern Montana all looks the same in those conditions.

I try not to get too dependant on gadgets, though.  Sometimes the batteries fail or something else goes wrong....



 

[Alex]

I bought a Garmin Oregon 400t about a year and a half ago and love it! You can buy very detailed topo maps as well and they are great. You can also use it for road navigation, so that's another plus. Gotta go to work, if you have any questions about the Oregon, feel free to ask!

[Steve]

One great use for a GPS is finding your meat after you cache it somewhere.  It sure beats hanging ribbons or using a hatchet to blaze trees.

A friend of mine used to use one for finding a hunting spot out in the tundra of Alaska.  He was a bush pilot.

It's also good to know exactly where you are at, when hunting public land.  You can get in big trouble for tresspassing.  A GPS can help in that respect. 

Have you ever been harassed by an outfitter or land owner, who said you were tresspassing, when you weren't.  I've been confronted twice by angry out of state hunters who tried to tell me that I was hunting on private land.  They really got angry when I wouldn't leave.  I hate that sort of thing.  I ended up talking to a game warden and state lands person, over that.  It turned out that I was in the right.  Now days you really need a good map and GPS to navigate around....

[cat track]

look into a lowrance.   I had several garmin's before the the lowrance and thought they were alot tougher to run.  I love the way the lowrance program is set up. very easy to operate. 

[Hal]

I guess I still live in the dark ages. My GPS I can fold up and stick in my pocket, it's called a map. Most folks I see with GPS gadgets are so busy lookin' at them they are totally unaware of their surroundings and never look behind them to see what landmarks look like when viewed on the return trip. I know they can be valuable tools when trackin' hounds or pinpointing waypoints and huntin' or fishin' spots, guess I'm just kinda lost in the past where common sense and a good map and compass was the mainstay.  Oh well.

[saddlesore]

My GPS has two long ears. Ain't got me lost yet.

[flcracker]

I am with you on that Hal . I don't use a GPS much. Alot can go wrong with them. I do at times carry one but I ALWAYS have a map and / or a compass . I have started showing my 11 year old son the basics of useing a compass . Such as taking a compass reading when we leave the truck , so we will be able to find our way back no matter what. When I run hounds with my hunting buddies we do use a GPS because we are running in circles alot and we get pretty deep in some of the swamps down here were I live. I guess its good to learn both , but ALWAYS have a back up plan.

[KILLERBEE]

i agree with  with some of that, but  there are other big uses for a GPS.  when i'm on my archery elk hunts  who know where or how far i will end up away from the truck.  it's nice to not have to go out the same way you went in, and just pick the absolute shortest way out.  i do always have a map and compass with me. but in 30 seconds i can have my answer and be hiking while the next guy will be 20 minuts calculating triangulation to get the same answer. 

also, if i have a latitude/longitude for a spring, i can type it in and get  EXACTLY to that place, and figuring doing it takes seconds. 

with the map and compass i would get real close , but  the time it would take to figure that out is "wasted " hunting time IMO

a person needs to be able to do map and compass, but  for $100 bucks it so easy

[Steve]

The nice thing about a compass is that it is not likely to fail.  I've been in a couple of whiteouts in the snow where I wasn't so sure that south wasn't north.  

GPS's are great, but they do fail.  I recently pulled out my GPS and it just wouldn't turn on.  The batteries were good, but something was wrong with it.  I hate to lay out another hundred bucks for a new one, but I may have to.

What really made me realize that I needed a GPS was one night, we couldn't find our truck.  My wife, daughter, and I had made a big circle while deer hunting in Eastern Montana.  It was like two in the morning, and we were about 45 degrees off course.  That flat country is easy to get lost in, when it is dark or snowing hard.  My daughter and wife were tired out.  I built a big fire with a lot of extra wood, and left them there.  Finally I found our truck.  That night, I didn't even have a compass.  I bought a GPS a short time later....But I also like compasses and maps.  I try to have all three in my pack, when hunting....They all have their place.