In most of the places I hunt, I could find my way to the truck blindfolded and drunk. A GPS is handy, though, to tell me how far I've hiked and to find a shot animal if I have to leave it. The tracking is useful for that if nothing else.
I rolled for many years without a GPS even while owning one. Just couldn't justify the weight until... I shot a buck late, in new country, right at dark, no moon that night. My light all but died while finishing the animal. No problem because all I need to do was, "walk downhill". It got VERY dark to the point I was shuffling my feet. The terrain got rocky, I kicked a rock that rolled out into space and fell a good ways into the river. I had stayed on the ridge too long and had to shuffle back up and around. I still needed to wade the Boise River, was downstream from the Troutdale campground, and had already decided to make do without waders because I had hid them and no way would I find them in the dark. A vehicle came slowly down the road and it was my camp partners. They used their headlights for me to cross. I carry two flashlights, a smartphone/GPS/third light, and still stay out until well after dark.
Hunting partner shot an elk, tracked it for some time before finding it, got turned around, had to spend the night, mountain search and rescue found him the next day, he went back but was never able to locate the elk.
