Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting What handheld GPS are you using?

Just found going to Plystore for my Android that a limited function onXmaps is a free download.

Also my phone maintain functionality on a single charge for 5 days in Airplane mode. I used the clock, alarm and map views daily.

onXmaps South Dakota Premium is $29.99

338, every year it gets harder to find good public hunting around here so I finally bit the bullet and upgraded GPS.

I hate gadgetry but the land owner chip should be pretty handy.

Now if I can remember how to use it.

The land owner chip is a must have. Worth every penny. I have an Oregon 550 and it's been working like a champ for the last 3 years... Touch screen worked in 3 below zero in a snow storm. It does suck though, having to brush the snow off and affecting function though. There are pros to having a good ol push button GPS...

The external antenna Garmins are supposed to have the best reception in foliage, bad weather etc. I use mine in combined GPS & Glonass mode. Glonass uses the Russian system to add more satellites.

I think it's worth putting some effort into learning how to use a GPS. It's a handy tool, but you only get out of it what you put in.

The GPS on my iPhone 4S stinks. I have two GPS apps on it and the better one can't seem to locate a satellite. The other one shows me a mile away. The $50 Bushnell at least can get me back to the car.

Foretrex 401.

My Etrex 20 with the push button works fine but I haven't yet found a way to carry it so the button doesn't get repeatedly pushed. It keeps messing with the navigation. I've tried a couple different pouches and pockets but it still gets punched.

Sounds like much ado about nothing...

For the most part I agree. I don't know of any federal land leases where access would influence hunting to any degree.

Not really relevant to the topic, but could be helpful. My Garmin 450 has the carabiner clip. I usually have some sort of pack on and I clipped the gps to the adjuster strap on the waist belt and left it on. Helpful to have the track recorded. YMMV.

I use a Garmin 62S and really like it, although its primitive when compared to the mapping of my iphone. I'm looking forward to the time when backcountry GPS units catch up.

Eric

I picked up the Garmin Oregon 600 today for $219 at Cabelas. The base maps aren't that great, but I plan to get the Xhunt maps anyway. I figured for $219 it would be hard to beat.

Do all Garmin units have the capability to leave it on and track record and if so, does doing so significantly reduce the time between battery changes?

I don't know about all Garmins, but the Etrex 20 can have the tracking turned off and save a lot of battery juice. It's not continually checking the satellite locations that way. It's just maintaining the memory.

It does reduce battery life. The Oregon 550, I carry, has an advertised battery life of about 16 hours. In real world use, I can keep it on all day when I'm hunting and have to charge it at the end of the day. I'd say realistically, I'd get about 10-12 hours of use from the 550. The 450 should have about the same battery life as the 550.

BSA, totally agree on the battery life. Get a long day out of a set. I used to just turn it on when I wanted to see confirm where I was. Now I leave it on most of the time.

Yep, I used to turn it on and off. Batteries would last all 8 days of the hunt doing it that way, but hell it isn't as convenient as just leaving it on and the ability to track where you've been is great. Plus you don't have to wait for it to lock on to satellites. I just keep a few extra AA's in the pack incase I run low. I've got my settings as such that leaving it on doesn't waste a lot of the battery during the day. 15 second back light off and battery saver mode on. I also have a lot of the other bullchit turned off like geocaching mode. I also keep It in my pack in a side pocket where it is easy to get to when I need to look at it. While it's in that pocket, it doesn't seem to turn the backlight on so the battery lasts longer. I also run in WAAS mode and have heard that drains the battery more than the standard mode, but I couldn't see a difference.. One thing I like about my GPS is it takes pictures too. Crappy as they may be as compared to a real camera, it is nice that I don't have to pack another piece of equipment in the field. Here are some of the pics I've taken with it recently while out hunting:

The pictures are surprisingly good! I just discounted the camera (plus mine doesn't have one, anyway!)
Great rifles and gear, too!

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.