Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Whats the point of a compass

Why do people need a compass when the sun is up? Am I the only one who orients themselves based on a map/ time of year and just understands their place on a map? I mean the sun doesnt change its angle much throughout a 2 week span. Or am i missing something here.

Depending on what your willing to give up, new smartphones nowadays have a great ability to do what you need. For instance, i have a newer android phone and it provides me with a wide variety of apps for what i need. This paired with the gps feature helps me tremendously. Google maps gets me to where i need to go and has roads on it that i dont think are even roads anymore. Since i hunt in montana i use montana parcel app. This is a satellite view of an area. Kinda similar to google maps, but when i click on a certain area on the screen it shows me who owns the parcel and its boundaries. I also have a navionics app for lakes. it ties in with my GPS and shows me all my info of where i am on a lake my speed, and the lake contour. I found that i can change the map overlay to terrain and look at the terrain anywhere in the US. I also use this for planning my hunts in montana as i can find elevation/angles among other things. I have not yet taken my phone into the field as a carry along GPS/smartware system, but this year i might. I'll probably get a mostly water resistant case/ bag and carry it along. With the apps above i can track routes avg speed, set waypoints. Anything a traditional GPS can do plus a whole lot more. I have an extra battery for it in case mine dies, so i tihnk i am ready. My only concern for this item would be durability. Do i really want to drop my phone off a cliff or in water.... But i think the pros outweigh the chance/probability that this might happen. Also i have an app that calculates ballistics for alot, Shooter. Its ties in with GPs/weather for this also. I'm sure theres more great apps out there. If i were you i'd definetly look into this.