Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Thoughts on onX maps

I just got back in from trying to get my niece a whitetail. Saw nothing but does. I know the area really well and had no need for a GPS or OnX Maps, but she broke her phone out with some other crazy mapping app and it was pretty awesome. Maybe I'll renew my efforts in trying to figure it out.

Tman, I'd be happy to chat with you about it. It's that big of a deal...

My phone is dying, so I plan to get a new one before too long. When I do that I may take you up on that. I still have your number.

My other issue with using the phone app is the $1,000 worth of OnX GPS chips that I have for several states...I wonder if OnX have any kind of a program to buy those back for those going to the phone app??? I guess I could drive to town and ask. They're headquartered 25 miles from where I am right now.

Once you figure it out you’ll like it.

Like Greg said, if I can figure it out, anyone can.

I use mine the most out in the desert 4 wheeling. There are roads everywhere and it's very easy to get tangled up. A compass will aim you in the right direction but you can waste a lot of miles finding the right road.

I have no doubt I'd like it. From what I have seen thus far, it is much more useful than the old GPS way of doing things, especially with the aerial pictures, vs just the topo.

You all seem to underestimate my retardedness with Eanything. My mom can work a computer better than I can.

I'm a big fan. I've been using it for three years.

Id be happy to talk you through it too, but we'd probably both end up more confused.

I prefer the chip with Garmin over the phone app. I really am burned out on touch screen technology and find the simplicity of my Garmin and advantage of using batteries I can swap out, to be refreshing.

Plus, this year I heard a chit ton of complaints about the phone app and some major update they decided to push around the start of the season.

Have used it for a few years as I migrated away from my handheld gps and was happy with it. Last 2 years I moved to GAIA instead. More mapping layers available and ability to switch the layers. Easy to share waypoints, locations, routes if you want / need to. Still need to download map areas if you will be off the grid before heading out. It has become the go to mapping app for the SAR team I am on.

I’ve used it as my only GPS a lot. Alaska, wilderness AZ, it performs flawlessly. My phone battery lasts for days if used wisely. Don’t own a Garmin product. Two thumbs up.

Keeping the phone on airplane greatly reduces battery drain. Get a solar phone charger. They're fairly cheap and work well, assuming you have some sunshine. I have a 20k battery pack that will recharge my phone several times. Use both a battery pack and a solar charger to recharge the pack in camp during the day. Then you can recharge the phone from the pack at night so you don't have to carry the charger with you all day. Also, hire a porter to haul all this stuff to your camp.

Screw OnX and their Liberal ways.

Base Maps is good to go and you get the entire US.

I like everything about OnX.

I've been using a 10 state chip in my truck for coyote hunting, when I went to get an update the company decided to close their business up as it was too time consuming to keep the chips updated. While I'll get a few more years out of the chip. I did try the OnX as a free trial when a friend sent me some coordinates to meet him at for a coyote hunt. I liked it on the computer. I need to look into seeing if they have a chip for the Garmin GPS as both my truck and MC are set up for them for coyote hunting.

Yes they do. I have one in a Garmin GPS. It doesn't look the same as the phone app, though. It can also be used in a car's GPS if it has a slot for a micro SD chip. It works ok in a car but it's not exceptional.

Agree, in airplane mode battery life is amazing. I also have a cheapo solar charger that works pretty well for $20. Of course, we got good sun here.

If you run OnX to mark your trail, it will use some battery, as will anything else. I seldom do that.

I did switch to phone vs my old garmin 60csx, but using gaia. Pretty sweet. And a couple 10000 anker banks for backpack hunts. Which means my buddy’s charge their phones with onx and use most my batteries. I left my garmin in the truck this year.

But the phone apps are pretty darn sweet.

OnX has been a fantastic hunting tool for me, great company, great products.

I use it alot and in conjunction with a traditional GPS. My only issue with OnX is the lack of a good "GoTo" feature in OnX. OnX has that function but it sucks in my use/experience if you are wanting to go to an exact point. In many areas in the west, in open terrain, close enough is good enough. In other areas I hunt, navigating through dense woods, cleacut, swamp, hitting a precise spot is fairly important and way more efficient than thrashing around a clearcut/thicket/swamp.

OnX has been a game changer for hunting private land borders and I find the combo terrain and terrain with topo line overlay very useful when navigating.

At $60/year, it is worth every penny.