Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting GPS envy!

My hunting pard showed up with a Garmin Etrex Vista this year. The topo maps were bitchin', and totally smoked the crude topo maps on my Magellan Sporttrak Topo that was top of the line 6-7 years ago when I bought it. I now have serious GPS envy.

Thoughts on topo GPS's? What's best?

Garmin 60 CSX with MTTrax software. Haven't seen anything better. Ownership data for the whole state.

60CSX is the best IMO. My buddy loaded some maps on mine and they are very good for my area.

The maps on Jerry's were killer- had all the trails and most of the NF logging roads, too.

The topo's on mine are so crude that it's sometimes a challenge to even match it to a (paper) topo map without zooming way out...

Like I said, GPS envy! The money was spent 1st time I tried his... grin... it's inevitable now...

I had the 60CSX Garmin until an unfortunate tumble down a snowy slope sent it AWOL last year. I replaced it with an Oregon, and I swear that the Oregon doesn't pick up the satellites as well.
Don

While I've been very happy with the Garmin 60 that I use quite a bit for work, the Delorme PN-40 REALLY has my interest.

Cabelas has Etrex Vista bundles w/software/cards for $199 only at the stores as part of the Deer Days sale or whatever. Considering they're usually $350+ thats a deal.

Ranger1....you have a link to that MTTrax software? I've been looking for one with land ownership on it, not just topo.

Thanks,

OSD

Wish they had it for more states!

http://www.koutdoorproducts.com/html/products.html

Friend of mine has a Garmin, can't remember which one and the maps kicks ass. It's much nicer than my GPS, but mine has got to be 10+ years old, carried in a computer bag with a antenna taller than my CB radio (I'm exaggerating a little, but it's pretty old). I don't know if the maps for the Magellans are as nice, but I kind of figured my next GPS would be a Garmin based on my friend's GPS.

Thanks Steve.....appreciate it.

if you hunt with buddies and use radios, take a look at the Garmin Rino 530 HCX. You not only have the topo maps in color and all the wonders of a good GPS, but a kick ass radio, noaa weather radio channels, and....what I think is perhaps the coolest..... You can see where your buddies are on the topo maps. Battery life is awesome and you can get a AA battery pack as backup. We've been using these for a few years now and I think they are amazing. Wish they had shaded topos though.

I concur with the Rino 530 HCX. All 4 of my other hunting buddies and myself run these. Its nice when you get an animal down and need help packing it out. What we do is if we hear a gunshot it either means the person is hurt or has an animal down, which in either case we turn on our radio and wait for them to contact us. The trick is when you shoot a big one is tell them over the radio its small animal, then they are much more willing to come if they are coming with the mindset its a small one. Once they get there and its huge, well its too late for them to turn back now. The radio feature in my mind is a nice safety feature when hunting parties split up. And as a rule only really turn the radio poriton of our GPSs on if we hear a gunshot.

That's pretty much exactly what we do (keep it fair chase). We have designated times to touch base. If a deer gets harvested, then these radios help a ton to find one another. Funny how I can never reach anyone right away after I down an animal. The safety factor alone makes these worth it imo. Love the weather radio when we're in the mountains too.

We are typically at least a mile from one another, so these help reduce the wasted time searching.

That Etrex Vista bundle is out of stock via catalog til Nov. 10th.
However, all is not lost. Quite a few stores have them in stock and of course will honor the internet sale.

While I'm a huge Garmin fan, I just picked up the Delorme PN-40 and it's the cats arse. The maps available are head and shoulders above what Garmin offers, not to mention the HD aerial photos that you can download also.

Picks up sats just as good if not better than the CSX and is lightning fast.

Another nod for the Rino 530 HCX. Maps are fine, operation is simple and the weather radio is nice but the ability to communicate and route to a signal is pretty damn handy.
Even when I solo hunt archery and I feel the safety factor of the radio is worth it. I find there is usually someone else in the area when I scan the channels - and that could be a life saver. When hunting with others I agree with the above comments - one evening during early season I saw this work first hand when another hunter in the same area shot a 6x6 bull . He called his other 3 buddies and even with 4 guys working hard it - it was after 11 before the work was done and those meat bags were hanging on a pole in camp. It would have been a real bitch alone. Since I was hunting solo and I figured I'd have been at it all night. And with the bear activity I was seeing - that just did sound like much fun. When I returned from that trip - I ponied up the cash and bought the Rino.

magellan has always been junk.

Most any of the Garmins are good, we still run earlier versions of the Rino and they do well. I"ve seen the 60 and its impressive.

DeLorme has good software from what I've seen but was generally a really expensive unit IIRC and not as common to other units like the radio. From what I recall I"d have rather had the DeLorme, but cost and compatability was not there.

I've been looking for a new GPS and you guys got me going. I just found a Delorme PN40 for $300 and pulled the trigger on it. I'll let you all know what I think after I put it through the paces this season.

Rost-

The Delorme is the same price as the 60 and cheaper than the Oregon...