Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Looking for a new GPS!

Jackfish, You are a fountain of knowledge!
<br>This is a GPS Topo Map for part of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota (South of Wall, SD). I chopped it and reduced the quality to get the image down to acceptable limits for this forum. I have no idea how this compares to other manufacturers, I only have the Vista.
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OK, I'm convinced. I want one just to play with!

Hi there, I used to have Magellan trailblaser GPS which was ok,but was extremely slow. I suppose if you dont know which way is out, it dont matter how long the unit takes to lock on.A good deal came along and five of us bought the garmin 12 unit. Its easy to use and and heaps of features,and as quick as any in locking on to satellites. But because they are a electrical gadget, you should not leave home without a good map and compass.

Thanks to all with the responses! I am getting excited to purchase one.
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<br>DLK...that is a great picture and I will be waiting for tests to come back from wannatikka.
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<br>But I have to agree that they are electrical devices...I never leave home without a good map and compass as backup!
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<br>Tom

Hey guys,
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<br>Well I took out my new Garmin Legend this weekend during scouting and I must say that it seems to be a well made piece of gear. The functionality and "click stick" navigation button made moving through screens/menus easy. It's easy to enter/store waypoints and you can name them and give them custom icons for viewing on the map. I still haven't gotten the MapSource topo maps yet, but I think that would be a great means of plotting out scrapes, trails, & beds along with extra topographical information. Bow season starts this weekend, so I'll give it a more thorough workout.
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<br>Another nice plus is that Garmin now has a $50 rebate on the Legend, Vista, and Summit models.
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<br>Rebate Offer
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<br>Take care
<br>wannatikka

Sounds Great, I'm Sold!
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<br>Just got authorization from the Boss! Anyone who is married knows who that is!!!
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<br>Tom

I know old thread, but just joined the forum so got to looking it over.
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<br>It is hard to beat the E-Trex (I have both the Summit and Vista). Vista is always on and in the pickup. Comes in real handy while traveling. The main thing is: DO NOT try to depend on your GPS until you have had a chance to really get to know it and what all it will do for you and ALWAYS carry and extra set of batteries. SWMBO is even learning to use the Summit. This will come in handy during deer season as long as she tells me the coordinates she is at, then I can set hers as a waypoint on mine so I will know where she is.
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<br>For some of the best knowledge on GPS's and comparing one to another go to www.geocaching.com .
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<br>This is something I do in the little bit of spare time I have in the summer months, just for an excuse to get out of the house now and then.

I just got back from a trip where I used my new Etrez Summit for the first time.. I have had a Magellan and most recently a Garmin III but found them to complicated for what I wanted, a small, handy and accurate GPS that aquires fast and gives me the information I want.
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<br>It has three very neat features. An altimeter, a barometer and an electronic compass that doesn't require you to be walking fast to get a direction of travel.
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<br>I spotted a deer on a ridge across the canyon and with the compass set up a course to it and was able to go around the canyon and back on the course line to the point where ther deer was, (very cool). Unfortunately he wasn't there anymore but I located the spot with very little effort.
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<br>The batteries lasted the whole 4 days the way I used it and were not a problem.
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<br>I don't have any need for mapping (I carry a topo if needed). I don't care what the next town on the road is. I have given the other two away as tips to outfitters and was actually glad to get rid of them.
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<br>$205.00 on ebay with a $50.00 rebate from Garmin.
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<br>Very pleased.

Tass, my hunting partner had the Vista this time out. What a great little unit. I think the main difference is in the amount of memory. The Vista has 24MB of memory. He downloaded the topo maps for the area we were hunting in and it was amazing. I was using an old Eagle Explorer and it was great for checking exactly where I was on the map. But the Vista had all kinds of useful features. Looked like the topo map was about a 50ft per elevation line scale, but you could zoom in and out if you wanted to. You can mark where you are, then move the cursor (mouse-like pointer) to where you want to be on the map and mark it. The unit then gives you all the data on how to get there. You can do it in theory with any unit, but this was so easy it was amazing. Nice unit.
<br>Love the GPS for getting a fix on exact locations, but spent most of my time in the woods and used the compass to stay on course. Haven't done that much compass work in a long time, forgot just how critical a skill it is. Easy to get turned around in the deep woods.
<br>Good luck with the GPS. I need to upgrad too.
<br>I like the idea of Garmin's RINO, but I need to check out the level of topo mapping available. That feature was great on the Vista.
<br>What else? The vista took about twice as long to capture satellites as the old Eagle Explorer and the screen could be a little tough to see at times, but other than those minor complaints it is a great product.