Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting GPS in the backcountry

My friends and I will be hunting the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness this September; we have good topo maps, GPSs and if course good old fashioned compasses. Haven't bought my GPS yet but will soon. My biggest concern is battery life. We will be out for two weeks, most of the units seem to average 16 hours or so. I understand this is probably continuous use, not sure if this includes standby time. Just curious how others handles this. Do you shut the unit down and only power it up the check your bearing or do you pack in a boat load of extra batteries?

Just turn mine on to check. Batteries tend to last a whole season with moderate use.

Turning them on only when needed will make the batteries last a long time.

What are you guys hunting if you don't mind me asking?



Travis

Hunting elk. We got the combo tag.

Cool.

I have never carried more than one extra set of batteries but I am real conservative with my use of electronics.

Best of luck.



Travis

For backcountry use, I spend the extra for the disposable lithium batteries. They have better life than alkaline cells and tolerate cold better. I turn the GPS on long enough to orient and then shut it down again. The batteries last a long time like that.

Thanks guys. That's what I w planning on and hoping would work. I agree about the lithium batteries.

For a week long hunting trip and using only long enough to get a bearing I use one set of lithium batteries. For two weeks I would bring two extra sets, as the batteries shut down quickly with not much of a warning.

Having the world's worst sense of direction, I use a GPS, A LOT. My Garmin Dakota is lucky to get all day use in cold weather. My old Etrex was better but not a lot. I use lithium batteries, start each day with a fresh set, and a set of spares in my pack. The manufactureres estimate of battery life is a little optimistic.

One thing I would do...

Track down Team HUNT's, On x maps mobile app for IOS and Android (probably have to call their Missoula office) It's a brand new product they're just releasing that I've been playing with. The land ownership and hunting district overlays don't do much for me. However, it has topo maps, and hi res satellite imagery features as well. You can get a whole lot of scouting done while you're supposed to be working, and as an extra added bonus, it gives you something better to do while taking a dump than playing Angry Birds.

Another hint... The software package for PCs will be available soon.

Another trick to saving battery life is to turn off the backlight during the day.

Never have been a fan of hand held GPS, the weight/benefit doesn't justify room in my pack. I do carry a smart phone.

My experience is I check my position a couple of times a day. rarely more often than that unless there is no horizon due to weather. When that happens I get turned around pretty easily. fresh set with a spare you should be fine.
Enjoy your hunt

royce
how do you rate the dakota and etrex for ease of use? have you got a favorite.

my etrex took a dive on a gravel bar in alaska and something new well be needed.

rayporter
The Etex, at least the older model I have is much much easier to use than the Dakota. That is the very basic model of the etrex.

Royce

thank you
i will quit lusting for a dakota

Another alternative is to use rechargeable batteries. These offer much longer battery life than traditional batteries, and one can even get a solar charger for them. Switch sets every day or two and you will be good to go. I have used them in a garmin Colorado? all day in the winter and can get just about 2 full days out of them, compared to less than one with regular alkaline batteries.

The unit, and I suspect satellite geometry affect battery life. If you are having a day of poor reception in a place with few sattellites, battery life will be less.

fred

For the past 4 years my hunting buddy and I have carried Garmin Rino hand held GPS with high power radios. The older model 530 hCx's have an excellent battery life, and have never failed us. We are older hunters and seldom hunt together so, it is important to know each other's position and to be able to communicate. With the Rino's, we get the best of both worlds. Even when I hunt alone, I still carry my Rino.