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...

Well, I've had the PN40 for a few days now. For $30/year you can download unlimited aerial photos or USGS quads, not to mention other data types. I'm really amazed at what this unit can do; blown away in fact. I've been running a barebones etrex for more years than I can remember, and it's served me well for what I needed. I can see how this unit will make me a better hunter, particularly when hitting new country with the photos and topo overlay. It's super easy to get right to those funnels and other spots that it might take a while to find if you were without this technology. I'm glad I waited...was gonna get the Garmin 60csx as I had played with a buddies...but this one is better yet.

I may have to take a trip down to Polson and check it out. I'm still running an old school Magellan and USGS quadrangles.

You know how hard it is to find aerial photo's in Montana??

If one really wants the best? A Trimble GeoXT. Can display any aerial photo or map one can think of in full color. I can see individual trees, rocks, and fence posts on the 25 square mile image loaded in the one on my desk. With software one can determine positions to within about 3 or 4 inches. Comes in really handy if one happens to drop a dime out in the woods. About 5 grand and another 2.5 grand for accompanying software. Rest assured, however, it will not fit in a shirt pocket. Your Garmin friend will be impressed.

Dan: Try your local county planning office, BLM, NRCS, or USFS office and ask to see their GIS person. There are NAIP images available for the entire US that have 1/2 meter resolution (4 pixels per squre meter). I have the images for my county in electronic form (about 10,000 square miles). It amounts to about 20 gigs, so it would be good to pack a portable hard drive. I was lucky and got mine for fee, but I suspect one can get them for his county or state for 30 to $100. ONe can tell if his rig was home or the kid left the lawn mower in the yard when the image was taken.

Hmmmmm ...very interesting. I recently got one of those $199 Vista bundles and have been trying to figure this all out. Unfortunately, I am technologically challenged when it comes to computers/mapping software and programs. You guys are way ahead of me so here's a question for ya.

Can anyone tell me how I can overlay a topo map with an aerial of the same area and then mark land status boundaries for a Garmin Vista?

Is there a way to do it for a specific area(to help keep the memory space down) Or should I buy the card for the whole state?

I don't need the kind of scale 1minute is talking about, nor do I have the coin for it. But having everything roughly on one map is a really neat idea, if its possible to get......

Thanks,

OSD

We used the Garmin Colorado last year on an elk hunt just east of Pagosa Springs. That thing was wicked but ate batteries like it was going out of style.

Another vote of confidence for the Garmin 60csx. I sheepishly have to admit that mine has saved me a couple times. It holds signal under the heaviest tree canopies. I like the bigger screen and the menu's are intuitive. No regrets here at all.

Can't do it with a Vista (or any of the Etrex or 60 series).

You can do it with all the new Oregon & Dakota Series via Google Earth.

Also can do it with the Delorme units via their own software & their aerial maps.

MM

I had never heard of the Delorme PN-40 until this thread, so I can't comment on it, but I did want to point out that you can buy it at Amazon for $234 at the moment.

http://www.amazon.com/DeLorme-Earth...lectronics&qid=1260199176&sr=8-1

I use a Garmin 76csx and am happy with it. I chose it over the 60csx because it supposedly floats, but I've never dropped it in the water, so that feature may not have been necessary. You never know, though.

I've looked at the Delorme units........the screen display is very good, but a bit on the small side, especially compared to the new Garmin Oregon's.

The only real criticisms I seen in various reviews of them is that due to the amount/complexity of the menu system not being as intuitive as Garmin, the learning curve is a bit long & the other major issue being the restricted & slow download rate of maps from Delorme when you buy the unlimited maps download.

I'd really like to hear from some here who've bought the unlimited download package & can tell what their experience is.

MM

I've had no issues with downloads. Obviously the bigger the area you cut out to download the longer it takes per download. The downloads I've done have been available to add to my map data within a few minutes.

Thanks...............That's good news; the Delorme is a nice unit, best, brightest screen I've seen. Just wish it was a bit bigger.

MM

Also have had no issues with downloading from Delorme. I got to use the PN040 a lot this year and am totally pleased with it. Having the sat photos overlaid on topo is the catz azz, as an earlier poster commented. I went into some areas cold this year and having that info in my hand made me feel like I knew what I was doing and where I was going (though the elk and deer are still laffin).

No matter which Etrex you get, make double sure it is a HCx model, much better receiver, and the color models are sure easy to see in the sunlight.

Thanks MM.....

Just got the Delorme 40 for <$230 on Yahoo w/free shipping.
With power kit and case <$300
I've always been a Garmin owner but time for a change. This will be replacing a Garmin V, I've had since 1999.
Looks like it will take some learning.

I have the Garmin 60csx and while the unit is very good, IMHO the topomaps suck big style...

The new Garmin's are able to us "real" topo maps ie those from Ordinance Survey, but from the reviews I've read, the units still have a few bugs in them..

I'm seriously thinking about switching to an Active 10, which is a PDA based GPS which just about smokes anything Garmin or Magellan produce.





The only down side is that they are expensive, especially if you want to buy OS Mapping for a lot of different areas..But the mapping *is* excellent..Below is a small extract from an OS, and when loaded onto the newer GPS such as the Active 10 or Colorado, it is duplicated exactly on the display..


The makers of the Active 10 are also thinking about putting balistic software on it, or tweaking the existing software that you can down load your own onto it..

I like my Garmin Etrex Vista with a public land topo map by the Hunting GPS Maps guy.




They have pretty much all of the Western States now

yep.

I like the idea of the Rino 530HCX, but make sure your buddies aren't all cheap Pr**ks and you end up having the only one in camp. I have no complaints with mine, but it sure would be alot nicer if your entire crew had them.

I've been thinking about a GPS as I have never used one.
So this has been a good thread for me to read. I thought the below quote is pretty good.
Thanks,
Dew

Need a new GPS this year?
Try the BIBLE.

Here is my new one - best I've ever owned (by far) and best I've ever used. The touch-screen and built-in camera are TOO cool!

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=26876&ra=true

Dew, so I am on the same page as you, once I read the bible I will be as lost as you are? Hence I need a GPS? Just want to be sure I am reading you correctly.

Are we talking about paper topos or software? The nautical maps for my etrex are great, they look just like the paper nautical maps, but I think the software topo maps for the etrex are lousy.

I think he' talking about the kirsh outdoors land status software. They have new sd cards out for NM and WY as well as ND, MN and MT.

Goto www.koutdoorproducts.com

Actually I think he's talking about huntinggpsmaps.com

+1 on the Garmin 60CSx. I hunt alone, so don't need the features of the Rino. Some have better topo maps, but I'll take reception over better maps any day. The reception of the 60CSx is the best I've seen.

x2 on the 60CSx, with the memory card I added I have topo for the entire state and the ability to add and remove other states that I might hunt. The reason I bought it was for it's ability to receive a signal under the thickest cover, and it will receive a full signal while in my house. My previous gps would always lose a signal when I was on the way to my spot, which is very frustrating. I also upload ArcMap shape files to my unit which helps me find property lines when using it for work.