GPS Dependant?

[Stealth1id]

Are you GPS dependant? If you forgot your GPS at home or lost it while hunting could you still hunt effectivly? I ask this question because it seems so many people are totally reliant on there electronic gear anymore. The areas that I Hunt I learned before I had a GPS. It seems now that everyone has one I have a lot more competition indeep than I ever did pre GPS.

 

[Simplebiology]

You are correct GPS has made it possible to go "deeper" into the mountains.
I always carry a GPS and once did feel like I needed it. I always carry maps and a compass. I spend hours studying the maps and feel confident that I do not need the GPS however the time I felt disoriented it sure was reassuring to have it availible to take a peak at where my camp was.

 

[buckykm1]

I have and use a GPS, but at 60 years old, I was using a Compass long before a GPS was ever around and will always carry my compass too. with the mapping systems they have now for a GPS it makes it easier to tell private from NF, but I still go in about the same distance.

Kevin

 

[Big Tex]

I would say I'm GPS reliant during my hunt but I carry detailed maps of the area, marked with my camp spot and ill pull them out to confirm my bearings throughout the day....doesn't mean I haven't had some tense hours wandering in dark looking for camp when the GPS was swirling though. ???

 

[nclonghunter]

Great tool to have, but I would go with out it.

 

[birddog]

Great tool but it won't help when your batteries die. Nothing bears,a good map and compass and knowing how to use it correctly.

 

[MTbowhunter1984]

Very much dependant on mine.  I hunt some areas that are only 1 section in size and want to make sure i know exactly where my boundaries are.  Some i know very well but also spend time hunting new areas.  I just make sure to carry enough batteries.

 

[wapiti_will]

Don't need it to navigate my way around the mountains.  But its nice for marking and easily finding wallows, camp sites, bedding areas, trail cameras, start of a blood trail, etc.

 

[Bradyshawn]

I don't have one and have never used one. There has been a few times I have brought up the satellite image on my phone to use as a referance. But most of my hunting is done in the same places year after year.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I use mine quite a bit to mark wallows, rub areas, sighting, etc. I always have the gps, map, and compass with me.
It does make it easier for the average joe to get in deeper with less concern though.

Just as an aside I have had a compass fail on me.

 

[GoatT]

I will take mine in when I hunt a new area.  Most areas I hunt now I have hunted for many years so no GPS needs as I know most of the area (trails, wallows, water sources, bedding areas, roads, etc.)

 

[ghost]

I take mine with me every time. I don't usually use it as I'm very familiar with where I hunt, still,  I have camp mark as a waypoint in it. Last year, we tracked a bull for many miles until dark where we lost track of the blood. We had a general idea of where we were but in the dart we got turned around. I pulled my GPS out and mark the last place we found blood so we could come back in the morning and resume tracking. I entered find "Camp" waypoint and my hunting partner said that the GPS was way off. I agreed with him as it seemed that we would be going about 90* to where we should be going back. But I told him that we should still follow the GPS for a little while. As we made our way back my partner said 3 more times that we were going in the wrong direction. I managed to convinced him all 3 times to stick with it. Sure enough, the GPS took us right back to camp. 


I don't think we would have been lost for long if we had gone the wrong way, as we would have come across several landmarks we are very familiar with. However, it would have made of a long hike back to camp had we not followed the "wrong" GPS.

 

[Jimbow65]

No, I have mine in my pack, but dont turn it on unless I want to mark something, or track myself on a trail.

 

[Msd]

I'm not afraid to admit that I'm rather directionally incompetent, and I've gotten myself lost more than once, though nothing I wasn't able to find my way back out of. I never go in the woods without a small compass pinned to my shirt, and another proper compass + GPS in my pack. I'm a prairie dweller, and hunting in the timber just throws me for a complete loop.

 

[idelkslayer]

I don't own a GPS and I don't have plans to purchase one.  Even though I am a younger guy (late 20's) I tend more towards the old fashioned way of doing a lot of things.  I carry a map and compass when I go hunting and I am very competent in their use.  I do hunt some of the same areas each year but I like to explore a few new places each year as well.  I do a lot of map research and google earth before and after each outing. 

I don't think that a GPS would change anything about the way I hunt.  I'm not really sure what other hunters use their GPS for anyways. 

 

[MT_mulies]

I've never used one, but I have hunted the same area since I was 12 and know the area very well. This year I moved to norhern Idaho and don't know the area at all. I will probably buy a topo map and use that for hunting this year.