making the most of a GPS

[jmr40]

Lots of guys don't feel the need to use one. But for those who do, or may be thinking about it I wanted to post some of the things I've been able to do with mine in the last month. They are useful for a lot more than just finding your way out of the woods.

I STRONGLY recommend something like the Garmin 64 series or something with an external antennae. The cheaper units are basically useless in wooded areas where they can't get a signal. I volunteer with a SAR team and have seen too many guys struggle to make the cheap units or phones work during actual searches and training exercises. To get the most out of it you need to be able to download onto your computer. I can print the topo maps, but have not figured out how to upload them. But I can do it with Google Maps, so all of the included graphics are in that format.

This is a map of yesterdays hunt on Dawson Forrest WMA in N Central GA. I parked at waypoint 34 and walked SE for about 100 yards and hunted that spot for about an hour. I forgot to turn on the GPS tracking initially but did so before leaving. I walked to the bank of the Etowah river and still hunted in the flood plain moving NE for about 1/2 mile before heading up a ridge and making my way back to the truck.

I then drove to the remains of an old bridge. There is an abandoned rail line running alongside the river to the west that I checked out. The straight line heading to the north is where I turned it off. You can see where I turned the GPS back on a short distance down the road. I had planned to explore a couple of Jeep trails on the way back and record them. But where the line stops I met a Game Warden and spent about 30 minutes talking. He told me what I needed to know about those areas so I didn't go there.

I noticed a creek that emptied into the river about 200 yards ahead on my GPS, but didn't walk that far. After getting home and down loading the tracks on my computer I like the looks of that area. The coordinates of the yellow pin are in my GPS and I'll go back there in a week or so and hunt that creek bottom. You can see it running NW and where it crosses the power line in the top center of the photo.

I've got a few more maps to show but will do it in separate posts.

 

[jmr40]

This is the area where I did all of my archery hunting this year. This is a local WMA only about 15-20 minutes from home. But since I almost always hunt alone something like this could be valuable if something happens. Waypoint 29 is where I parked. I hunted each day somewhere inside the lines I drew on the map. I can print a copy of this and give it to my wife. If I don't come home, searchers know where to find the body.

 

[jmr40]

This is from a backpack hunt earlier this month. Waypoint 31 is the trail head, 30 is were the trail forks with a 2nd trail going to the right. I was in there for 2 nights and was conserving batteries. I only turned the GPS on to mark those points and didn't lay down tracks. I knew if I got in trouble getting back to either of those would get me on an established trail and back to the truck. I camped at the yellow pin which I added after downloading.

This is a very remote area BTW. The trail head is 20 miles from pavement.

 

[wombat13]

I have a Garmin 60CSx and use it to mark anything of interest on our hunting property: bear sign, major creek crossings, camera locations, etc. I plot my marks to Google Maps, but I'd like to find proper mapping software that would make it easier to print nice maps.

 

[Sunray]

"...finding your way out of the woods..." If 100 meters is close enough. GPS doesn't tell you about the great big cliff, holes in the ground or all those folds in the dirt or how much 'up' there is between you and home either. Better to learn to read a map and use a compass. Analog GPS always works. snicker.
That a fault line at point 929 in post #2? GPS won't mention them either.

 

[gspn]

I have a Garmin 62S and it's worked pretty well for me. I was able to access and upload free topo maps for every state in which I hunt. Combining preloaded topo maps makes the unit so much more functional. For example, when I went out west to hunt I could use the topo on my GPS to tell if I was going to be able to get all the way down to the valley floor if I went a certain direction, or if I'd hit a cliff and have to hike back up the hill. Since I live at sea level and was hunting at 6k to 7k feet I REALLY didn't want to have to do any unnecessary backtracking and uphill hiking!

I can also upload all of my topo maps to Garmins base camp, then use it to view my routes after the fact, or plan routes before I go. Lots of cool software out there if you do some digging. Probably the best I found was GPSFileDepot. Lots of great maps for free.

And I always carry a compass as a backup.

 

[Robert]

"...finding your way out of the woods..." If 100 meters is close enough. GPS doesn't tell you about the great big cliff, holes in the ground or all those folds in the dirt or how much 'up' there is between you and home either. Better to learn to read a map and use a compass. Analog GPS always works. snicker.
That a fault line at point 929 in post #2? GPS won't mention them either.

A good GPS unit, Garmin or the like, will be accurate to less than 10m and in some cases more accurate than that. Sure, it is not a Tremble unit, but then they don't need to be sub foot accurate. For something that fits in a pocket the modern personal GPS units are pretty awesome.

 

[Browning Guy]

One thing i used to do was to go after the deer season or in early spring and walk the deer trails in my hunting area. Then come home and transfer the routes to my maps on my computer. I then had a "roadmap" of the area. It sometimes helps to get a different perspective on how things relate to each other that you might not realize while going boots on the ground. It also helps to explain to a new guy that you might bring to the area just how things relate. That combined with waypoints to show bedding areas, staging areas, etc gave a greater overall picture of a piece of ground. Just another useful tool in the toolbox.

 

[jmr40]

"...finding your way out of the woods..." If 100 meters is close enough. GPS doesn't tell you about the great big cliff, holes in the ground or all those folds in the dirt or how much 'up' there is between you and home either. Better to learn to read a map and use a compass. Analog GPS always works. snicker.
That a fault line at point 929 in post #2? GPS won't mention them either.

You are obviously clueless about how to use a GPS, of course they tell you about big cliffs, and holes in the ground etc. Mine is accurate to within about 3',not 100'. Which was the point of my original post, to educate people about possible uses they hadn't considered.. Once you actually put in some time to learn how to use them, and purchase a good unit instead of a toy they can be very useful. Yes, I can read a map and use a compass too. But I can do so much more with the GPS. Being able to download your tracks on maps after the hunt can be very educational for future hunts. Using Google earth to scout and then enter waypoints for potential hunting spots you can do some pretty amazing things.

I'd had a GPS for years, but never really mastered what they could do. Since getting involved with a Search and Rescue team I've had to master them and learn how to use many functions that most hunters never consider. They have proven to be invaluable in "hunting" for lost or missing persons, why not use the same technology to hunt for game. I've taken the experiences I've used in SAR and applied them to hunting as well.