eidsvolling
Member
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2006
- Messages
- 48
They say confession is good for the soul. We're about to find out.
This was my first deer hunting season, after 17 years of working as a SAR dog handler that had left little time for other pursuits. I will unblushingly call myself an expert in wilderness navigation, having practiced and taught it for more than 35 years in AK, MN, NH, and WA. I have preached the "map and compass first, then the GPS" sermon many hundreds of times.
When I equipped myself for deer hunting, I included my GPS receiver along with topo maps and compass. I used the GPS to record my track and some waypoints along the way. One of those waypoints was a spot I stood forty yards from a brush-obscured four-pointer. Another was an ambush location overlooking three scrapes that made ME salivate on the last day of the season.
The other day I was reading on an Alaska outdoor forum the text of new ethical rules for guides. This one caught my eye: Field craft standards. All classes of guides shall . . . avoid utilizing, in any manner, global positioning system (GPS) or other electronic devices to assist in the taking of a big game animal[.]
I felt like I'd been struck by the proverbial two-by-four upside the head. What the hell was I doing?
Short answer: I'd used advanced technology to give myself an edge that conflicted with my developing hunting ethic. I take pride in going out alone, prepared to deal with the backcountry challenges of the weather, the terrain, whitetail canniness, and the hoped-for difficulty of field dressing and hauling a deer out of the woods solo. Using a GPS receiver to mark deer locations was antithetical to all that, in my perspective.
It's all about line drawing, and I just found mine. YMMV, and I'm not here to disparage your choices, only to offer mine for discussion.
This was my first deer hunting season, after 17 years of working as a SAR dog handler that had left little time for other pursuits. I will unblushingly call myself an expert in wilderness navigation, having practiced and taught it for more than 35 years in AK, MN, NH, and WA. I have preached the "map and compass first, then the GPS" sermon many hundreds of times.
When I equipped myself for deer hunting, I included my GPS receiver along with topo maps and compass. I used the GPS to record my track and some waypoints along the way. One of those waypoints was a spot I stood forty yards from a brush-obscured four-pointer. Another was an ambush location overlooking three scrapes that made ME salivate on the last day of the season.
The other day I was reading on an Alaska outdoor forum the text of new ethical rules for guides. This one caught my eye: Field craft standards. All classes of guides shall . . . avoid utilizing, in any manner, global positioning system (GPS) or other electronic devices to assist in the taking of a big game animal[.]
I felt like I'd been struck by the proverbial two-by-four upside the head. What the hell was I doing?
Short answer: I'd used advanced technology to give myself an edge that conflicted with my developing hunting ethic. I take pride in going out alone, prepared to deal with the backcountry challenges of the weather, the terrain, whitetail canniness, and the hoped-for difficulty of field dressing and hauling a deer out of the woods solo. Using a GPS receiver to mark deer locations was antithetical to all that, in my perspective.
It's all about line drawing, and I just found mine. YMMV, and I'm not here to disparage your choices, only to offer mine for discussion.