GPS for hunting

[Koda]

It really is time for me to get my head out of "how I used to do it" and get into the 21st century. I guess my concern was battery life but I can get a decent battery pack to plug into my smartphone when it gets low. I was planning on carrying spare batteries for my GPS anyway so it won't be an issue to carry a pack for the phone.

Thanks for the posts I appreciate the input, and yes, looking at Onx website it does appear to have GMU's as a feature.

Airplane mode and a battery pack works great. I think a tip is if you upgrade your phone get the best you can afford they have better battery efficiency. I can go all day recording tracks and waypoints with mine but I paid a lot when I upgraded.
Get a battery pack thats at least twice the MaH rating as your phones battery. The packs MaH rating divided by your phones battery MaH rating will give you an estimate on how many recharges you will get in the field. I usually subtract 1 charge just to be safe...

 

[MymuttBear]

I just bought a Samsung S22 which is a big step up from my S7. I just hate getting used to a phone and then needing to upgrade hence the big gap between a S7 and a S22. I won't leave it so long next time but I think that's what I said when I got the S7...


Edit:
I just had a look at the battery rating on the S22 Plus and the Ultra and I am feeling the need to kick myself

 

[Koda]

I just bought a Samsung S22 which is a big step up from my S7. I just hate getting used to a phone and then needing to upgrade hence the big gap between a S7 and a S22. I won't leave it so long next time but I think that's what I said when I got the S7...

they want you to upgrade every 2 years, but Im frugal and dont. I make certain to buy the highest end I can afford when I do, but my last phone lasted me about 9ish years and my current phone is now about 5 years old and I have no plans to upgrade. I did a 5 day pack in hunt last year and with my battery pack had enough juice to keep my phone and headlamps charged.

 

[Jason Brown]

For those who cannot afford OnX or a top of the line gps unit, you can do pretty well using a combo of google maps(which also lets you download maps for offline use) and the maps of DNR public land. Both are available completely cost free, only requiring you to have at least a smartphone/personal computer.

My method is to examine the public land borders, finding any roads that may be used to access the land, then mark the areas or boundaries on the google map to use in the field. So far this has been sufficient to keep me from unintentionally trespassing on anyone's private land.

 

[coyote223]

I have a Garmin Montana, but I use OnX a lot more. Most areas I go to have no cell service, download the area and it works great,,,

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

I am partial to the Rhino it is nice to be able to see your people in your party. I also like that you can pull up the trails back at camp and see who was wondering all over lol !

 

[Howard1955]

Well, if any of you come up with a way to put a GPS tag on Bambi during the off season (when they're grazing in my front yard), let me know. It would make finding him so much easier when the hunting season starts and he goes into hiding.

 

[Koda]

Well, if any of you come up with a way to put a GPS tag on Bambi during the off season (when they're grazing in my front yard), let me know. It would make finding him so much easier when the hunting season starts and he goes into hiding.

They sell GPS collars for dogs, but if you go this route I wanna see a youtube vid of you catching and collering a deer....

 

[Howard1955]

They sell GPS collars for dogs, but if you go this route I wanna see a youtube vid of you catching and collering a deer....

And a follow up video of me being hauled off to the pokey by a game warden!

 

[dplev4]

Garmin Oregon, Garmin Montana with Onyx chip. My iPhone with Onyx is more convenient to use and I do use it, but it's not near as reliable as the Garmin products which are always in contact with satellites versus towers. Don't have cell reception where I hunt and even down loading for offline use isn't always as accurate as tracking on the Garmin.
For what it is worth it took me getting lost for about five hours in the Coast Range (which I have hunted for years) before I got the Garmin.
Oh and an extra set of batteries. Battery life is poor.