Public Land Navigation

This forum section is for the select few who believe in hard work and refuse to “Buy” success.
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Indianahunter
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby Indianahunter » Mon Apr 26, 2010 2:44 pm

I bought the GPS primarily for scouting. I have found that it is an excellent way of seeing the terrain you have covered in relation to what you may have missed for future trips. I like it for marking bedding areas and access routes, and for pre-setting coordinates from aerial scouting from home on the computer and then going to see if the spot has any potential. I have an ever increasing desire however to rely more on printed maps and a compass. If anyone has a link or suggestion for a good website to print maps and aerials I would be very grateful. I like Acme mapper for online use but whenever I try and print a map it is usually all messed up. In addition who makes a good accurate compass? I have a cheap one I carry in my backpack but it surely isn't durable and if yo aren't holding it perfectly flat the needle sticks. Recommendations appreciated my fellow beasts.


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DEERSLAYER
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Mon Apr 26, 2010 3:30 pm

I use Mapcard, but it is $20 a year. However, if you go here and punch in coordinates for one of your spots a "directory" will come up of multiple sites with arials, topo's and other stuff. You should be able to find something free that will work for you on there.

http://toolserver.org/~geohack/

If you can't find anything that works then let us know and I'm sure we can come up with something. I can alway's do it on Mapcard and send you the file to print if necessary, but I doubt it will come to that.
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Indianahunter
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby Indianahunter » Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:42 am

Thanks Deerslayer! I was going to purchase a subscription but got a message saying that it is an untrusted site and that someone is impersonating the site or tampering with my connection. Have you ever had this happen before? FYI I am running Windows 7 Ultimate.
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby adrenalin » Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:49 pm

Man, all you guys are living in the stone age. I saw at the deer expo these really cool green and red flashing lights you put all over the woods so you can find your stand. Rumor has it you can see them from outerspace. Seriously though the dude selling these things had a video where a guy gets out of his truck in the dark, turns on the lights in his tree stand and then walks to it. I had to walk away before I said something stupid.
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Indianahunter
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby Indianahunter » Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:56 pm

I hate to even admit this.....I bought some a few years ago, because I almost always end up setting all the family stands on my own because no one will help then they don't know how to get there and I am sure not wasting my time walking everyone to the stands.....turns out they are worthless and this should be posted in the worst product section. They don't work worth a hoot and eat batteries like nobodies business.
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DEERSLAYER
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Tue Apr 27, 2010 4:21 pm

adrenalin wrote:...I had to walk away before I said something stupid.

:lol:


Indianahunter wrote:I hate to even admit this.....I bought some a few years ago...

Image Image

Indianahunter wrote:...I almost always end up setting all the family stands on my own because no one will help...

Tell them if they want to have a place to hunt they had better start getting their butts out there! :o Or are they your immediate family? (your wife & kids)

Indianahunter wrote:...turns out they are worthless and this should be posted in the worst product section. They don't work worth a hoot and eat batteries like nobodies business...


You should post it there!
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Indianahunter
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby Indianahunter » Wed Apr 28, 2010 1:38 pm

HA! HA! I like the rolling on the floor smileys...hehehehe. If I could have all the money back that I have wasted on worthless deer hunting products, I could buy a scouting trip with Dan for every member of this forum!
Yeah unfortunately it is mostly immediate family. Mainly Dad, and my brother who has four children and one buddy who is like a brother who lives out of town. He does help me but coordinating us both having a free weekend and him driving all the way here is difficult sometimes. Don't worry, I always save a few secret spots for me. My biggest problem is I am the only hard core deer fanatic in the bunch. Everyone else thinks I am crazy and spend too much time doing this stuff, and I am always disappointed at the lack of time I get to spend doing this.
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby virginiashadow » Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:58 pm

I just started getting into topo maps a couple of years. This past hunting season I added a GPS with contour lines. I hunt land where a lot of places look the same and you can get twisted around in an instant. So my strategy over the years was to hunt close to lakes, streams, and creeks so that if I got lost I could just trail the waterway back to a central or end location. But many of the spots I hunt these days I scout 3-4 days in the off-season, and come the regular hunting season I can't remember every nook and cranny, so I bust out the GPS when I enter in the morning, then try to get out in the evening without the aid of the GPS unless it is complete darkness.

I find that the more I use my GPS, the less I pay attention to the natural landscape. That iS BAD because wheh you get sloppy, you get you lost. In fact, I got lost this year when I was in deep and entered my stand using my GPS. I had never hunted the area, but on a hunch I used some of the contours of the land based on the Hill Country DVD to pick a spot based on the wind. It had been pouring rain, and the winds were howling when all of the sudden the rain stopped the last 10 minutes of daylight. I had a beauty of a 2.5 year walk past at 10 yards that I let pass, then all sorts of deer popped out of the woodwork. I stayed put because I did not want to spook the deer...the woods turned pitch black and I was nearly one mile deep in the timber with black skies overhead. My GPS would not link up with the satellites. It was absolute finding my way out. I actually had to listen for cars, then slowly move to the sound, then wait, then listen for cars, then move....it took me forever due to blowdowns, thick cover to get out. Never again will I solely rely on a gps unit. I bring a compass, a whistle, and a print out of the contour map.
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby magicman54494 » Wed Apr 28, 2010 3:30 pm

virginiashadow wrote:I find that the more I use my GPS, the less I pay attention to the natural landscape. That iS BAD because wheh you get sloppy, you get you lost.

How true!


virginiashadow wrote:the woods turned pitch black and I was nearly one mile deep in the timber with black skies overhead. My GPS would not link up with the satellites. It was absolute finding my way out.

I had this happen only I had my GPS but forgot my flashlight. I had to walk slowly with one hand out in front of me so I wouldn't bump into a tree or poke my eye out. It was a long slow walk out! I used my lighter to check my compass every so often.
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby Schultzy » Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:45 am

Been using a compass only In the northern woods of Mn In bear country for many years. Been using a compass and map only In the mountains of Montana and Idaho elk hunting. I will say this though that a GPS will be In my this year. It's time and I believe It will make me feel a little more comfortable In straying farther from camp while elk hunting. A GPS will also be awesome for tracking bear.
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Sat May 01, 2010 10:55 am

Scultzy, the GPS definitely comes in handy. Even so, I'll always have two compasses with me- if I was forced to give up one or the other, bye bye GPS.
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby dan » Wed Apr 29, 2015 4:25 am

Bump
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby fishlips » Wed Apr 29, 2015 5:22 am

I use a GPS for some of the spots I gun hunt. Going in at 3 am in the pitch black I have a tough time using visual landmarks to find my spot.

That being said, GPS is only so good. I don't know how accurate mine is, but I have had times where I have been 45' off, which in a cedar swamp can feel like you aren't even close to your spot. Best to still get to know the area you plan to hunt very well.
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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Apr 29, 2015 5:49 am

I don't use my GPS much for navigation anymore. Pretty much only for marking my vehicle before heading in and also keep it on to track my walking trail. I find it interesting to view my path later on aerial/topos to figure out interesting things I mark along the way like rubs, scrapes, beds, etc. Really helps to put the puzzle together.

While navigating I find occasionaly looking at my position on quality aerials from my iPhone keeps me updated of my location and is nice for guiding me to easier areas for walking. This really helps avoiding large areas of deep water especially in thick cattails where you litteraly can't see more than a few feet ahead at times.

I always carry a compass for backup and this has come in handy many times in the bigwoods.

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Re: Public Land Navigation

Unread postby JoeRE » Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:54 am

Good bump - in hills I don't need anything, I navigate by terrain features and looking at a topo map even when its foggy or pitch black night. In flat land I am a fish out of water, when I started hunting the northwoods I got turned around all the time...use a map and compass and slowly getting better in flat big woods terrain. The first time I gun hunted up there I walked in toward my stand in the morning and ended back up at the truck by accident half an hour later :lol:

Out west I have used a GPS as that is really handy for checking distances across mountains back to camp and such but never fully trust things with batteries...always keep compass and maps with me.


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