» Using A Compass | Hunting Hunters

Trophy Hunt with a GPS

November 29th, 2011 — Gear and Equipment, Hunting

If you dream of that trophy hunt where you’ll bag a prize-winning animal, you might consider investing in a GPS system. If that feels like cheating to you, take heart in knowing that many people hunt this way today. You can buy GPS systems with built-in compasses, which actually seem redundant considering that it’s a GPS but that really aren’t, and camouflage casings to make them perfect for hunting. The compass can certainly come in handy in helping you feel your way and learn to navigate on your own. You’ll need to use your locations to help set up the GPS to work best for you.

Just like the GPS system in a vehicle is designed to point out the restaurants and other attractions in an area, a hunting GPS may contain information about hunting seasons, animal habits and other interesting information that can help you have a successful trophy hunt.

Hunting GPS systems let you store a number of points to help you navigate through that same area at a later date. You can store entire paths that you’ve used to hunt and let the GPS lead you along those another time. A very handy feature for hunters is how a GPS system can give you exact times for sunsets, sunrise and distance and speed information.

Something to keep in mind if you do use a GPS, however, is not to let it make you lazy. Don’t rely on it as your sole method of navigation. While marking your points and paths on a GPS is a great way to not get lost and be able to follow your footsteps at a later date, be familiar with the area and confident that you could find your way out on your own if you had to. If the GPS unit should stop working for some reason, you don’t want to be far out in an area that you couldn’t navigate with a compass and your own instincts.

Anyone incapable of finding his or her way by following the sun and other markings as well as using a compass should not go into the woods alone. Decide to trophy hunt with a friend to be on the safe side. Many people who overestimate their ability to find a path soon realize that one tree looks the same as the next and that they have no idea where they are. It’s easy to panic in that situation, and panic will usually do nothing but get you further lost. Be sure you can navigate with the compass and find your way out before you venture out even with the most sophisticated GPS system.

Something that’s a great feature for people who hunt with dogs is the ability to track those dogs with the GPS. You put a unit on a dog’s collar and you can track its movements with the device. You can even do this if you have multiple dogs. This is a great feature for the hunter who takes dogs out and often has a hard time corralling them back in at the end of the hunt. Some GPS units even let you download certain hunting maps for your area, making them even more useful on that trophy hunt.

Photo Credits: drmama

Originally posted 2010-03-29 09:17:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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