Navigation

[BrianKY]

I know I haven't posted much, so I will give my situation again. I am headed to Winter Park the first full week of September for my first elk hunt. A buddy lives out there and will be my "guide" and we are planning on camping out for an unknown number of days. His brother will be there as well and there was concern with all 3 of us being together hunting. His brother is not hunting so I volunteered to venture out on my own to hunt, which is what I prefer anyway. That way the two of them can be together and I can go at my own pace. My question to you is: What do you do for navigation? I will be in unknown terrirtory to me. Should I invest in a GPS? Or should I bust out the compass and map to get some experience this summer before heading that way? Thanks for any input!

[stykbow67]

Both if you can swing it, if not map and compass are a must IMO. You can get along without the GPS but the map would be a huge asset for finding places you want to checkout and getting you "unlost" should you take a wrong turn somewhere hope this helps!

Steve

[Rangerz]

As above, both if you can do it. Map and a compass if only one. Make sure you are familiar with navigation. REI could help if you have one around.

Good luck!

[WapitiTalk1]

Brian, I don't know where Winter Park is but if it is an area that a person can get lost and/or hurt (large area), I wouldn't recommend you don't go without a handheld GPS to ensure you know where you started from, camp, roads, trails, etc. Hunting season is no time to become proficient with map/compass navigation.... it takes a bit to understand the process. That said, I personally rely more on MAP/Compass and terrain association when hunting or hiking in a larger area than on an electronic gadget for navigation... maps an compasses don't break or malfunction normally. Be safe and be carefull. Anxious to hear about your trip mister!

Not sure what you mean by "His brother is not hunting so I volunteered to venture out on my own to hunt, which is what I prefer anyway." If his brother is not hunting, why aren't you hunting with your buddy who perhaps knows the area a bit?

[BrianKY]

Brian, I don't know where Winter Park is but if it is an area that a person can get lost and/or hurt (large area), I wouldn't recommend you don't go without a handheld GPS to ensure you know where you started from, camp, roads, trails, etc. Hunting season is no time to become proficient with map/compass navigation.... it takes a bit to understand the process. That said, I personally rely more on MAP/Compass and terrain association when hunting or hiking in a larger area than on an electronic gadget for navigation... maps an compasses don't break or malfunction normally. Be safe and be carefull. Anxious to hear about your trip mister!

Not sure what you mean by "His brother is not hunting so I volunteered to venture out on my own to hunt, which is what I prefer anyway." If his brother is not hunting, why aren't you hunting with your buddy who perhaps knows the area a bit?

We are just looking at increasing our odds. With two of us hunting we will cover more ground if say I head over the ridge to the east and they head over the ridge to the west. Plus, the three of us have different levels of our physical conditioning and will require three different paces. I have been preparing since March, but I still know I will not be able to keep pace with a guy who lives out there and is in the mountains on a weekly basis. Also, different hunting styles. This way, I can move at my own pace, rest when I need to rest, and hunt the way I prefer to hunt without having a conversation on what we should do next. Pretty much, if I screw up the blame won't be on anyone else! I am sure we will all three go out together, but I prefer going out alone the majority of the time. I am big about relying on my gut instinct. A number of times that instinct has lead to my most memorable hunts. I enjoy hunting alone because there will be no one around who has a different instinct. I know in some cases that would be better, but I just enjoy being solo.

[Fridaythe13th]

I agree with phantom. I wouldn't go without a GPS for 2 big reasons; marking the truck or camp and if you do get an elk, mark it and come right back to the spot. I bought a cheap etrex $100 and printed maps on google earth and put them in a plastic bag.
It wouldn't hurt to turn around when walking up the mountain and look for a land mark so you have an idea which way camp is and carry extra battery's.

[ElkNut1]

Having all 3 is very useful & smart especially in new country, you'll not worry of ever being lost or turned around. The key to ground navigation is to be setup properly. Get a decent compass & 1-24000 USGS/UTM Grid topo maps of your hunting areas. These maps are UTM Grid. You will want to reset your GPS to the UTM Grid so it now reads the same margin numbers as your maps. GPS units come set with longitude/latitude coordinates this is why you need to reset the unit by going to SETUP & then MENU & click on UTM/UPS. It's a piece of cake! (grin) What this does is coordinate your GPS & Maps reading the same thing. This is very cool!

For instance, let's say you hit an elk & it takes off with a less that a great hit & it travels a 1/2 mile or more in who knows what direction or fog moves in & you've traveled miles & not sure where you're at as no landmarks are visible? Simply turn on GPS & lock in & read the two coordinate numbers on bottom of unit, now look at your map & line the North/South numbers up with the East & West numbers shown on GPS, this will tell you exactly where you are standing on the face of the earth on the paper map, it's that simple! You can now look at your map & see the best direction for travel that you intend to go, this is where a compass can come in handy & get a direction by setting the compass coordinate of travel. You do not need your GPS left on for this so no batteries are running down for no reason. The 3 units can work well together when understood!

If you need for info in setup let me know. Thanks!

ElkNut1

[SaskatchewanHunts]

I am with Elknut on this one. The GPS is an absolutely amazing tool. It has helped us put the vast majority of elk on the ground. Why?

1. piece of mind - you will never hunt as hard if you are scared of getting lost. Allows us the confidence to get in deep where the elk live.
2. enter gps waypoints via goggle earth before stepping foot into the forest - mark meadows etc.
3. will bring you back to a kill site or vehicle in pitch black or zero visibility conditions.
4. If you need help and have cellular service or sat phone you can give an exact location. Also guide your hunting group to your kill site via radioing coordinates.

We always hunt in twos. That way we have two gps's, two compasses, two maps, two guns, two pack frames etc. It works well. If a bear is chewing on my leg it is nice to have someone there to back you up.

You don't need to buy the latest and greatest gps on the market. If you have the means then great. A lot of times you can pick them up on buy and sell websites for $100.00. They will work just fine. I prefer units that use AA batteries or a combination or rechargeable and AA's. Rechargeable batteries are great until they die in the middle of the forest.

[Lefty]

Simple woodsmanship can be important
Flowing water is generally down hill, how does the mountain range lay east /west north/ south?
Know the major land features, creeks cliffs, ridges, deep canyons, meadows, black timber. even geology of an area
Study a topo, and Google
Know where roads, powerlines, cuts and trails are and where they go. This might seem silly but the north star and celestial bodies help orient you. Seeing the reflection of city lights, Moon location, a train horn, road noise and sometimes jet trails.
Distant city lights, location of cell towers, wind farms.
know the lighting locations of different ranches and cabin
The distant sound of water, or even pastured cows, the layout and direction of pastures. even knowing the rotation schedule of pastures
knowledge of local wind directions
Ive been a bit turned around on a few dark nights. Once following a horse trail using the sides of our feet to keep in the track. The distant sound of water, or even pastured cows
And sometimes even more important; realizing what isnt around you.
Im getting better with my GPS,...

Hey I have Garmin old style Etrex push button ( not the toggle) Kind of a nuisance to operate for me,. Think of early texting phones. $15. mailed TYD in the lower 48 mostly hauled in my truck and my daughters used it for geocaching

[elkstalker]

A GPS has gotten me back to the truck in the dark more than once, and helped me find the truck in a snowstorm before. Also, it's easy to navigate back to a kill site that you have saved in a GPS. But you can't beat a map and compass, GPS's malfunction, break, and can run out of batteries, but if you know how to use a map and compass you should be good to go. And like Lefty is saying, get to know your area before you get there. Use GE and topos to familiarize yourself with the area ahead of time, so you know the adjacent drainages, mountain ranges, roads, trails, etc. in case you find yourself chasing elk out of the area you started in. I have already been pouring over maps and air photos of the area I'm going to hunt (new to me this year) so that when I get out for a weekend scouting, I already "know" the area. If you have a good idea of the landscape before you even get out there, you will be way ahead of the game hunting.

[one_elk]

Lots of good and accurate info above and I am certainly one who agrees the advantages of using a GPS, (heck most of them even tell you when is the best time to go hunting, now I am sure we could debate that for a while ) as well as carrying a map and a compass. But the utility of any of these tools is based on how much you use them before you need them. It certainly is not rocket science but like with any tool the more you use the more familiar you become with, and the more familiar you are with the tool the more you will be able to use it to your advantage i.e if you using a map along with your GPS make sure that the datum on your GPS is set to match the datum on your map (which is usually, depending on the maps that you are using) listed on the bottom of the map or in the legend. Long story short if you are going to get a GPS get it sooner than later and practice using it , there are several folks here on this forum, including myself, would be more than happy to give you a hand up the learning curve

[Charina]

Both map/compass and GPS have their downfalls. Map/compass is hampered by the dark, or limited visibility conditions. GPS is subject to breaking, or running out of batteries.

Still. . . given the price disparity between the two, if a map/compass was 1/2 as good as a GPS, GPS units likely wouldn't enjoy the popularity they do. While I will always suggest a map/compass, and the accompanying knowledge of their use, be a required element in a pack, I recognize GPS units as far quicker, far more accurate, and far more versatile. I would have spent the night out in the sticks a couple times on moonless nights if I was only relying on a map/compass.

If going off alone, in unfamiliar areas, my suggestion is to build redundancy in a few critical components. Navigation is one of them. I primarily rely on my phone as my map/GPS, but carry a second simple dedicated GPS I mark camp and truck location on as a backup. And I carry a map and compass. I have a pretty decent sense of direction and capability to get myself back without any help. Even so, getting truly lost is not something I want to endure, or burden search and rescue with. Its pretty simple to have at least one, if not two backups for navigation.

Headlamps/flashlights are another item I always have at least two of.