GPS marking

[JGH]

I didn't want to hi-jack the Wallows2 thread.

What features do you mark on your GPS?

I've marked wallows, water holes, and trails that look like "pinch points" ... also a few spots that are nice for lunch and glassing.

[8seconds]

The very first thing I mark is my camp! My GPS is always with me. I do mark wallows; hot trails; sightings; water holes; and then later try to find a shorter way to a destination.

[cnelk]

#1 thing to mark is your truck...
#2 is camp....

Some others:
Beaver dams for crossing the streams
Benches
Saddles
Old Kill spots

[cnelk]

The hardest part I have now is naming them all....

[JGH]

Names for spots are important ... (probably worth another thread, doncha think?)

Camp and pickup ... very important ...

Also, whenever I leave my horse, I mark that spot. They can be remarkably hard to find sometimes.

BUT ... what I was really referring to was the natural features you come across. You think "Hey ... this would be a good spot for a treestand." That sort of thing. Also, navigation aides.

Along those lines ... I mark wallows, ponds and other water sources, saddles, game trails, glassing spots, shortcuts.

Do any of you "mark" routes or trails?

I wonder, sometimes, what a map of my trails for a week would look like.

[JGH]

Dang! I made my rank "calf" with that last post.

Somehow, I feel ... adolescent.

[Swede]

Besides potential tree stand locations, I mark camp, my truck if it is not real easy to find even in the dark. I mark the location of my downed elk if I am coming back in the night.

[Curtis C]

I tend to mark all kinds of stuff when out in the woods or even on the roads heading into the woods.

Car
camp
game cart
Access points from roads
road splits
good game trails
wallows
kill sites
On and on

Naming them has been time consuming especially if you mark several similar features. I'm gonna try something a little different this year. I got a GPS with a camera that geotags each photo. I am going to snap pictures of the places I would normally mark. I think having another visual of a waypoint would also be helpful.

[WapitiTalk1]

Camp (base or back country), trail heads, jump off spots on side roads, shallow stream crossing or logs across, places I've got answer from and where the answers came from, wallows, projected rally points with partner if we split up, death sites (kill sites), bedding areas, travel routes, water points, significant rut rubs, and very important for me as I hunt very thick areas..... ancient pack trails and elk trails. This last one is important for ingress and very important for regress after dark. I mark a ton of stuff but mostly navigate by compass and "the force"

[BobcatJerry]

JGH, if your gps make tracks you can see a weeks worth or wherever you been, day by day if you save them that way. It's one of the best features for me. I looked at the last three years tracks the other night to see how they match up and where I see the most sign or animals. I mark the stuff other have noted, but find marking trail heads or just a trail helps out getting back to camp quickly. The newer Rinos, Oregon's or Montana's with cameras you can take a picture of what you mark if you want, name it and you can bring it up later and see exactly what you saw and marked. Pretty nice. I attached a picture of a wallow I marked.

DSC00014.jpg (123.41 KiB) Viewed 5413 times

It pops up on Garmins base camp when you transfer the way-points in. Of course you can mark them the regular way too, which I do about 95% of the time.

DSC00018.jpg (196.74 KiB) Viewed 5413 times

The second pic is a mylar balloon I found way up on the mountain. I thought it was funny how far in we were. I picked it up and hauled it out.

[llewokj]

I mark where I left my ATV on the wilderness border so I can get back to camp!

[WapitiTalk1]

I find those goofy mylar baloons almost every year on the mountainside.

[cnelk]

we find weather balloons from time to time