Modern Day Electronics Needed to be Successful?

[WapitiTalk1]

As I glance at my gear/packing checklist for my pending fall elk hunt, I see a good handful of items listed that I did not possess at one point in my hunting career. A few that "pop out" are the GPS and range finder. Prior to getting my GPS and to this day, I still do a significant amount of navigating in the elk woods with map and compass, and, rarely take out the rangefinder during hunting situations (perhaps just to check a few ranges at the onset of a setup).

Poll Question: Do you feel you could be just as effective/successful in the elk woods if you did not possess a GPS and a rangefinder?

[Lefty]

I can find my way around just fine without GPS, even without an LED flash light.
There are bull elk alive today because I didnt use my range finder at the correct time.

Now my computer and google earth are a wonderful thing.

[Rangerz]

I could survive fine without a GPS, but they are handy especially for scouting. Nice to be able to look at something on Google Earth, save the waypoint into your GPS and then go check it out. Just make sure you know how to navigate with a map and compass and the sun and not use the GPS as your only source of navigation.

Rangefinders are nice and help to insure more accurate shots. Again, don't use them as a crutch. One thing my hunting partner and I do is play the range estimation game a lot. Take a guess at the range of something and then check with the range finder. Maybe we should start playing for beers:).

[six]

I could live without a GPS. However it is a very useful tool. I have missed more bulls than I have shot due to misjudging the distance. Its tuff for me going from chasing whitetails my whole life to trying to estimate/guess the yardage of a screaming bull elk. I will never again take a shot without ranging first to know the exact yardage of a bull or bush nearby. At least that's what I keep telling myself. Over and over.

[ishy]

I have a gps, but rarely use it. It's kind of a last ditch help if I do get myself into trouble. The range finder is great, but most of my shots are 20 and under. There have been longer shots I have passed in the past that I would take today if I had a known yardage.

[Mike_Parson]

i agree with all the above comments. i could make it without all that stuff but i am honestly glad that i have it. helps take some of the pressure off.

[Deanmac]

have never used either

[longbowelk]

would be fine without the range finder since I don't use. For the GPS I have a little to rust on my map and compass so need to get back out and get those strengthened

[CurlyTail]

I view the GPS as mostly a safety device, and not a hunting device, and lends little to the success of my hunt. This could be quite different if I was hunting around private land and needed to know property boundaries with a Hunt on X chip. That said, I could have used my GPS this season packing out meat in the middle of the night - no trail, no landmarks visible - ended up wandering about a couple of extra hours with a 60 lbs. load due to getting off course a bit.

The range finder is more critical to me. I am frequently surprised how inaccurate my range estimations are.

[wawhitey]

I got along fine with no gps but got one cause i heard about the hunt on x chips. Man what a game changer. There were areas i was hesitant to go into in the past not knowing if they were public or not. I never leave home without it now. Its the most awesome thing out there pulling out your gps and seeing property lines and who iwns it. Now i dont know how i ever lived without one.

[Indian Summer]

I think a lot of people don't even know what it's like to hunt without a gps. I have for sure and I could do it again and be just as successful. It would certainly take a little longer to learn an area. Also there's no question that having one allows me to get to spots faster so I don't have to allow as much time to get there and it also lets me stay later.

Yeah... I could do it but what a pain in the butt. No doubt I'm spoiled. I love my Garmin Montana 650T and just got the onXMaps card for Wyoming. I'm hoping it gives me the ability to hunt tight to some private if I need to.