I'm looking at possibly picking up a handheld GPS. I am NOT a big technology user but I am a mobile hunter and have a pretty complex system as well as a desire to share field notes with two other people.
When I scout, I typically use topography maps and aerial photographs extensively before ever going into an area. When I put boots on the ground I mark deer signs along the way, points of interest, etc. When I get on places that I mark as stand sites, I mark specific trees in the area by GPS and put field notes with wind directions, potential food sources around them, trails around them, ideal directions to face from them (if applicable), etc. When hunting I record deer sightings per stand to keep data on what I see at each location.
I currently have topography maps printed off at home with stand locations (I have NO stands that are permanently hung) marked with deer travel corridors marked and ideal travel routes to/from stands marked. I also have GPS tags on an app on my iPhone marked. I use my map, field notes, and weather reports to choose WHERE I go, then use my phone when I get close to the stand locations to pinpoint trees in the dark. The Trimble phone app is adequate for most of my personal needs, but I am unable to share stuff through it and I can't upload maps/notes to print them off. In addition to this the Trimble app sucks my battery life down VERY fast so I have to carry a big backup battery anyway that's about the size of a dedicated GPS.
I would like to be able to integrate all of my field notes, plot travel corridors and deer trails on the maps, and keep my GPS tags all in one place. I would like to be able to also be able to easily share all of this information with two other people that I know and hunt with. Is there a product out there that may allow me to do all of this in one pretty easy to learn ordeal?
An added bonus would be to be able to also put a tracker on a dog. I wouldn't need it to run more than one dog and honestly I don't think I would use the dog tracking feature much if at all but if I'm dropping coin on such a device that would be a bonus feature worth a small sum of cash to boot.
I'm also open to iPhone apps that may be better than the Trimble app. I really don't care what the hardware is so much as I'd like to find a way to integrate all of this information in a way that's easy to save, access, print off, and share with a select couple of hunting buddies.
I would say the closest thing to meeting your needs would be a Garmin Rhino.
:campfire:
I just got a gps unit myself this month. I also got a app on my phone its called onX Hunt. The app for phone works great so far, u can download it free and try it out for ten days, if you like it than its like 30 dollars a year or u can use it for out of state hunts for like 100 dollars a year. You can download topo maps for your hunting area and than mark hot spots, way points or treestands or deer sign. And what else is nice is you can send info and way points to your hunnting buddies, just pick spot on map and click share than it shows up on your buddys phone. It works with or without cell phone service, just put phone in airplane mode. Worth a try works great, best hunting app on phone i tried.
U can also print topo maps on computer too, check out some youtube videos on this app, im still learning stuff myself but i love it. I bought a garmin 64st from cabelas last week, alot of features on this gps too. So far i just downloaded some topo maps for my hunting area and marked some waypoints and stuff. Its nice too and i have a backup for my phone if something would happen.
Check out "GAIA". Awesome phone app. No need for another device to carry. Best map selection I've seen. Doc
Ditto for Gaia app. on cell phone. $19.95..............GPS works off satellite so you dont need cell coverage......I have retired all my GPS forever
How quick do the phone apps burn up battery?
I can use it all day. only cut on app when i need directions then cut off. I also bought a rapid pocket phone charger for $49 that will recharge my phone 4 times. i am honestly telling you the truth... i will never use another gps again after using Gaia..
Joey, does the gaia app truly work from satellites ? Or does it use a cell signal and triangulate with a sattleite ?
I was going to buy a hand held GPS because some of the other phone apps I've used don't work well in the places I hunt because cell service is sketchy at best.
If this app works without cell service I'll buy it tonight.
Interesting thread.....curious about the Gaia app and the battery draining.
Appreciate everyone sharing. Thanks
:campfire:
I appreciate all you guys input. I'm kind of new to this GPS ordeal
You've got to ask yourself a serious question....how old are your eyes? Some of the recommendations mentioned are of relatively small GPS screens. Old eyes have trouble with small screens. For years I used a Garmin Oregon, which has a relatively small screen. And I struggled, fumbling with glasses. Then I got a hold of a Garmin Monterra ...schazam! Things make sense....my recommendation is the Garmin Monterra for it's screen size and ability to take GPS data laden photos.
If you get a GPS there are a few suggestions I'll make for you....
1. Trust the danged thing. I know we all have a great sense of direction that would put Lewis & Clark to shame but.... if you switch to GPS and it tells you to go left and your inner homing pigeon says go right....best to go left. Ask me how I know....
2. If you switch to GPS make sure you get a unit with a micro SD slot. OnXMapps will be your friend. The initial cost for a Mmicro SD chip (state specific) will be about $100 and data updates are about $25 annually. Well worth the cost of admission. OnXMapps is a proprietary mapping company which will tell you if you are standing on public or private land and the name address and contact info for the owner. It is marketed generally by state and updated annually for data.
3. If you hunt out of the trunk of your family sedan chances are you can do nicely with the GPS that is already built into your smart phone. But if you hunt out west where land is measured by the sq. mile you will probably lose the use of the GPS within your smart phone.
4. Understand that GPS is only as good as the knucklehead who is holding onto the device. There is a learning curve which is best mastered in the off season while scouting, hiking or just playing around town.
To meet all of your requested needs the Garmin Alpha 100 GPS with the TT115 dog collar is the ticket. It is a full featured GPS that does everything the Garmin Montana and Oregon will do plus it will provide dog tracking AND e-collar features. It is touch screen, can track multiple dogs up to 9 miles away ( I have used it up to 26 miles) and does wireless sharing of waypoints to your friends with compatible Garmin devices.
In that it is also an e-collar controller, you can also train your dog with remote call back.
I use it with great confidence on my blood dogs and water dogs.
I couldn't trust my phone battery when spending days away from electricity.
PJ...you asked... "does the gaia app truly work from satellites ? Or does it use a cell signal and triangulate with a sattleite ?"
I can operate my GAIA app with my cell in Airplane mode. Plus My deer camp and duck woods has NO cell coverage.
Ya'll can spend $$$ hundreds on GPS with dozens of bells and whistles and experience a learning curve to new formats but...................if you want to mark a stand.....take a heading.....and get back to your truck while looking at a satellite/topo map that is FREE plus the face of phone is touch interactive to draw on......for $19.95...............
Kadbow...I back up my phone with these portable chargers as big as pack of cigerettes that will recharge phone half dozen times.
Kadbow,
I have multiple spare battery charging packs that I use for phones, cameras, iPads, MacBooks etc. plus, I am preparing to invest in a couple solar chargers to keep those charging packs fully charged while in the back country.
My iPhone 7+ has as big or bigger screen than any hand held GPS I've had my hands on, so screen size isn't a detour at for me with my phone.
Joey has me intrigued by the mention of this app.
I have a question about the app. I went to the App Store last night and it had more than one option. It also had the option of the Gaia app and a mapping app sold together.
I'm going to buy the app and give it a try but I want to get the correct one. If anybody knows the exact app for iPhones, let me know and I will buy it today and use it this weekend.
Joey,
You answered my questions.
PJ.... i bought the Gaia GPS Classic..I see they have the Gaia Topo Bundle which i think is updated
Thanks Joey,
I'll buy the app tonight.
P.J.
I have two handheld GPS that are basically dust collectors now. I use Onx with my cell phone. You can down load maps and not need cell service to use. Can tell where you are at within property boundaries and who owns what property surrounding you. Great for out of state hunts or in state hunts. Like Joe I carry a back up battery pack that can recharge my cell phone four times. But if out of cell range I just turn off my cell service and adjust brightness etc and cell battery will last days. Hand held GPS are out of date now adays IMHO.
Dog tracking I have no clue. BUT I will say the Onx has the very best customer service of anything I've bought and used for years. It's like customer service USE to be 20 years ago! Great people!
I've heard good things about Gaia, but I'll throw another name in the hat. I started using Backcountry Navigator this year and love it. I don't know if Gaia has some features that BCN doesn't, but I've been more than happy - it has done everything that I need. Download topos and aerials for offline use, mark way points, etc, etc. And it was only a $11.95 one time fee - no annual renewal.
It works in airplane mode without cell service, and battery life is excellent. One thing that helps is to turn the GPS function on and off on your phone and use it only when needed rather than keeping it on all the time.
Last fall I went 8 days with a single battery pack to recharge my phone. I had along a solar charger but never used it.
I also had my old Garmin gps with me and never turned it on. A cell phone map package has made them obsolete, at least for my purposes.
I need to look more closely at these apps.
My experience with GAIA.
I use it on my Iphone 7 plus- the big one. The Maps are better than on any GPS I've seen partially due to the bigger screen.
I used it on hunts this year in Alaska for 2 weeks, central Ca, Montana- worked perfectly.
You have to download the maps for the area you will be in prior to the hunt and save them to your phone. Fastest while on wifi but cell tower works too. You select how big of an area...and the resolution you want....but be advised....bigger maps with more resolution can be really big files. Easy to download maps. while in that screen an area is already highlighted on the map. you adjust it to the area you want...and in the top line check resolution [usually I use 1/24,000]Before downloading check file size- thats it.
Its an advantage to have the smart phone with a lot of memory. My typical map is about 4 mgbs but in Ak i did a large area JIC that was 12 mgbps.
The trick to using this without a cell tower is place the phone in Airplane mode....if not your phone eats the battery searching for a tower every 10 seconds. My phone lasted 5-6 days plus using it for GPS and taking a bunch of pics. I typically plugged it into one of those little Anker battery pack chargers to refresh it a little every couple days. I could probably go 8-10 days or more if i just used it sparingly for GPS only.
The GPS is as good as my Garmin with the best chip. The cursor is a '>' that gives you direction and GAIA has a built in compass...though I would always bring a back up.
If there is a negative; its that my phone is not quite as robust as my GPS. My phone is water and shock resistant ...my GPS is more so.
I use the Back country navigator app,there is a limited free version and a pay version.I ended up buying the app works great.The only drawback is the battery life on my phone.