GPS Maps

[red rick]

I might be slow to the game , but I just discovered two hunting chips for your GPS unit , one is from Garmin and the other from onXmaps . It shows you property lines and I think it also shows you who owns the land and covers your whole state in the chip . The Garmin is $89 & the onXmaps is $119 , and is suppose to be better .

Do any of you have any experience with either of these and how do you like it ? Or would I be better off with just birdseye ? I do like the idea of the property lines .

 

[BigBore44]

If you have a smartphone, save your money. There's actually an app for that. A friend of mine has it. It's not free. But it's cheap (~$7) I'll get ahold of him tomorrow and get the name of it.

 

[red rick]

Thanks , but I am old & tight and I still use a flip phone , but it still has little buttons on it that I can still see .

I am going to pick up the Garmin Hunt View map today , if they still have the only one they have in stock .

 

[Patocazador]

I don't know about that particular feature but Garmin's topo maps are pretty poor as far as detail and accuracy go. I have had 3 Garmin GPS units and like(d) them all, however, their map quality isn't up to par. This may be different but I'd hate to get a ticket for hunting on the wrong side of a fence just because there's an error.

 

[red rick]

I changed my mind after reading some reviews . I am going to try the onXmap . My local Cabela's has it and they said I could return it if I didn't like it up to 90 days . I well let y'all know how I like it . My nephew just got permission to run our beagles on 800 acres of land by his house and I bought a Garmin Alpha 100 with a couple of collars last weekend . What a sticker shock .

 

[badkarmamib]

Another app that I just started using is HuntStand. It is free, shows property lines, gives you 10 free owner lookups a month. You can also register on their website for your computer (not sure if you HAVE to have the app first), that has unlimited owner lookups. Very easy to use the GPS functions, even for me

 

[Art Eatman]

Re owner lookups: Some counties have all the clerk's office data on line. In Thomas County, Georgia, for instance, you can go to a property map and find every landowner in the county. Name, address, acreage, tax evaluation, date of acquisition, etc.

 

[RPRNY]

For smart phone users, the Avenza PDF App allows you to run any map that you can find that is geosourced. While they have an extensive store to buy maps from, anything with geosourcing that can be uploaded from any source will run on it.

 

[Patocazador]

In Thomas County, Georgia, for instance, you can go to a property map and find every landowner in the county. Name, address, acreage, tax evaluation, date of acquisition, etc.

The Thomasville area has good deer and quail hunting if you can afford plantation prices.

 

[jmr40]

I'd strongly advise against using your phone. You'll suck the battery dead in a couple of hours using it as a GPS and then not have a usable phone or GPS. With a GPS you'll get 8-16 hours of battery life and a couple extra AA batteries give you another 8-16 hours while saving your phone battery for emergencies. Not to mention the lack of accuracy on the phones. I use a GPS quite a bit and we find the phones are not always accurate enough. I've seen them off by 400'. That is enough to get you on private property and not know it.

I've used those maps some, not much. But I'll not hunt out of state again without them. Next trip to Colorado and I'll buy them. Most of my hunting here in GA is on large tracts of public land. There isn't much danger of wandering onto private property and most is pretty well marked.

I've had a GPS for years, but didn't get the most out of mine until I started volunteering in Search and Rescue several years ago. It isn't just for finding your way home. I now carry mine any time I'm in the woods and lay down tracks that I download onto Google Earth when I get home. I use Google Earth to scout out potential new spots to hunt and look for shortcuts around mountains and creek and river crossings.

 

[H&Hhunter]

If you have a smartphone, save your money. There's actually an app for that. A friend of mine has it. It's not free. But it's cheap (~$7) I'll get ahold of him tomorrow and get the name of it.

Do you have to be in cell service for it to work?

 

[RPRNY]

Do you have to be in cell service for it to work?

Not with Avenza.

 

[BigBore44]

Do you have to be in cell service for it to work?

I don't believe you do. Although even without cell service, the GPS on my phone works.

 

[Don McDowell]

I might be slow to the game , but I just discovered two hunting chips for your GPS unit , one is from Garmin and the other from onXmaps . It shows you property lines and I think it also shows you who owns the land and covers your whole state in the chip . The Garmin is $89 & the onXmaps is $119 , and is suppose to be better .

Do any of you have any experience with either of these and how do you like it ? Or would I be better off with just birdseye ? I do like the idea of the property lines .

I use the Garmin. I'm not sure how well it would work back in your country with the small land parcels, but out here it works pretty decent. The biggest problem I see with it is the small screen of the Rino unit, takes some time to get zero'ed in on your location.

 

[Redranger]

After trying several apps and stand alone GPS's, my favorite by far is Motion-X GPS app for iPhone. I have an iPhone 6 Plus, so the big screen is definitely a nice feature. I think the app is very intuitive, and feature filled. As far as accuracy goes, assuming you let it locate a sufficient number of satellites, I can't see an appreciable difference from my Garmin handheld. That being said, phones use both triangulation of cell signal and GPS for positioning, so if an adequate number of sats have not been acquired, accuracy can suffer. If I'm going to be in an area of poor cell coverage, I download and cache the maps for that area ahead of time.

I agree about the battery issue. If I'm going to be using my GPS for long periods of time, I use a "Dual xGPS150", a standalone GPS receiver available on Amazon and elsewhere. It is a standalone device with its own rechargeable battery, and it connects to your phone via Bluetooth and overrides your phone GPS. It comes with a armband, or you can fasten to your coat, pack, etc. Since it is no longer using the phones GPS chip, phone battery life is greatly extended. Since it's not in and out of my pocket, and always linked to sats, the accuracy is more consistent.

If I'm in an area where safety is a concern, I do carry a backup Garmin in my pack. That's probably not a bad idea regardless of what device you use. I like the convenience of always having my GPS, waypoints, and trails with me, and the ability to share or move easily via email or text.