Well guys, I'm not a gadget man, with that said, I'm not too stupid either! I'll be going to North Dakota in November for a DIY Muley hunt on 6000 acres of private land that just the 4 of us have access to. Now this is alot of land to get lost in, I don't want to do that! Lol! Thinking about a GPS unit but I'm pretty clueless about them. Whats a good starting point, what's good and which ones to stay away from? I'm looking to keep it under $300....Thanks
My buddy just bought a Garmin 60csx on AT for $220. That is an excellent price for that GPS and I would put that GPS against any out there.
Joe... I bought the Garmin 60CX for about $260 (NIB). It's more sophisticated than I am able to manipulate it. I'm not saying it's "the one", but it's all I'll ever need. I honestly don't know how it stacks up with it's competitors. I'll tell you the same thing I told Russ, though.........If you want me to send it to you to use for a while, I'll do that. Test-drive, so to speak. Let me know.
Thanks Jeff, I'm just starting to look at them now, just confirmed the hunt today, going the with Joe(whip) and a couple other guys! Should be fun and want it to be safe, hence the GPS. Now do these things work in the middle of nowhere, cuz that's where I'll be??
Middle of nowhere? I assume so.....they work by sattelites. SPeaking of middle of nowhere..... Are you still planning on going to Hog Heaven? If you'll get off your ass and go, soon........I'll meet you there. I'm talking....before May. You can bring my GPS back to me, then.
I would also recommend that unit. I've had mine mounted on my atv and put that thing through some serious weather and beatings, really bulletproof. User friendly and awesome battery life too. You got plenty of time, watch Ebay for a while, you should be able to pick up a new one in your price range.
Joe I hunt as big of a woods as anyone, never used one. I like my compass. My brother and buddies use a etrec I think. They have comented that in overcast/crappy weather they are hit or miss. My ol compass always work.
You can get a Garmin Legend HCx (high sensitivity receiver) for under $200.... Great unit for the money... Would recommend getting a high sensitivity receiver whatever you decide on.. Probably not a huge deal for your ND trip - but when you start to get into heavy timber/cover, the better receiver really comes in handy...
That's my biggest worry TJ. I always have a compass with me while bear hunting and elk hunting but this year I'd like to try out a GPS. I'm like Joe, I know nothing about them but can quickly learn once I get one. Either way I'll have a compass with me whether I get a GPS or not.
I have a Garmin Rino 530hcx. I love it. It has a few more features, primarily is the 2-way radio that is built in and a few other options. I would have likely gotten a Magellan instead, but the one camp I hunt out of all have Rino's and I didn't really want to carry a 2-way and a GPS. I've got enough crap to haul in the woods. I used it hard last season and learned a lot about it, and I'm now wondering why I didn't get one sooner.
Steve: I wish I could quckly learn to use mine......lol. I feel like I have a $2k computer, and ALL I know how to do is play solitaire.
I recently got into the GPS world and following a good deal of research and consultation with a few people (some on here ) I went with a Garmin brand. Regardless of where you decide to buy from, I'd recommend getting on Amazon, Bestuy.com and other distributor sites and reading the seller reviews. You'll find that overcast, heavily wooded areas present a problem for many devices. Also, if you're going to be in an extremely sunny area, many touch screen devices are apparently hard to read in direct sunlight. Hope this helps!
I've got the Garmin 60 CSX. They are nice. I like Garmin dependablity have used Garmin for about 8 years. I keep an extra set of batteries in my pack with me along with a compass.
When I go into the woods I normally am carrying two GPS units but I would never rely on just electronic equipment and that is also why I carry two compasses. The same reason I carry a couple of lighters even though I have 2-3 flashlights. One of the nice features of the Garmin 60csx is that it also has a magnetic compass so, even if you lose satellite signal (hasn't happened to me yet), you can still use the compass on it. Not all, or even many, GPS units have a magnetic compass feature. Their compass works using satellite signal so that, if you are not moving, it won't know which direction you are facing.
After some suggestions on the CO Elk hunt thread...I opted for a used Magellan 315 off ebay - paid $37, works great. I've only spent a short time with it, but confident it will do all I need, which is just get me back to the truck or camp. I was looking for simplicity as I don't see me turning the GPS on very often at all, and I had no interest in maps/topo type of options...will also have a quality compass/map with me. Good luck with your search!
YES, they work in the MIDDLE of NO WHERE!!! No worries. Get some GOOD MAPS, of the area you'll be hunting in, and navigate by compass, just using the GPS to mark spots or whatever, and you'll NEVER get lost. Even in the Mountains in CO or the High Hills in SE Ohio, I rarely use the GPS for anything other than marking points of interest. I have an I-Finder Hunt from Lowrance, it's decent, but could be better. But it does what I NEED it to. I think I used it more for the CLOCK feature than anything. See what I said above Steve, their nice, but if you navigate/orienteer using a compass and a map, you'll never fail. I've yet to have a map and compass fail me, GPS.....I HAVE had batteries die in, and not have spares, but it was no big deal as I was just checking waypoints rather than "navigating."
That just it, I will use the unit more for waypoints while scouting out areas of interest on this hunt and possible stand placement! I always have 2 compass' with me.
I went the minimalist route with mine. Garmin Etrex w/ high sensitivty recciever. Gets me back at the end of the day, & marks places I want to return to, but it doesn't have any fancy maps or anything.
Two gps's now that is funny. For me 1 gps, 2 compasses. Built in gps compasses are useless. Why do you need to drain your battery if you have a regular compass.
