I was just reading another post, and I got to thinking... Why are these people using GPS to find their stands??? Are they really hunting that far away from where they park, or start walking from? So? I have hunted on the same property for the last two seasons. I have had four different stands that I have hunted in. Never have I lost where my stand was, and I have always found it in the dark. No, I don't use glow tacks, or anything like that. I just use birch trees, and other natural markings. Like the one sapling that is 26 paces in the tree line. It's made an arch, so once I see that, I am only 47 paces to my stand. Are you guys really that far into the woods that you need GPS to help you find your stand in a timely manner? I'm just curious. I know some of your properties are pretty big, and some hunt public land that can be pretty big. But, even when I was young, my dad would challenge me, by making me find a stand that we had only put up the weekend before hand. That helped me find my own way to keep track of where I was. Well, that and I would spend the first couple weekends walking around those countless acres with a pellet gun, hunting squirrels, and figuring out the land.
Some of my spots are a legit GPS mile from where i park through the woods. Chances are I found these spots the previous winter and I might only hunt them once or twice the following fall. In the last 6-7 yrs i've lived in 4 different county's, so i have to find new places to hunt everytime we move. I'd be screwed without my GPS
IF I changed it up ALOT, I could see some merit....but on my setups, I could walk you to the base of the tree blindfolded, and many of my walk ins are around 1 mile walk in as well...all seem to be over 1/2 mile, I just HATE parking very close to where I believe action could be, ATV or Truck doesnt matter. GPS is good for unfamiliar places, long winding confusing walks in big chunks of woods before dark, etc...if you have many fields around at all, and you are walking less than a mile to a stand site you have hunted on multiple occasions, I find it hard to believe you COULD get lost.
I don'thave a GPS. I use orange or hot pink surveyors tape. this past season was my first on a new property, 2000 acres. 1700 acres of woods and 300 acres of clearcut. without clearly marked trails to and from my stand I would surely get lost. This is especially true before the leaves fall and visibility may be limited to a few yards. A GPS would be a big help. I wouldn't have to advertise to everyone else in my hunt club where my stands are.
I've hunted the woods Im in about 30 years. I think I've got to my stands while I was sleeping. I don't use a gps but I do have one. Had to get a toy. lol
For some of the new spots I hunted this past year, I had never walked in to the tree in the dark (or even from the direction I parked) So having a GPS was helpful to get there & keep my searching to a minimum.
I dont have one but i can see there merrit. I have hunted with Germ in Ky before and seen where it helped him greatly. The guy drove down from Michigan in March, marked the cordanance with the GPS, and when September came, and all the foilage with it, he could get to within yards of his stands. They do have there place. I found an absolutly killer looking spot today while shedding, its not easy to get to and is in a very big chunk of woods (strip mine) Id liked to had one to mark it instead of tacks. another merit they have is the ability to point you in the direction where you parked while on those long days of shed hunting where you look at the ground more than where your going :d I hunt BIG woods that looks the same in the dark,,,Pine trees all look the same :d Ill add, if you use tacks it can give your honey hole away, if you use GPS, its kinda secret
I like strapping my climber to my back and start hiking into the larger public areas. I just start walking, following trails to see where they take me. I HAVE to use my GPS when I do this or I would never find those locations again, nor find my way back to my truck. My GPS is a necessity.
There is certainly situations that would make a GPS quite handy. Think of guys that hunt back in deep in the public lands (sometimes 3-5 miles back), and compound that with the fact that many of these hunters aren't probably making that 3-5 mile hike too much other than for a scouting trip or two, and one to hang a stand, then they don't return until it's time to hunt again. I would much rather have a GPS, than fumble through the woods in the morning dark running everything off. Of course, I would think glow tacks or ribbons would do just fine, but on public land, there's no guarantees those things will stay put. For me, I hunt private land I'm very familiar with, but on our cabin land (which covers about 1200 acres), we have markers for many of the stands, simply because it's a large land area, most of which is covered in head high mountain laurel.
I use reflective tacks in the tree to locate the trees I climb. I also have them in where some of my ladder stands are to help me find them quicker. I use a small red light to walk thru the woods to make sure that i don't step on any large sticks etc.
Tacks annoy the crap out of me. Mainly because it's the main markings of trespassers use them to make their trails on to my land. If I am needing to mark, I use survey tape. It's easy to put up and take down. The people that hunt near and on (illegally) my land are generally too lazy to take them down.
I have a better idea.Lets gather up all Peta members and move them to an island and have these choppers catch these hogs and turn them loose on the same island and see how long before the pigs eat them or they eat the pigs.
I have a GPS and use it. I may not need it for every stand I have hung, but I hunt 9 farms spread across 6 counties. I may only sit in some of those stand 1 or 2 times in a season and will be the first to admit that there are times when I have flat out forgot where I hung a stand. The GPS makes it really nice when I am hunting one of the farms that I don't hit on a regular basis, plus I am able to mark spots that I find during the season that I want to hunt with my climber. I have used the glow tack route before, but then I had a bunch of stands stolen one night (I hunted two the stands the day before and they were gone the next morning) and figured the glow tacks were only helping those that wanted something for free.
