GPS/ onx

[Thess87]

Do I need gps or onx from drop camp caribou or do you stay pretty well close enough to camp to know the way back. I have an Inreach that can be used as a gps I emergency. I was thinking that was probably good enough?

 

[soggybtmboys]

Take a GPS and a compass with a map ofbthe area. You may need to get out further from camp to find animals. Basic backcountry 101, you never go without having both in your kit.

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[Kevin Dill]

I've chased caribou and moose in the backcountry (Alaska) for many years and have never needed, wanted or used a GPS unit to help me get around. I carried a Garmin unit into camp a couple times back in my greener days, but finally abandoned it. Let's just say I completely understand the thought of needing one, and it's probably good practice to have some type of basic navigation device with you. It all depends on your skills/abilities at staying oriented as you move around the country.

The times when GPS might be handy would be in a persistent fog situation, or if you needed to hike to a secondary pickup point. I have a good friend who encountered exactly that. Bad weather kept the pilot from getting to him, and he was totally out of basic food. The pilot gave him coordinates to a lower/better location 7 miles away, and he used GPS to hike there and finally get out.

If I was carrying an InReach unit with GPS capability, that would be more than sufficient in my case.

 

[Blockcaver]

I use GAIA basic on the iPhone from Nunavut, the NWT, Northern BC etc, all the way down to the Mexican border. Wouldn't leave home without it. From finding a new tree stand in the dark in Coues deer country, putting in your camp or truck coordinates, aerial photos, it is really good. One time in N BC we found a new swampy lake in the trees we didn't know existed and called a moose in because of GAIA. I also carry an InReach if out of cell range, which includes all my hunting in Northern Canada and most of my hunting around home. I've IR'd pilots, friend and primarily family nearly a thousand times in the past two years. Granted I probably hunt more remote and more days than many.

Obviously people have survived and evolved without GPSs and aerial photos, but it is sure nice to have. I do carry a small Marbles brass compass as a backup.

 

[VernAK]

I carry a compass in my pack but don't recall using it in the past couple decades. If I were hunting the North Slope, I would have my GPS because of flat terrain and fog.

 

[mooster]

Why not kill two birds with one stone. Combine communications with gps with a Garmin InReach device. You can text home or to the transporter, use is as an SOS device, and also have a fully functional GPS mapping device all in one unit. I got one this past fall and love it for off the grid hunting and letting family know all is OK, communication with a hunting buddy in the field via text is great too.