Gps questions

[mitchparker6]

Looking into a GPS system. Wondering what hand held units are pretty decent units to get? I'm guessing garmin handheld units. Also I'm doing an antelope here in sd and the unit we drew has some land locked public that we would like to hunt and in sd you can walk private section lines to access public ground. I think it is 33 ft on either side of a section line, I may be wrong but will call game warden on that one. So I would like to know how accurate most GPS systems are? If they can keep me within that distance without trespassing? Or if I could just use my Samsung galaxy s6 with on x maps and keep me on the section lines? Plan on calling to figure out coordinates for the section lines we plan to walk btw, so we can walk as straight a line as possible. Thanks for any help guys.

 

[Mt Al]

I have an ancient Garmin Dakota 20 with a chip. Has worked great for many years. I haven't tried any smartphone GPS/land owner systems so hopefully others will chime in on that. My concerns with smartphone apps is my battery life and does it work out of cell range. If there's not much draw and it works without cell coverage, IMHO, I'd go that way since it's one less thing to carry.

Otherwise a good Garmin hand held with a land ownership chip will do the trick.

 

[530Chukar]

I’ve used GPS helps for 15 years up until this past season. I tried just using my phone with the Earthmate app and my inReach. It worked great so I don’t think I’ll be doing a handheld again. As for the handhelds I think the garmin 64 series and Oregon’s are the two used by most. I dont know if you bird hunt also but the garmin Astro is basically a 64 but with dog collar tracking capabilities. That’s what I’ve used before switching I just the phone and I was happy with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rokwiia]

I prefer a dedicated GPS unit to a smartphone system. Mine is an eTrex 30. Tried and true.

 

[oldgoat]

I'm a Smartphone GPS fan, Backcountry Navigator for Android and my friends with the other inferior operating system use Gaia, work without cell and if you are mindful of turning off GPS when not needed aren't bad on batteries just like a regular GPS. You can buy the AP with property boundaries for less than $30 I believe and they also have GMU for some states. I've been using nothing else since 2011, but I did try a Garmin Oregon last year and sent it back almost immediately, drained the batteries way faster than with my phone. My phone fully charged and a good power pack I can easily make it a week if I don't find cell service and social media it up on the mountain!

 

[Gunnersdad49]

The Garmin Etrex 30 and their 64 are about all they have left that isn't a touch screen. I hate trying to use a touch screen with cold wet hands. The Etrex 30 is my go-to. It is small, and uses two AA batteries. I have standardized my batteries as best as I can, so my headlamp, flashlight, GPS, and Steripen can all lend batteries to each other in a pinch.

 

[Beendare]

Do yourself a favor and do a search here for the GAIA system on your phone....its fantastic.

This system is going to make dedicated GPS units go the way of the Dodo bird....extinct.