How useful would your OnX waypoints be to a stranger?

[displacedtexan]

I mark a lot of stuff that I find interesting, and label things in a way that would mostly make sense to me.

Plus I use it camping, hiking, and fishing.

Where I saw an elk trout fishing in May isn't probably helping the algorithms. Lol But I found it interesting.

 

[RuggedYogi]

This sounds suspiciously like something OnX would anonymously ask on a hunting forum.

 

[5MilesBack]

Well, I know how useful they are to me, and I know the areas. So I would presume that they would be extremely helpful to any hunter that wasn't familiar with those areas. That's why I keep them on my stand alone GPS and not my phone. I have one area that has 11 waypoints for dead bulls all within one square mile.

 

[yfarm]

We mark nothing on onx, occasionally have tracks for documentation purposes that are deleted after the fact. Don’t know if those are recoverable.

 

[Steve300xcw]

I dont use it much. But if I do, and I do make a waypoint, it is generally just to mark where the pickup is at.

 

[TSAMP]

Not all that usefull. Lots of points with no details that only I remember why based on proximity. Maybe a basic note like"ridge top trail".

Waypoints without coupled boots on ground knowledge aren't all that powerful in my opinion.

 

[rideold]

Yea, my waypoints are pretty cryptic because I don't want to be spending a ton of time in the field looking at a screen. Half the time they make sense when I drop them but the next year I kind of scratch my head.

 

[svivian]

a data analyst should be answering this question. Your one individual waypoint is insignificant but gathering large amounts of them from several sources will show concentrations in certain areas they could easily hone in on.

Some filtering and algorithms could reveal alot of useful information.

 

[CorbLand]

If you see my waypoints, do not go to where they are. It would be a giant waste of time.


I kind of view the idea of someone being able to mine other peoples waypoints and how helpful they are like I do trail cameras. How many times have we heard "I never kill anything I have on camera?" but what people are missing is that sometimes its the one not taking pictures that is more helpful than the one that is. Other peoples waypoints are the same...

 

[Geewhiz]

I dont even use waypoints. Or onx. If I find something notable, I just remember it. Weird to me that you could find something and not remember how to get back to it.

 

[TSAMP]

a data analyst should be answering this question. Your one individual waypoint is insignificant but gathering large amounts of them from several sources will show concentrations in certain areas they could easily hone in on.

Some filtering and algorithms could reveal alot of useful information.

Paul Ryan enters the hunting forum..

 

[Westernduck]

The next year I have no idea what most of my waypoints mean so…

 

[dirtytough]

Here’s a pic of some of mine. If a person is hunting say coyotes they would be useful because they are exact spots to see the area the best while calling.

Big game would be helpful if they are from that same year scouting. Otherwise it’s like chasing gutpiles.

I dont even use waypoints. Or onx. If I find something notable, I just remember it. Weird to me that you could find something and not remember how to get back to it.

Pretty hard to remember exactly where to sit on hundreds of stands. The convenience of sharing pins is also nice. I’ve got an elk hunt coming up. My brother is getting there first though. I have hunted the area before, he hasn’t. I can send him a few key pins to get him started before I get there.

 

[Steve300xcw]

I dont even use waypoints. Or onx. If I find something notable, I just remember it. Weird to me that you could find something and not remember how to get back to it.

Thats how I am most the time. Been hunting the same areas for 20 years though......

I do have one canyon that we hunt that has some sorta voodoo spell on it. We have yet to go in there without loosing the truck, or coming out way the hell on the wrong side of everything. I do not understand it

I have even argued with both a GPS and OnX as it is impossible for us to have ended up where it said we were

In that place, I make a waypoint before I even dare get out of the truck LOL

 

[EdP]

I hope no one can access my waypoints on OnX. I have noted specific locations where there are trail intersections, potential camping sites, and rub/scrapes. It is a record of useful information gained from time spent scouting and would be useful to someone hunting the same area who had not put in the time and work. I would consider my data being accessed by someone else as theft of intellectual property.

 

[displacedtexan]

a data analyst should be answering this question. Your one individual waypoint is insignificant but gathering large amounts of them from several sources will show concentrations in certain areas they could easily hone in on.

Some filtering and algorithms could reveal alot of useful information.

So my collection of waypoints of places I set a pack down, ate lunch, or saw something interesting would help you hone in on what?

And don't expect the names and icons to help. I've got antelope icons places I've never seen antelope, tents places I've never camped...

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

Most of my points are just red X with no description. In a bunch of different states. I've thought about them being able to use it for their own gain for years, but also realize there is so many people out using the app. Mine really don't matter.

Usually if it is specific marks it's before I have even gone to a spot to guess water, beds.. ect.

 

[svivian]

So my collection of waypoints of places I set a pack down, ate lunch, or saw something interesting would help you hone in on what?

And don't expect the names and icons to help. I've got antelope icons places I've never seen antelope, tents places I've never camped...

Completely missed the point of my post... Then again I know you like to be purposefully abstruse when you interact in these types of threads.

 

[displacedtexan]

Completely missed the point of my post... Then again I know you like to be purposefully abstruse when you interact in these types of threads.

You missed the point of the thread I started.

The vast majority of my pins aren't even useful to me, just intersting.

 

[Geewhiz]

Part of me says when they look at the western US and see millions of waypoints that literally litter every square foot of land, where do they even start. But the other side of me says if they can look at some guys instagram page that always posts photos of everything he kills, Im sure they can filter it down to his specific data and collect waypoints that way too.

As a whole, evidently its a risk were willing to take.