DuckSouth.com

I know this has been discussed before., but help a brutha out anyway.

looking to get a simple GPS for marking fish spots, tracking a course, compass, etc. Nothing fancy really.

street maps are a possiblity, but not worth a Bunch of extra money to me.

i am looking at the Garmin units. Etrex to be more specific. What are the different numbers (i.e. 12, 72, etc), and which ones include maps. i know several of you have differnt hand held unts as well as units mounted in the truck. What are yall suggestions.

Be careful with the small little yellow e-trex. It might seem slike it si doing a good job but alot of times the accuracy is horrible. I have marked a position and came back to find it and it was like 100 to 115 feet off the course. And get one with an electronic compass. The little yellow e-trex's compass only moves if you are moving at a pretty good pace. You cannot just stand there and move it around till you find north. Just a little FYI

thanks,

come on guys

Tomb, I use a Garmin GPSMAP76CS that has a color display, compass and has 115 MB of memory for maps. It hold the satelites well and very accurate. They aint cheap but you can catch them on sale here and there. My 2 cents.

whatever you get take care of it....I've gone through two in the last two years and am not sure I'm responsible enough for another (water + sub freezing temps = good for duck hunting but bad for gps).

Jeff, the Garmin Rhinos we just got for work only came with the "stickman" maps. Very little detail, no county roads, no lakes, etc. We were riding around in Moon Lake and the Gps showed us in the middle of a yellow vastness.

Get the Mapsource topo software if you want any details at all. It shows the smallest county roads, ditches, lakes, state lines, etc. You will be able to see the state line in DeSoto lake and can hop across it when you see Whit coming.

Oh, and you'll also be able to see the state line in Lake Bobby Reed.

No handheld GPS units will have much in the way of maps off the shelf. I would suggest the Garmin 60 line. In my experience the antenna they have gets better reception than the one in the etrex line, especially in the woods.

Just got the Garmin GPSmap60csx and I love it. Not much detail unless you buy the extra software, but has electronic compass and altimeter. You can find them online for around $300. Methinks the rinos are overrated. Pretty much just an etrex with a radio.

Wingman wrote:Oh, and you'll also be able to see the state line in Lake Bobby Reed.

what is bobby reed???????

thanks guys.

as deltaduckman said, i have heard of problems with the compass on the etrex. at bare minimun i want that to work correctly so i guess i will have to step up a little.

i am gonna do some looking on the garmin vista jtdumallard. I don't know much about them, but i assume it will have more detailed maps than the rhinos etc.

Altimeter? How high off the ground you planning to hunt?

I got this one from Academy a few years back for 78 bucks.. It works ok for what I need.. But it is nothing fancy.. Does have a speedometer and altimeter that are accurate. Takes a little while to get sat acquisition though..

Word to the wise: don't trust your gps compass. It relies on movement (triangulation between satellites) to properly indicate direction, unlike a regular compass which relies on magnetic force.

You stand still with a gps and turn around and it'll more than likely indicate the direction you were going when you stopped the first time.

Jeff, ask Whit about Lake Bobby Reed. It is an offshoot of Lake Lawyer.

Forgot to mention, it also has tide stations and solunar tables (sunrise, sunset, moon phases, peak times, etc...)

Wingman wrote:Word to the wise: don't trust your gps compass. It relies on movement (triangulation between satellites) to properly indicate direction, unlike a regular compass which relies on magnetic force.

Thats the WORD....I use my gps till I'm temporary seeking unknown territory then pull out my compass. Most of the time I hunt in sight of the hwy or ramp. I only get lost in daylight.