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Well, it looks like I'm gonna get high tech and get me a GPS. I'm gonna lay down the old compass and try one of them fancy gizmos. I have had zero experience with them and was wondering what brands and level of complexity you guys use. I am looking for one that can store a relatively vague map with a few marking points on it. How much can I look at spending on one?

Gad2, Please don't go off and leave the ol' compass at the house !

Nice to have a trusty back-up ! Batteries don't go dead on a compass, not to mention, I have been in a situation where a GPS, failed to pick up a sattilite(sp?) due to canopy of trees !

The small e-trex model seems to do the trick !
Gonna tear a $100 bill up ! Can get it at Wally-World !

It is enough machine to let ya know, if you want a more sophisticated model in the future !

Good luck !

Rip Em !

I have the Garmin Etrex. I would recommend it...However...Always have your compass handy. Sometimes, you have to use your compass in conjunction with the GPS. Not to mention, among other things batteries can die and sometimes the GPS just cant get a signal. The GPS is a great tool but doesn't replace a compass.

The Garmin GPS 12 is pretty good. I think it may have been replaced by the Etrex.

I have a Garmin Etrex ordered. I got it out of the Marlboro Catalog, so maybe it will work ok. If not, oh well.

I've had the Garmin GPS III Plus for several years. Couldn't do without it. It has been upgraded to the Garmin GPS V which sells for $400 to $500.

the only gps i have had any experience with was mounted on a 51 ft. offshore boat and it steered it to the location.... guess that means i have hunted the same territory all my life.....

judge jb

Buy the video that is available with the model gps you buy.they are a big help.Got mine at bass pro shops here in memphis.

I've got a GPS reciever that is hooked up to my HUMMINGBIRD MATRIX 10 depth finder....Pretty cool....Rip Em is correct..my bid here has a hand held GPS..in covered timber..it doesnt always pick up a signal....If it weren't for the compass..we'll we'd still be wondering the woods!!! $100-$500...You get what ya pay for..Check Ebay!!

QUESTION:

I have been using a Garmin GPS 12 for several years...does more money buy a GPS that will get a better signal or just more bells and whistles.

sig, I also suffered with a Garmin 12 and compared to the new ones, it's junk. I'd give mine away except it has too many secret spots in too many states so it'll have to be burned.
The old stuff wasn't designed to pick up all of the newly "turned on" military satellites among other things.
Garmin seems to have cornered the market and flooded Cabelas with models. I usually go against the grain for whatever reason, 10mm, .41 magnum & 9mm Largo handguns, .257 Roberts deer rifle, stick-shift in every vehicle I own etc. Therefore I heartily reccomend a Magellan 315, if they still make them, or an equivalent model. The thing picks up satellites sitting inside by a window, under the thickest of canopies or on the front seat of the truck. You can buy cables to upload data to your computer, look at your routes etc. and it also FLOATS! It's abilties continue to amaze me.

When I got my Garmin GPS III a good while back, I was able to just pick it up and start using it. It works pretty good in the woods . . . almost all the time. I have used it in the mature river bottoms in Claiborne county and lots of other woods I won't mention here. It tracks about 12 satelites at once. I'm guessing most of the models now do that trick, but don't know cause I have never even considered trying anything else. For land use, it kinda gives me an idea of where things are in relation to each other. I can follow it at night.

About flagging, for going to and from hunting spots, I recomend the compass. Please leave the flagging at home. If you must, just mark the parking spot and turns so others will be able to investigate your spot!!!! If you get bored, you can move the flagging some topwater has put out

Dont ever go in big woods without a compass, though.

The map that comes in the gpsIII is pretty good, but I got the topo cd for additional detail. The waterways and lights cd is awesome, absolutely awesome, for fishing the marsh. I forgot to mention, in case you didn't know, that these cd's allow you to download more detailed mapping info into yourhandheld unit.

I would not purchase one that did not have the map feature, though. Its like comparing a single shot to an auto or pump - you can get by sometimes, but why would you want to have to? Dont bother with it for land details in the delta; there aint hardly any. It does indicate water.

Hey Gad,

Let me try this again. I replied earlier and it didn't go through. We use GPS alot here at work. Take others advise and never go without a compass. A lot of people think that a GPS has a compass built in but that isn't true. The way a GPS works is that the unit locks onto all available sats. that it can "see". This tells the unit (and user) where on the big blue marble they are. The GPS then determines where it is by receiving a signal from the sats. that calculate rate of travel and in what direction based upon diffferences in where you were and where you are now. What all this means is that the sats and the unit talk to each other and triangulate position based upon movement. Now, the more sats you have the better the sats and unit can talk. This means better reliability, not accuracy. The GPS sats are in geosynchronous orbit, but one directly over MS is way off on the horizon in CA. Because of this some sats are at 90 degrees to the unit while others are at 45 and lower angles. Being able to lock on 12 vs. 4 means you have a better triangulation. The government controls the sats and therefore the accuracy. The used to vary the signal so that you could only get within 10 meters, now it 3 meters. I guess someone pointed out that a nuke hitting 33 feet from something is just as effective as one landing only 9 Anyway, a GPS does NOT have a magnetic compass in it. The GPS can only tell you which way you are going not which way you are faceing. Example, if you walk for 100 yards heading north and stop, the GPS will tell you that you are going north. Now, if you spin in a circle and end up facing east, the GPS will still tell you you are heading north. Now if you start walking east, it will show your direction of travel changeing to the east.

Sig, as far as the maps and all, I have only seen good maps on high end units used for boating navigation. The ones found on hand-held units are typically not very detailed. I do know that you can buy models that can have other maps downloaded to it, but I don't know the quality.

Sorry to ramble and hope I didn't confuse the situation any further,

Wes

Nice post on the triangulation Bluewater,

I have a Garmin eTrex Vista, it has an electronic/magnetic compass built in.

Sitting in my office it reads the headings. It can also be programmed to read a GPS heading at and above a certain speed. Mine is set at 10 mph right now.

We use alot of GPS equipment here at work too, but mainly static style systems. using two receivers, one on a known point and one at a new point. (used for setting control on a new job)

The GPS software we all use to hunt is 'navigational'.

Mine works well in most all situations, barring very cloudy overcast days and very dense tree cover. does work in the truck though.

Has a lot of neat bells and whistles, to bad I don't know how to work all of them.

maybe someone who has one just like it can tell me how ot work.

SBE

Say, does moss still grow on the north side of a tree?