Handheld GPS & Gridding off a park to hunt??? Anyone done it?

[Minrelica]

So I've been thinking for a quite some time now about gridding off a park (on paper) with the help of a handheld GPS unit and Google Earth. Has anyone done this?

I'm trying to hunt a huge park but not really overlap where I'm hunting. I'd also like to grid off some smaller parks as well. For a while I was using tent stakes and pacing out a section to hunt, writing down what exactly I did, then coming home and blocking out that space on my Google map that I saved... It works in a roundabout way but I want something easier, cleaner.. more professional.

If any of you are familiar with the "Map My Ride" phone app, I thought some along those lines would be helpful as well... You start the app at the beginning of the hunt and when you're done and view the results it would show the field/park you were hunting with basically a line that followed you wherever you went. My girlfriend mentioned a cardio app along the same lines as the Map My Ride one but I don't think that either would be accurate enough and you'd end up with just a small blob on the screen.

Does anyone do this and if so, can you recommend a good yet inexpensive handheld GPS unit? I know the name Garmin comes up quite often but there's so many, I have no clue what I'm looking at or what a good price on a used one would be.

Thanks!

 

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[LifeNRA]

The problem with GPS units is that you can not get super accurate. Most times with my Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx I get 9-20 foot accuracy, even under heavy tree cover. The trail that you get on the screen sometimes jumps 20-50 feet depending on how many satellites you lock on, or if the signal gets blocked somehow. Cell phone GPS I will never rely on! Loose your cell signal, you loose the GPS capability.

Garmin does have mapping software that you can use. Their latest is the Garmin Express and Base Map programs, both are free. I still use Map Source for my 60SCx. So unless you have a $5000 GPS unit that the military uses, you just going to be over lapping the same areas. Mind you it will still help you grid the area off, but you will still overlap somewhere.

As far as what units to buy. I would suggest the best you can afford. Cause you know darn well it will hit you at one time or another you wished you bought the better unit! For a good entrance level unit. Garmin Etrex series are hard to beat. Just make sure they have the HCX antenna, this will still lock on satellites under heavy tree cover. I made the mistake years ago and bought one without HCX, it didn't take me long to sell it and buy a better one that had the high sensitivity antenna! My GPSMAP 60 CSx I love it! I wish I could find another one new, but they discontinued this model. Here some web sites.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the-trail/cOnTheTrail-p1.html
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/eTrex/on-the-trail/cOnTheTrail-bBRAND472-p1.html

 

[Sandman]

LifeNRA gave good advice on the Garmin products. Mainly what you want is a small scale for gridding an area so you can see your track on the screen. However this won't really be accurate. Much better to run a string from a center stake and go in a circle over lapping your sweeps.

 

[christo000]

all these guys gave u the advice ull need to be good, what i do at a park if i do grid it bring with u some of those small flags with i think u can pick them up at a hardware store box off the area it helps im one of those who likes to set an area but i always wonder through it lol another thing that well at least works for me is i use my phone and i have an app called trec o trac it uses gps gives u a pic od where u r then u drop points of the area u want to detect it makes a perimetor hit detect done when u stop fror a period of time it drops a point down showing u were there u can also put in finds extra tracs. the app did like most have trouble in early times but its fixed now and from what ur saying seems as though it may help u in gridding off

 

[RobRieman]

all these guys gave u the advice ull need to be good, what i do at a park if i do grid it bring with u some of those small flags with i think u can pick them up at a hardware store box off the area it helps im one of those who likes to set an area but i always wonder through it lol another thing that well at least works for me is i use my phone and i have an app called trec o trac it uses gps gives u a pic od where u r then u drop points of the area u want to detect it makes a perimetor hit detect done when u stop fror a period of time it drops a point down showing u were there u can also put in finds extra tracs. the app did like most have trouble in early times but its fixed now and from what ur saying seems as though it may help u in gridding off

Hi Christo, I googled "trec o trac" and didn't come up with anything. Nothing in the app store either. Can you tell me where you found it please?

 

[christo000]

Hi Christo, I googled "trec o trac" and didn't come up with anything. Nothing in the app store either. Can you tell me where you found it please?

Oh im sorry its tect o trac in the playstore on android & I beleive can b used on the iPhone as well im using the lite versión does really everything the pro one does

 

[RobRieman]

Oh im sorry its tect o trac in the playstore on android & I beleive can b used on the iPhone as well im using the lite versión does really everything the pro one does

Thanks Christo000. It's only available for the android so far.

 

[christo000]

Awe Man really ok ah try treasure tracker its basically the same thing, and the last 1 I use is trimble outdoors lots of maps & info there

 

[Minrelica]

The problem with GPS units is that you can not get super accurate. Most times with my Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx I get 9-20 foot accuracy, even under heavy tree cover. The trail that you get on the screen sometimes jumps 20-50 feet depending on how many satellites you lock on, or if the signal gets blocked somehow. Cell phone GPS I will never rely on! Loose your cell signal, you loose the GPS capability.

Garmin does have mapping software that you can use. Their latest is the Garmin Express and Base Map programs, both are free. I still use Map Source for my 60SCx. So unless you have a $5000 GPS unit that the military uses, you just going to be over lapping the same areas. Mind you it will still help you grid the area off, but you will still overlap somewhere.

As far as what units to buy. I would suggest the best you can afford. Cause you know darn well it will hit you at one time or another you wished you bought the better unit! For a good entrance level unit. Garmin Etrex series are hard to beat. Just make sure they have the HCX antenna, this will still lock on satellites under heavy tree cover. I made the mistake years ago and bought one without HCX, it didn't take me long to sell it and buy a better one that had the high sensitivity antenna! My GPSMAP 60 CSx I love it! I wish I could find another one new, but they discontinued this model. Here some web sites.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the-trail/cOnTheTrail-p1.html
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/eTrex/on-the-trail/cOnTheTrail-bBRAND472-p1.html

Hmm, I thought a Garmin would be much more accurate than that... I briefly talked with my my friend that does geocaching and he said that he just uses his "smart phone" which he claimed is accurate to 5' but to be honest, besides losing the satellite signal, I don't really wanna use my phone for that since it seems that I'm always on it for other things.

...Mind you it will still help you grid the area off, but you will still overlap somewhere...

I stated that I didn't want to overlap areas but I do realize there will be some.. I'm not trying to be that technical about it but I want to do my best at covering the whole area as efficiently as possible.

Thanks for the link, I will look into the Etrex and I do know what you're saying about 'wishing you would have bought a better unit' but I'm not sure I'm worried about being in heavy cover... then again, if I bought a unite and it worked out the way I hope it will perhaps I should look at the best I can afford when it comes to the purchase.

Thanks!

 

[Minrelica]

LifeNRA gave good advice on the Garmin products. Mainly what you want is a small scale for gridding an area so you can see your track on the screen. However this won't really be accurate. Much better to run a string from a center stake and go in a circle over lapping your sweeps.

Hmm, I've used tent stakes and paced out an area but never heard of the circle method... I'm up for trying it though.

For some reason when I read that for the first time I thought of this Homer Simpson moment.

 

[Minrelica]

all these guys gave u the advice ull need to be good, what i do at a park if i do grid it bring with u some of those small flags with i think u can pick them up at a hardware store box off the area it helps im one of those who likes to set an area but i always wonder through it lol another thing that well at least works for me is i use my phone and i have an app called trec o trac it uses gps gives u a pic od where u r then u drop points of the area u want to detect it makes a perimetor hit detect done when u stop fror a period of time it drops a point down showing u were there u can also put in finds extra tracs. the app did like most have trouble in early times but its fixed now and from what ur saying seems as though it may help u in gridding off

I tried looking up that app then realized it was for Android as stated earlier... Anyway, I decided against using my phone for GPS since I feel that I'm already tethered to it, no need to add more time to that! I will look for a decent used handheld to experiment with..

Thanks

 

[bcurrey]

Unfortunately the advice here is true. I geocache and at best you can only get accuracy around 7 feet. I use a Garmin 60cs and my iphone.

 

[LifeNRA]

Unless your using a military GPS you will not be able to be super accurate. I have had VERY rare time out in the ocean 20 miles out had a accuracy of about 5 feet. Any other time its 9 or more feet. Either way overlap will be good thing if you think about it. You will cover everything, and not miss anything! That's how I would see this!