Landmarks make finding your way easy but what about where I go Elk hunting? Where I hunt Elk you can't see more then 50 to 100 yards because of trees and under-growth like hazel brush. A long shot at an Elk is usually only 100 yards. I have been lost and I went by my compass and the moss growing on the north side of the trees kept me going in the right direction. There are virtually no clearings for miles in the area I hunt, except along creeks or rivers.

1895ss wrote:

Landmarks make finding your way easy but what about where I go Elk hunting? Where I hunt Elk you can't see more then 50 to 100 yards because of trees and under-growth like hazel brush. A long shot at an Elk is usually only 100 yards. I have been lost and I went by my compass and the moss growing on the north side of the trees kept me going in the right direction. There are virtually no clearings for miles in the area I hunt, except along creeks or rivers.

I re-iterate...."knowing and understanding your map, compass, GPS and ability to navigate is paramount. Nothing beats knowing your hunt area. A bit of time spent studying a map of the area prior to heading out can make life easy and your hunt more enjoyable. A map and compass takes up very little room and weighs next to nothing so carrying them is no hardship."

One error that many people make when navigating is walking to the same side a trees every time....ie, walking to the left of a tree, and the next one and next one etc. This can very quickly throw you off line if you are not careful about it. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it happens.

Cheers, Vince

I have been disoriented in my hunting area several times and even in the dark and have always found my way out in short order. My brother is another story, in the woods he couldn't find his butt with both hands.

Hey watchmaker....we are going to have to rename you "Watchie The Gadget Man" mate.

Cheers, Vince

I understand your opinion and respect it as a very good way to go. And you know I know how to navigate with a compass. After 22 years in the Navy and spending 16 of it at sea where there are no land marks(It's hard to convince a particularly large wave to stay put). I have found that if I keep my head about me. I can find my way out of any place I've been "geographical challenged". And taking a few extra steps to relocate myself is no biggy in the mountains because you can't go in a straight line anyway. Land marks are needed even with a compass and a chart. I would still not travel after dark. Even with an injury or having an injured party to tend. There are other obsticles in the mountains to worry about like logs, depressions and holes to fall over, trip over or fall in...These items are not on the chart...I just haven't found a need to carry a compass and chart as of yet.

I hunt in public ground in the Shawnee National Forest. TheTopo map and compass are great tools and I use them often, BUT... Dimitri, I have a very strong case for the GPS. I took a group of hunters into a section of woods that only I had scouted a month earlier. (Yeah, they were a trusting sort )

At 0400 on opening day with no moon and an overcast sky, I could not have left enough marking tape in the woods from my scout trip to get everyone to a stand. I had selected spots for six hunters in a mile square of woods about two miles back off the roads. One other hunter had a GPS and I gave him coordinates for two of the positions and I took three others on to their stands. I was able to get everyone into position and back to the best one before first light. I was a little winded from trekking up and down the ravines but with the GPS I could follow the tracks I had taken a month earlier and not worry about a misstep into trouble. Without it We would have been forced to wait until first light and be moving past other hunters and the biggest bucks.

GPS is pretty neat. Isn't it, Dawgdad? I've used a Garman at sea on several ocassions to locate sunken items that U. S. Navy had lost, but had bearings on as far as when it hit the water. Using those cordnances and calculating current and tide drift I was able to pin-point them. One time I located where a drill was supposed to surface under water when that particular drilling company couldn't...Yes...GPS is a neat technical aide...

This post is a great post.

I personally do not know exactly on how to use a compass .

my son wants to buy a compass and learn how to use it.
I am going to let my boy read this post , and we are going to go buy a compass.

this will make some quality time for him and me to spend together and learn something.

Thank you for posting this. and thanks to all of you that made comments. great information.

I have used a compass In the army. I have used compasses and gps on my old boat, Gps's are ausome very cool but I learned with a compass and a chart so if the gps failed I could still find my way back. My Gps had a mob function (man over board) you could hit that button at any time and it would give you the lat-long to go back to that same spot. I used to use it for good flounder holes
Joe

MOB button for relocating good flounder holes??...Good thing it didn't send out a distress signal at the same time...L O L Could get real crouded at your favorite flounder hole...

I agree with you Ripper, this is a good post.
I learned to use a compass by Dad when I was knee high to a grasshopper, and thought that everybody used a compass.
Like I said earlier on this post, I don't even know how to us a GPS, and don't plan on learning anytime soon.
Where I hunt, if I can see 50yds in front of me it is a pretty open area. I have tramped the area sense I was a kid, and still use the compass to get to the road if I am following a deer, or still hunting.

This post shows that a bunch of guys who are real timbersavages in the woods can use totally different means to navigate, and still get out with no trouble.

This is not like us guys usually, but we all are sounding semi-intelligent about this subject.
Even Bushy.

Eric

"I've never owned a compass, know how they work"

When I was young and the rocks were beginning to harden up I was told a compass would point me to home if I got lost. Good idea I thought, so I got one.

Finally I got lost in thick Georgia woods on a rainey day. Whipped out my compass and started following it. Finally reached a highway maybe 8 miles north of where my truck was. Hitched a couple of rides back to the right place and tossed the compass when I realised the thing seemed to think I lived in Minnesota!

Myself I can read a map and a compass because I self taught myself, its not too hard to learn how to read a map or compass its alot harder to get used to using them "on the move" while marching around in the bush. So Ripper once your kid starts to learn how to use them take him to anywhere that is in the middle of no where atleast 6 miles from the nearest road (as thats cheating) and let him march around in the bush to practice.

Dimitri

Elyboy...The only comment I have for you...GRRRRR!!!!

Bushmaster wrote:

MOB button for relocating bood flounder holes??...

I use to drift fish alot and if I hit a good hole I'd push the mob and keep goin back. Worked rather well........
Joe