Thread: Whats the best hunting gps?😀

Late model higher end smartphone in a life proof case with NZ Topo maps installed.

Originally Posted by Timmay

Late model higher end smartphone in a life proof case with NZ Topo maps installed.

Have a Garmin 64s (cabelas on sale), but have nth and Sth island topo nz maps on the iPhone, which work really well on air plane mode, good for a backup and if in semi familiar areas I leave the gps at home, use the phone if required

Greatshot, if you are using your gps under a heavy bush canopy I think you need a unit with a good, high sensitivity antenna.

I have not used a smartphone for this purpose but do wonder if their antenna is good enough, after all most people who use this function of their phones are not in thick bush.

My son and I have been using his iPod touch with an app called Gaia gps, and as an iPod doesn't have a gps (nor internal compass), we use an external gps - a Bad Elf GPS Pro - that connects via Bluetooth.

This combination struggles for some reason in the dark under a bush canopy - darkness shouldn't make any difference to gps. The point to me saying this is that I would be surprised if the internal GPS in a smart phone was a lot better than the Bad Elf as Bad Elf is a dedicated GPS manufacturer. I am not sure why it struggles, but I suspect it is probably due to the antenna design not suiting what we are using it for.

For some reason in the dark this combination struggles to determine what direction we are travelling in, but does indicate where we are.

Like most of you, I'm sure, we are trying to navigate to a hut or a car in the dark and in the bush, and need a bit more reliability, so I am looking at a more purpose designed unit - probably a Garmin Rino 750 - with a view to getting another one later to use their other features, primarily the two way radio and ability to locate the other unit.

I am sure someone who uses a smartphone will correct me if the GPS in their phone works well in the bush.

Also, I carry a magnetic compass as it makes it easier to walk a straight line in the bush than using the GPS, but found the barrel of my rifle was magnetised also and the compass liked to point at the rifle. Just food for thought.

Originally Posted by Timmay

Late model higher end smartphone in a life proof case with NZ Topo maps installed.

+1 I use NZ topo 50 on my iPhone and it's excellent and give you signal where ever you are and show where you are and you can record your track so if for example you go through a difficult bluff system in the bush you can go back to how you got up it on the way in etc. cost me $5 and definetly worth it. Used it in the bush in the landsborough and I'm definetly sure it saved me from getting lost