Garmin Fenix tips & tricks?

Hey guys. Recently got myself a Fenix 6 pro as a consolation for having to sell my Jeep. I've had a bit of a play with it in the field, but I must say it has been a bit clunky and won't replace the NZTopo50 app on my phone any time soon. I'd be interested to hear how other people use them while hunting. What apps / widgets do you like? Any nifty features or pro tips I should know about?

I guess this thread could expand to cover other smart watches, Garmin or otherwise, but I'm not particularly interested in a discussion on which watch is best - there are plenty of head-to-head reviews on the web for that.

Turn "track me" on and go hunting , the live track thing is cool, if you hit reception on a ridge it'll update and email a map to your friends/family where you are

Truflite ballistics calculator. It is as accurate as strelok and it's on your wrist.

Sent from my SM-G996B using Tapatalk

Save location is great, especially if you shoot an animal and plan to pick up later in the day.

Download the free watch faces from the IQ store. I like the big number ones so I can read it!

The flash light can be surprisingly handy from time to time.
The civil twilight is bang on.

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Originally Posted by Feral

Truflite ballistics calculator. It is as accurate as strelok and it's on your wrist.

Sent from my SM-G996B using Tapatalk

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How do you get this please?

Get the Truflite pro (like $20). It'll give you dope sheets and allow multiple profiles.
Agree, mine is spot on right out to 1000m with strelok and it'll auto update the pressure so if you're climbing or change location, your data is always on

Project waypoint is something worth practising with, before you actually need it.

If you're shooting long range, and have that range from a range finder, then you can point the watch at the target, plug in the distance, then use it to navigate to a downed animal.

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Originally Posted by Chur Bay

How do you get this please?

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Get the Garmin IQConnect app on your phone, search for Truflite app on the Garman IQ app. Free download that lets you install one rifle or pay $20 for the full monty

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Originally Posted by Stag

Save location is great, especially if you shoot an animal and plan to pick up later in the day.

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I have that as one of my shortcuts (press and hold the main button). It's good when bushstalking and a shot animal runs off - mark where you shot from, and where the animal was, then if you have trouble finding it you can go back and start tracking again.

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Originally Posted by Moutere

The civil twilight is bang on.

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I'm gonna try that one!

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Originally Posted by Feral

Truflite ballistics calculator. It is as accurate as strelok and it's on your wrist.

Sent from my SM-G996B using Tapatalk

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I'd looked for one of these initially but only found the one specific to the Delta. Maybe I was fooled by the 'payment required' thing - I see there's a free version. I'll give that a crack before upgrading to the pro, but I can see this being way better than my current drop charts and the app I currently use (which doesn't work offline).

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Originally Posted by matto1234

Turn "track me" on and go hunting , the live track thing is cool, if you hit reception on a ridge it'll update and email a map to your friends/family where you are

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I've just set that up, my wife is going to appreciate that one.

Took me a bit to find it, so for everyone's info, this is set up in the Garmin Connect app under ... more > Safety & Tracking > LiveTrack.

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Originally Posted by Ned

Project waypoint is something worth practising with, before you actually need it.

If you're shooting long range, and have that range from a range finder, then you can point the watch at the target, plug in the distance, then use it to navigate to a downed animal.

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Yeah, I've seen the RSHC guys touting this feature. Which app do you use it in? Do you mind giving a more detailed explanation of how to input the range, @Ned?

It's actually under activity/app. Can't remember if I had to select it on garmin connect to put in the watch or if it's a default activity.
Access it from the start button (top right), then scroll down till you find it 'Project Wpt'
Point the watch to get the bearing, or enter manually, once you have that, hit start again.
The next input is the range.
Scroll down (bottom left) to choose the units (m, km, miles, feet). Once it's on the unit you want, start hitting the up button (middle left button) to increment the distance.
Once that's where you want it, hit the start button (top right again) to save. You can edit it with a name beforehand, or just go with the default.

Now you have a new waypoint in the watch to navigate to.

Lower tech solution is the toilet paper thing. Or whatever you have to mark a shooting from position.
Range to target.
Compass bearing to target.
Then once you're over there, you can range back to your shooting position and compass bearing is now =/-180 degrees.

But garmin has this on your wrist now :)

One thing I haven't tested is how the garmin would respond to different altitude between starting and projected waypoint, and whether you should use absolute range or angle compensated range from your rangefinder.
I'd suspect angle compensated range would be the one to use.

Sounds like quite a few guys use the Garmin watches. How often do you guys have to charge them? daily usage in town/work? hunting on the hills using all the bells and whistles, etc?
I've been considering a watch for myself recently, might be a xmas present to myself.

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Originally Posted by Projects

Sounds like quite a few guys use the Garmin watches. How often do you guys have to charge them? daily usage in town/work? hunting on the hills using all the bells and whistles, etc?
I've been considering a watch for myself recently, might be a xmas present to myself.

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Depends on usage. No gps usage gets me 22 days.

My watch is 3-4 years old I think and could still get a couple of days out of it if I had GPS tracking on all day. If I was just adding the odd waypoint then probably best part of a week.
The battery is pretty small so it charges really quickly off a battery pack. Even a small 3,000mAH pack would give it a few full charges.
Think the newest models have much smarter battery use with gps tracking. Plus some models have solar charging on them

Has anyone managed to load NZ topographic 1:50,000 maps onto a Fenix ? Eg maptoaster, freshmaps or is there something else ?

Topo4GPS ?

I got the new 7X a few months ago.
Love the light, such a simple thing, and probably my favourite over my old 6 or 5 model.


The map is awesome, I like being able to just glance at my wrist and see I’m on the right track when heading back to camp.
Million features but mostly use light and map, from a recreational standpoint.

I like the notifications for work. My ph lives on silent, in meeting or wherever, it vibrates look at my watch and decide will take the call, or won’t..
Or emails you can discreetly see what’s coming, in even in a meeting.

What size watch are you all using? I see the Fenix 7 comes in 42, 47 & 51mm case. Is 51mm too big on your wrist?

47mm goes under a button up cuff on long sleeve work shirts without too much trouble.
I think the 52mm might be a pain with long sleeves, although they wear very similarly otherwise.