Consider you are on a Hunting trip with your friends. You see a flock of animals that you can hunt so, you and your friends chase the animal and in doing so, you are separated from your friends. You further chase your prey some 500 meters and you get lost in the midst of the wilderness. What would be your reaction? You’ve lost your way. There’s seemingly not a way for you to find your way without any help. This is where you might be thinking that What Is The Best Handheld GPS For Hunting. In such a condition, the need for a handheld GPS becomes quite apparent. If you have a good GPS with you, you’ll find your way in no time.
As you know, Hunting requires you to explore areas that you might have never encountered. You generally hunt on a Wildlife Reserve or a National Park which has a large area. In such an area, you may get lost. In order for you to not get lost, you’d need a device to find your way and that is where a GPS comes in handy. GPS Stands for Global Positioning System. It is a collection of 30 satellites at some 20,000 Km altitude orbiting the earth. Wherever you are on earth, you have access to at least 4 Satellites and they help you pinpoint your location. First used as a military technology, nowadays anyone with a GPS device can use this service for free.
What Is The Best Handheld GPS For Hunting?
Garmin Oregon 600 3-Inch Worldwide Handheld GPS
Now, The question might arise which one is the best handheld GPS for hunting. Luckily for you, we’ve weighed in all the features, pros, cons and prices to find a product that might suit your requirements. The product that we’ve selected is Garmin’s Oregon 600 Handheld GPS. Let’s get into the review.
The Garmin Oregon 600 is one of the best Handheld GPS in the market right now. It is a receiver type GPS which can locate your position accurately. It also has a reflective display which is probably one of the best touchscreens on a GPS device. In addition to that, the screen is impact resistant. It is also a multi-touch display that has two orientation views.
Pros & Cons
✔ Display with good brightness, multi-touch and impact resistance
✔ There are 3 sensors in this device
✔ It is capable of using third party maps
✔ Two-way orientation: Portrait and Landscape
✗ It has an okay build quality
✗ The Maps included are static
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The Garmin Oregon 600 is a feature enriched product. It has dual band GPS with GLONASS satellite positioning. The device comes with Bluetooth technology. It has great waypoints, it caches the geographical location efficiently. It provides you with custom maps and has auto switching between the orientation modes. The sensors are also pretty good. It comes with a built-in compass. The compass provided is very good, it’s an electronic compass so, it’s very easy to read. It has an accelerometer and a barometric altimeter for measuring altitude. The barometric altimeter is also capable of tracking changes in air pressure.
As far as power is concerned, the GPS features a state of the art power department with two options. The battery support is really good here. It supports two AA batteries along with a NiMH battery that can be charged through electricity.
Despite having some flaws like the static maps and not so good build quality, the device packs a punch in other departments. It has all the features that you could possibly ask in a handheld GPS. This makes it one of the best handheld GPS that you can buy. At the price point that this device is available, it is the GPS that you must buy before your next hunting trip. We believe that this product will satisfy the consumer needs appropriately.
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How Important Is A Handheld GPS?
Handheld GPS for hunting is important. There are many uses of Handheld GPS. They are portable so they are easy to carry and they help you get to your destination whenever you’re lost. Handheld GPS is crucial when you’re hunting alone. They also come with Maps and some other features which will not only help when you’re lost in the wilderness but also help you to get to your destination. For instance, You can use a Handheld GPS when you’re in a city trying to find a place.
Must-Have Features of A Handheld GPS For Hunting
Handheld GPS comes in various price ranges with various features. There are select few features that are the most important. Some of the most important features of a Handheld GPS for hunting are:
Maps
GPS for hunting does require a Map. Topographical maps are important for exploring an area but not all GPS comes with a Map. Hence, you should look for the model which has a map
Memory
A tech-savvy hunter might need his GPS to do certain other things like store some information and you need memory for it. Normal Handheld GPS comes with 128 MB of memory which can be extended up to 8 gigs via an SD Card.
WayPoint Capacity
You must buy a GPS with at least 500 way-points. Most of the modern GPS devices have 1000 way-points.
Receiver
Handheld GPS is of two types: receivers and transmitters. Receivers are preferred over transmitters. New Receivers have improved identification of location and signal stability. This makes receivers perfect for your hunting trips.
Electronic Compass
A compass shows you direction. A compass with a GPS is best for exploring new areas. An electronic compass gives an accurate direction and it is fairly easier to read than the traditional compass. A slight change in your position will render the device to give you a new direction layout that you’d want. This makes navigation way too easy.
WAAS Feature
WAAS stands for Wide Area Augmentation System. It aids navigation and improves the accuracy and availability of GPS. You should get a WAAS powered system if your budget allows you to. It guarantees accuracy.
Battery Life
A handheld GPU has 14 to 16 hours of battery life. Most of them support AA batteries so, you need to carry AA batteries that are enough for your trip and don’t forget to charge your GPS before departing.
Price
The last feature of a good GPS is the price to features ratio. Many come with affordable prices but cut some features whereas some are priced relatively good and have all the features available. You need to weigh that and use your budget to determine the product that is most suitable for you.
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Final Words
In conclusion, buying a GPS for hunting is really an important thing. It is crucial that you have one. There are certain things to consider while making the purchase. These considerations include Price, Battery Life, Waypoint, Maps, Compass etc. Based on these requirements, Garmin’s Oregon 600 ticks most of the boxes. The features that this GPS has is virtually irrefutable. Therefore, we recommend the product.