However, the good news is is that we can get pretty close to the perfect GPS for deer hunters, and they are all listed below. These compact, handheld GPS devices are great for hunting deer. Highly rated by the hunting community, you’ll find these units most utilized.
However, there are a lot factors to consider when choosing a good GPS. A lot depends on how you intend on using it. I cannot really recommend one particular brand or model, it will be up to you to further your research. the list I provided below will be a good start. I encourage you to take the list that I provided and begin researching for yourself. GPS technology is constantly changing so check back often for updates.
Critical GPS Features needed for Deer Hunting:
- A good battery with a long life (A charge should last at least 15 to 23 hours)
- Memory for way points. The greater your memory storage the more waypoints you can store (Get at least a 14 meg unit)
- Easily portable/light weight (hand held)
- If you hunt at night, make sure the screen is large and easy to read
- You’ll want WAAS capability on your unit, this gives accuracy up to three meters from the unit
- Unit should be water resistant
Top Rated GPS for Deer Hunting
- Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx
- Garmin Etrex Camo
- Magellan Explorist 200
- Garmin GPS 60
Handheld GPS and battery life
The very first thing you’ll need to consider is battery life. We all know that deer hunting is no short walk in the park. Most hunts last at least a day. A lot of frustration can be reduced with a long GPS battery. There is nothing worse then having to cut a hunt short because your GPS unit only has enough juice to get you back to camp. Again, make sure you’re choice fits the long battery life criteria above, if not, move on.
GPS Memory and Waypoints
Theres nothing better than having a hunting hotspot and being able to return to it on demand. There is nothing worse that racking up a bunch of hotspot waypoints in your unit only to find your maxxed out on memory and you need to start deleting old spots. So when shopping for a GPS be sure you save yourself the hassle of having to decide which waypoints are more important and get plenty of memory for yourdeer hunting GPS.
Deer Hunting GPS Should be Light Weight and Portable
No one enjoys walking around the woods deer hunting while carrying a big heavy burden of a GPS. I have seen some ridiculous handheld units way as much as 4 pounds. It would would be a hunting disaster having to lug around such a device. I would have to say that two pounds is as heavy as I go for deer hunting units. And of course, this means your criteria should include a unit that must be at or below two pounds.
Having WAAS Capability
WAAS is one of those things that have been around for awhile now and most people still have no idea what it is. WAAS is one of those capabilities that gives your GPS device incredible accuracy. Accuracy of up to 3 meters. When you are on the ground and in the forest, you will need this kind of accuracy, having a resolution of 10 or so feet will keep you from falling off cliffs.
When Deer Hunting GPS Need to be Water Resistant/Water Proof
As most of you who hunt already know, hunting requires you to be outside most of the time, which of course means the weather is an important consideration. There is nothing worse then being 10 miles away away from camp and it starts raining. Oh wait, having a GPS unit that is not water resistant in that scenario would qualify it as worse. You might not find a unit that blatently mentions that it is water resistant, but you’ll be able to find units that can be retofitted with a case. This would make it somewhat resistant to water.
handheld gps and deer whitetail
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