Tag Archives: gps mapping

Bwana Bubba’s Thoughts – Mapping Technology

onXmaps HUNT

The technology is here for all to enjoy accurate mapping in the field!

How many people know that Wyoming was the first to make jumping B.L.M. corners a trespassing violation?  It is the same in Oregon, as I have tested the waters on this one.   There is no need to trespass!

There is technology and mapping resources to keep you from unintentionally trespassing in the State of Oregon and many other states in the continental U.S. that has private land and public land in a mix of blocks with fences and without fences.  In many cases hunters find the landowner and gain access to public land or even the private sector.

For many years I have been helping hunters find places to hunt for big game in the State of Oregon.  In the four years I have been involved with new mapping technology and giving coordinates or waypoints to hunters at NO COST monetarily, none of my hunters that use the technology have ever had an issue. I have expected them to buy a GPS (Garmin) (colored screen) (SD Micro Ready) that interfaces with the Topo Mapping Software from onXmaps HUNT. Recently I have extended free service for those that are using Android and Apple devices.  In this case with the onXmaps HUNT software loaded to the device, I can send them a Google Earth KLM file. This keeps it simple and fast for me to get them into the area, saving a great deal of time in the scouting of an area.

This is what you would see on an Mobile Device from a Google Earth from a KLM file download.
This is what you would see on an Mobile Device from a Google Earth from a KLM file download.

A bit of humor though, when checking back with the hunters after the hunt, I have asked where the pictures and short story are, some have told me “I didn’t find an antelope at the waypoint!” “But I did get kill one close to the spot!”

For those who are savvy with a computer to have the software on the computer and on a colored screen Garmin GPS there is limitless opportunity with the knowledge gained from using the technology.

The great thing about using onXmaps HUNT is that in many states you have the private, private timber lands, BLM, State Lands and National Forest lands distinctively marked for easy reference. In many counties you will see the blocks of private by land owner name.  The onXmaps HUNT Information Technology team is always updating the maps when needed!

What does amaze me daily that many hunters who let’s say have waited 12-20 years for a pronghorn tag, still come back to me when they are using their computer to find me and my services and tell me they can’t afford a GPS or they tell me, “I have a paper map.” I don’t even carry paper maps in the field any longer.

This is how my Garmin GPS and Google Earth looks with onXmaps HUNT with waypoints and tracks. You decide if you want accuracy or gray zone!
This is how my Garmin GPS and Google Earth looks with onXmaps HUNT with waypoints and tracks. You decide if you want accuracy or gray zone!

The major problem with paper maps is that most are outdated and most will not show the small blocks of private land that are on Bureau of Land Management, State Lands (sometimes) or National Forest. Just one example is near Sumpter and Granite, Oregon where there are privately held mines on private land. Always interesting to see the names of the mines in some Oregon’s and other state’s remote locations.  You won’t see that on most paper maps, little along on other mapping software.  I can guarantee with a National Forest map or road map, you’re going to get a trespassing ticket if you rely on that source to keep you legal.  A landowner up in this neck of the woods on an active mine, might not take too kindly to someone trespassing.  Now if you had the onXmaps HUNT mapping, you might be able to find the landowner and get permission to hunt. Remember, asking is not that hard to do!

This would be the typical National Forest Map and other mapping companies software on a GPS Device.
This would be the typical National Forest Map and other mapping companies software on a GPS Device.

Yet to this day in a moment of compassion, I will print a map from my onXmaps HUNT program, scan it and send it to a person so they can hunt. It is just not the same doing this rather than to have the waypoints on a GPS and while at camp, look at them on a laptop for the next day’s hunt. You can make a route to get to that hard to reach spot.  For those that don’t have a Garmin, they might only get txt files and try to figure them out on a map.  Land ownership and boundaries change over the years, just look at the boundaries of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation today versus 15 years ago.

Now this is the view of the above National Forest land with onXmaps HUNT software on a Garmin GPS.
Now this is the view of the above National Forest land with onXmaps HUNT software on a Garmin GPS.

Having a local tell you, “Once you get to the store in Hampton, there is a road that goes to the north out of town, travel for about a mile, stop at the first tree on the left, turn then once you cross the stream on Grade 7 road, then travel about 1 mile, then turn right at the big boulder with class of 70 painted on it, then up the hill until you see the pine tree, then take the second dirt road to the left” is utterly confusing. Most of us get lost!

I hear of hunters or outdoor people getting ticketed every day for trespassing unknowingly. The fine alone, if they get a good judge with compassion, you could have bought a new Garmin Montana and onXmaps HUNT SD Micro Card, and many sporting goods stores have package deals!

This is my Garmin Montana with onXmaps HUNT software. This is what it looks like and you can zoom in for greater accuracy!
This is my Garmin Montana with onXmaps HUNT software. This is what it looks like and you can zoom in for greater accuracy!

The other amazing thing is that the GPS and the mapping software will give the hunter or outdoor person and insight into the unknown. You’ll find places you can go, that you never knew existed.  These places aren’t advertised, but once you locate them by using the equipment, you can make the call or let’s say check with ODFW on private lands on which the public can hunt. Do you really think that timber companies advertise for the public to hunt their lands?  They might have some lands open, but they also have some not opened to the public and yet both are posted the same way!

#huntsmarter #teamhunt #onxmaps #bwanabubbaadventurers

Bwana Bubba of Oregon

Hunting with onX HUNT & Garmin GPS

HUNT with onX HUNT & Garmin GPS Products

The Winning Team for the Outdoors

(Global Positioning Systems) for many years.  I would have to put myself back to around 1998 with the first being a Garmin XL.  I have had many Garmin GPS’s over the years and still have some that are pretty old.  Those are ones that I will loan out; knowing I might not get them back or in good shape.  A number of months back I bought a new Garmin Montana 600, the latest in technology and very fast in the field.  I loaded it with the onX HUNT software that comes out of the great state of Montana.  One of the reasons I am posting this post is about the great service I received about 3 weeks ago.  I was having problems with the Montana 600 when it came to typing in names of waypoints and locking up while doing so.  It had made it through the fall hunting season which was good.  This is the first Garmin to ever give me issues that I could not fix by doing an update on-line.  I sent an email to technical support at Garmin and told them the numerous issues on the Montana 600 I was having.   When I sent the message off, I got an email back to my home email that it would be three (3) working days for a response on my issues.   The next day I get another email that had someone to call and a name, if I remember it was James M.   In the message I was told that Garmin Technical Support felt I could do a Master Reboot on the device and that should take care of it.  I did the Master Reboot and it helped a little, so I did twice more to see how it would really work.  It did not fix the problem!  Now what was I going to do!  The next day I decided to call the 888 number and explain that the Master Reboot did not work and that it was the first Garmin of the many I have or have had to not work properly.  I got a young man name Chris on the phone within like one (1) minute of the call!  Such a deal someone answers the phone and was very polite.  I talked with Chris for a few minutes and within those few minutes he told me he lived in Salem, Oregon and had worked for Garmin for a number of years.  Now I was floored that I had someone living in the U.S.A., doing support and be able to understand them.   Now here is the good part of our conversation about the Montana 600, Chris felt that I needed a replacement (new), since the Master Reboot did not work.  He told me to get it in the mail and that he had sent all the codes and address to my email with instructions.  The next day I got the Montana 600 into the U.S. Mail to Kansas, yes the U.S.A. Kansas.   Chris told me that it would be about 3 weeks before I would get the replacement in the mail.  Well turn around was 2 weeks total for me to get my hands on the Montana 600 new in the box. Before the Garmin Montana 600 was sent off, I contacted Matt with onX HUNT software Matt let me know that he would give me a new un-lock code to load the Hunt Oregon for Garmin or Hunt Northwest for Garmin on the new Garmin. Two great companies to work with when it comes to GPS products! Garmin makes a superb product for everyone, whether it for the hunting, aviation, hiking, fishing, automobile, motorcycles, Recreation Vehicle and runners.  There is software updates for the devices that are always Free.  You can do this via your computer via the Free Web Updater software.

How to from Hunting GPS Maps

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