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Bwana Bubba’s Thoughts – Mapping Technology

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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

Archery Talk - Posts, Hunting Equipment

Bwana Bubba’s Hunting Equipment-GPS & Mapping Systems

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The following article are my thoughts and opinions on the subject of GPS & Mapping Systems
Private land in middle of National Forest!
Private land in middle of National Forest!

 

I would have to say my interested in the GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment started in or around 1998 after I started to work for a large Sporting Goods Company in the Portland Metro Area in Oregon.

This will be a two part (2) article about GPS Products and then about Topo (Topographical) mapping that is designed for hunters, hikers, walkers, fishermen and anyone else that might use a GPS in the great outdoors of the U.S.A.

Over the course of many years of working with GPS products I have come to the conclusion of what I feel is the best GPS products to use in the field. Now this is my opinion and may not be everyone’s opinion!

Having known many small private plane owner pilots, they all seem to have one GPS product system that they rely on.   I will tell you it is GARMIN and be truthful about it.

I have had the opportunity to try every large name GPS products out there that have Topo mapping that is their branded line of mapping.  There are many good GPS products out there, but they are not the best!

I want you to think about support, updates, ease of putting in waypoints, transferring waypoints to and from the computer!  Garmin is by far the easiest that I have worked with.  With Garmin one can zoom in to about 80’ and that is great when you have detail TOPO (Topographical) mapping to go with it.

As for support it is the best out there via the net or on-line, as I have used both and the last time when I could not get it done on my own, I called support and actually got tech support in my local state, which meant a lot when I was communicating my problem.

Another item of importance is that you need a GPS that has a high sensitivity internal antenna and WAAS system.   It also needs to be a colored screen vice black and white.  It should have capabilities for an SD Micro Card or have enough internal memory.  Much of our hunting, hiking or exploring is done in dense timber, or in areas that there might have a canopy.   My latest GPS Garmin Montana will work inside of my office building.

A well used Garmin Montana with lots of secret spots!
A well used Garmin Montana with lots of secret spots!

Most of my hunters that I help did not realize that Garmin has a free software download called Base Map (Computer interface program to GPS device).  This is a big deal to me and my hunters that are willing to get the proper mapping and GPS.

The mapping is from another company (Hunting GPS Maps) that is not a Garmin product, yet is able to be used with the Garmin Base Map and Garmin GPS products.

I believe that Garmin’s Blue Maps and City Streets mapping is great, but I am not a fan of the Garmin Topo Mapping.  There is not enough detail or no detail of private lands within National Forest and it does not show B.L.M. Lands.   Matter of fact there is only white (no way to know other public lands) for all other lands except National Forest which is green.

The inner face is easy and once you have the software load on both the computer and the GPS you have one of the greatest tools in the world.  

If you are not computer sassy you can obtain a HUNT ONXMAP Micro Chip and install it in a Garmin GPS product.  The importance for those using the product is that you will know the public land (BLM, State, and Federal) private lands and in many cases the landowners name, then there are the private timber lands that are white with dots.  Much of the private timber lands in the west are open to the public.  The information regarding which timber lands that is open to the public should be listed with the most State Game Departments, which it is in Oregon.  Everything is color coded for the easy identifying of lands, National Forest is Green, State Lands are usually Blue, Private Lands are White, BLM is Yellow, City Properties can be purple or maroon, and the Private timber lands are White with Dots.

Just think about being out there hunting and crossing into a piece of this land thinking you are hunting National Forest and it is a Gold Mine in Eastern, Oregon or maybe a mine in Utah.   One might not like the experience they might have with an old miner. 

A GPS is one of the most important pieces of equipment to have when you are hunting in areas of mixed land.  

I will tell you since I first started to write this page, that my friends a HUNT ONXMAPS have come out with a new product for those I Pad and I Phone users, such as my son.  You are now able to get the same mapping for their usage.  Hopefully you have a connection when out there, as least you can be legal when working the zones.

My I Pad with the new HUNTING GPS MAPS installed!
My I Pad with the new HUNTING GPS MAPS installed!

I tell my DIY Antelope-Pronghorn hunters that it is a must for them to have a product that gives the boundaries.  Just look at a place like the famous Steen’s Mountains in Southeastern, Oregon.  There are many parcels of private in the middle of BLM that is hard to tell what is what, since there is so much cross fencing.  Yes you can have a paper map from the BLM, which is fine for reference, but of course you’ve had the map for 20 years or got it from a buddy who had it for 20 yards and BLM had done land swaps.  Don’t get me wrong, I came from old school with paper BLM and N.F. maps.

I know from experience how important a GPS is with trespassing and these products can save a hunt.   How many times do hunters get stopped on B.L.M. or even N.F. by ranchers that might have cattle rights on the public land?  Telling the hunter they are trespassing!  Oh!  It happens a lot in the West!  The Foreman of the famous Hay Creek back in the day would stop hunters on public roads going along the ranch and into B.L.M. and the National Grasslands.  It is one thing to get stopped by law enforcement, but not by a private citizen on the public land!

Private land in the Steen's Mnts of Oregon that may not have a fence or may have a fence and you think it is BLM.
Private land in the Steen’s Mnts of Oregon that may not have a fence or may have a fence and you think it is BLM.

When I help hunters find places at this point for FREE, I expect it to be quick and easy on my part.  The idea of helping hunters in this hectic busy lifestyle we have to shorten the scouting time in land they know nothing about.  Get waypoints to them in good hunting areas and go from there. 

There is some much one can learn about a spot that they might only get to hunt a few times in a lifetime, since most special tags take so long to get.   With a Garmin Colored GPS with SD Micro slot, Garmin Base Map (Computer), Hunting GPS Maps and Google Earth, you can go from Novice to Expert in a very short time prior to your outing.

Do you really want to get Coordinates and plug them into your GPS without knowing what you are looking at? 

Be smart and move up in technology and you’ll find new avenues to hunt and be confident in the hunt!

Frank aka Cobra

 

Hunting Equipment

Hunting with onX HUNT & Garmin GPS

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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

Cobra

Hunting Equipment

Hunting Benefits – GPS Global Positioning System

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First off I can read a map, Military Training and the days of only having paper maps, but these days paper is for backup only, as GPS systems are so accurate and what they have to offer, such as backtracking, there is no way I would leave home without one!

In the old days the Global Positioning Systems could tell you where you have been via way-points and tracks.  

Oh! One could plug in coordinates, but it still was a plot system.  I use my laptop with mapping software all the time to locate new spots and then viewing it with Google Maps.   If I have something good that I want to venture it is loaded to my Garmin GPS with mapping.

I have updated this POST with new Mapping Software that will enable the Hunter and Outdoors person the freedom to not have to look over your back and wonder if you are hunting public property.  Recently I have put new mapping software to my Garmin Map Source on my Laptop and then download to the Micro SD Card that is in the slot on my Garmin Oregon 300.

New Garmin Montana with picture on screen


With this software you will be able to see BLM, State Lands, City Lands, Private Lands and National Forest Lands and Timber Company Lands are also on the software.   Being I am in Oregon I went with the OR-PLAT4GPS.  It is almost unbelievable what you see.    I fee that everyone should have a Garmin that has a color screen, high sensitivity antenna and capabilities to accept a Micro SD Card.

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Garmin Rino 520HCX – 2 way FRS/GMRS – Topo GPSNew Garmin Montana with picture on screen

 Now the GPS can tell you where you have been, where you want to go and how to get there.   It is like looking at a TV and understanding what you have in front of you.  With the TOPO maps a GPS it can greatly make you get a gripe on the reality of using the GPS in the field.  

 If you understand Topo maps, you can identify with the lay of the land.  Be able to find the shortest way out using the GPS.    These days I can look at a map, have an idea of a place I have heard about or I want to visit.  Plug it in, even go to Goggle Maps these days and see an aerial view of the place I want to hunt or have hunted.

 Now we have new products that have GMRS and the mapping.  If one has a partner with the same like GPS they can pinpoint each other.   One has to love technology and what it can do for you.  I have had great results with the Garmin Products!  It is very easy to get the latest software updates from Garmin for your GPS Unit.  You can view some their fine trail products at the following website.

LINK: GARMIN ON THE TRAIL

Example of Micro SD Card 2 Gig

 

The Name of the Company is HUNT by on X Maps:     HUNT by on X Maps

Sample of BLM-State-Private

Just think when you zoom in on this mapping for more detail, you might even find the name of the landowner of the private parcel.   This is the greatest piece of mapping software that I have ever seen or had the privliage of using.

Here is a short U Tube from HUNT by on X Maps:  Advantages of Mapping

Just the other day up on the Santiam River in Oregon, I wanted to check out an area that I had seen elk a couple of years ago.   What I found with new software was that they were in BLM, but next to a timber company.  In checking with the timber company allows hunting.  I am going to share this information with the waypoints to a customer of mine.

You can always send me an email if you have any further questions:  bwanabubba@gmail.com   COBRA