Need to locate the blinds, etc so I can get to them and not get lost, ( especially on a morning hunt- when you're in the dark with headlights, everything looks different, been there?). Anybody have an app recommendation? Satellite image showing the ranch roads is essential.
Thanks!

Google earth?

We use HuntStand App for our lease. 8500 acres. Works great...

OnX. Can download the map so it's available without cell service if that's a need.

GoHunt has a similar map function as well I think, but I've been using OnX for years, and haven't felt the need to change.

OnX Hunt has worked great for me.

HuntStand App FTMFW

I just use the satellite imagery on Google Maps and drop pins where my stands are.

I'm pretty sure all the other apps use the same images.

Google maps
Gaia
Onx
Basemap
Huntstand

I created a lease management website but wasn't enough return to justify cost so shut it down. Never made it an app

I've never gotten lost with a tiny single bulb flashlight and my ole noggin…

OnX

cupofjoe04 said:

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I've never gotten lost with a tiny single bulb flashlight and my ole noggin…

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Ive always wondered how much of that is nature vs nurture. My dad drug us all over the woods, adventures by boat, etc at a young age. I pretty much have a built in compass and google maps in my head. I have friends that can get lost going to the same place they've been 20 times. Is it just a personality trait or learned at a young age?

Google maps works well for me. I walk the path to the blind, and mark multiple spots on the path. I also mark the blind and the feeder. Later, I use that data to create a walking path to the feeder. You can "Draw a line" for the path, and you can "Add a marker" for specific spots. You can even use their icon that look like a buck to mark the feeder. When going to the blind, you can then see exactly where you are on the path and where you will be turning.

Separately, I've found that it really helps to use aluminum tape (or similar reflective tape) to mark the path. Just wrap it around a bunch of small tree branches along the way, and your path becomes very visible with even a dim flashlight. You could also paint some rocks silver on the path, or similar.

Separately, our paths often are on cattle/wildlife paths. When we make a turn at a "Y" in the path, I'll set some rocks across the path to help me see the turn. Animals just walk right over that, but it helps me see.

CS78 said:

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cupofjoe04 said:

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I've never gotten lost with a tiny single bulb flashlight and my ole noggin…

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Ive always wondered how much of that is nature vs nurture. My dad drug us all over the woods, adventures by boat, etc at a young age. I pretty much have a built in compass and google maps in my head. I have friends that can get lost going to the same place they've been 20 times. Is it just a personality trait or learned at a young age?

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I was kind of raised the same way. Although we hunted places that I'd been in and around a thousand times. I can see where guys that only visit the lease a few times a year or whatever would have issues.........BUT.......i also think they need to work on Land Navigation without the use of technology......all due respect.

Man, all the trees look alike.

RealTalk said:

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Man, all the trees look alike.

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Cheat.

Go to the hardware store, get some reflective push pins, or make them yourself.

Just don't hang orange tape on the trees. Ranchers will talk trash about you behind your back.....

CS78 said:

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cupofjoe04 said:

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I've never gotten lost with a tiny single bulb flashlight and my ole noggin…

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Ive always wondered how much of that is nature vs nurture. My dad drug us all over the woods, adventures by boat, etc at a young age. I pretty much have a built in compass and google maps in my head. I have friends that can get lost going to the same place they've been 20 times. Is it just a personality trait or learned at a young age?

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Some of it is natural, but I think a lot of it is nurture. I was raised the same way. My Dad would drive across the state to remote ranches without maps. We would traipse all across the place without maps. It's just how things were. When I started driving, every now and then I would borrow the Mapsco, like if I had to go to downtown Dallas or something. But even then, the process of mapping out the route cemented in my head so I didn't look at it for every turn.

My wife wasn't raised that way. She had step by step directions for everything she did. Never did any navigating or orienteering. She isn't the worst with directions, but it is not a skill that has been honed. If she has a map, she is good. But she doesn't remember turns, landmarks, places, etc… Even just navigating our small town after 6 years. If it is a new place she is going, she has to put it in the GPS.

Ive known lots of guys the same way. Had a guy trying to find me at a restaurant one time, and he got so mad because his Tom Tom GPS wouldn't pull it up. I told him on the phone several times "You are on the highway, just take exit X, and it is on the opposite side. You can't miss it." He literally freaked out and didn't know how to operate without his GPS. He pulled over, and I had to go get him… He literally couldn't just find his way.

So, I think it is a skill everyone can hone and develop, but is certainly more natural to some.

Another vote for OnX. I have an elite membership. With that I get maps to all 50 states. In addition, it shows me landowners and comes with lots of other useful tools. Plus, (I didn't even know about this when I paid for Elite) I got an email recently with "special offers for elite members" and saved 35% on a new Vortex optic. Lots of other companies besides Vortex included. I saved about $250 on a spotting scope. That pays for about 2.5 years of my OnX elite membership.

Here is one picture of what you can do with Google Maps. Obviously, if you are on the lease, there is the blue dot that shows you where you are on the map.

Google Map of Hunting Area

I use ONX and mark all our blinds.

Quote:

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Ive always wondered how much of that is nature vs nurture. My dad drug us all over the woods, adventures by boat, etc at a young age. I pretty much have a built in compass and google maps in my head. I have friends that can get lost going to the same place they've been 20 times. Is it just a personality trait or learned at a young age?

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I wandered the woods miles from home at a young age & got really good at keeping mental maps of where I am. I've been out with other folks & they walk around head down or just focused on where they are going. I frequently look backwards to see what the landscape looks like where I've come from.

I've only been "lost" a couple of times for a brief time... really more just "turned around".
Both instances were in low-viz brush with little to no elevation change & heavy cloudcover so I couldn't see the sun. First time I stopped & just waited until was able to pinpoint highway noise so I could orient myself.
Second time I had a compass on my watch that got me straight again.