Do you leave your GPS powered on the whole day?

[Devil Diver Down]

While reviewing my notes from 2012, I found an issue that popped up a few times that I never bothered to solve. I carry my GPS in my back pocket, powered off. At least 3 times during my archery elk hunt, I was on a bull and wanted to drop my pack. Rather than just dump it in the middle of the forest before following a bull to who knows where, I took the time to power on the GPS and mark the pack - but my Garmin Legend takes a little while to acquire satellites sometimes and opportunity was leaking away in the meantime. I guess I could keep it in a belt holster, powered on all day, but it probably would lose sat acquisition during that time too.

So, where do you keep your GPS? Powered on or off?

 

[Big Fin]

I keep mine on all day. I have a carabiner on the unit and it hooks right through a little loop in the waistbelt of my Mystery Ranch. That keeps it very handy.

I never drop my pack, so the issue you mention is not something I encounter.

 

[dustinf]

I never drop my pack, so the issue you mention is not something I encounter.

Same here. Just about the most dangerous thing you can do in the backcountry.

I leave my GPS on 100% of the time, while traveling.

 

[Summitthunting]

My Garmin Oregon 550 eats batteries if left on all day but i leave it on, the power save mode helps. I also never drop my pack, I got pinned down by some cows for three hours 200yds from my pack full of warm clothes, bout froze to death.

 

[jryoung]

Mine is in my cargo pocket in my pants, but I use my phone for GPS so it's slim design fits easily and I have quick access to it while on the move.

 

[smarandr]

I leave mine on at all times too. One of the things I like to do is upload my track to my mapping software after the trip.

 

[zfountaine55]

Mine is on whenever I'm moving. Dropped my pack once last year wound up being separated from it for quite a while, in which time I could have used water at the very least. Don't plan on doing so again unless its truely a last resort. For the most part I can get 2 days from a set of batteries out of my unit (garmin GPSmap 60csx) and it always rides on the waist belt of my pack in an FHF Gear pouch- Paul's gear rocks!

 

[BB33]

I keep mine in my cargo pocket, but leave it off; should just leave it on though. I used to drop the pack before closing the stalk, but learned the hard way not to.

 

[MTnsheds]

DDD - Sounds like the other guys on here know alot more than me about the power issues. One suggestion to the carry issue is a custom pouch or pouches. I know that FHF Gear has multiple options (on belt, pack, bino harness, etc.) that may resolve the dropped pack issue.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

Dropping my pack is probably a poor idea, but I don't like the way it feels when I draw my bow. I practice with it on quite a bit, but just can't get used to it. It also gets in the way when crawling through brush. A new GPS - one that acquires satellites faster - is on my gear list. I thought I was getting a Garmin Oregon 450 for Christmas or my birthday - didn't buy it on sale from Cabelas for $200 because I thought my wife was buying me one - but I got skunked.

 

[Mudranger1]

I usual leave mine on but it is old and doesn't hold a signal very well so it prob didn't matter either way...(got a new one for Christmas hopefully that cures that problem) Dropped my pack this year followed some elk for about an hour..realized my gps and flashlight were in it so finding it in the dark took some time but I eventually did =\

 

[idnative1948]

My Garmin Oregon 550 eats batteries if left on all day but i leave it on, the power save mode helps. I also never drop my pack, I got pinned down by some cows for three hours 200yds from my pack full of warm clothes, bout froze to death.

Slow elk type of cows, or cow elk?

 

[Jwill]

I prefer to leave mine off unless I'm hunting near a boundary, it powers up and acquires satellites pretty quickly when I need it, but a word of advice - if you let your buddy borrow your new pack after you tag out, make sure he leaves his gps running. Said new pack is now collecting snow on a Colorado mountainside...

 

[MThuntr]

I leave my Oregon on all day with a lot of spare rechargeable batteries.

 

[WapitiBob]

Drop my pack every once in a while but bulls are close when I do. I sure don't drop it and run over the next hill.

 

[Carrion Carrier]

I agree that when it's time to shoot it's best to lose any extra weight. Even taking a rifle shot with extra pounds on your back is difficult. That being said, I don't drop/leave my pack anywhere. I don't leave my GPS on all day either. However, I just bought an Oregon 550 and love it. I don't know exactly how it will be used next year. Satellite acquisition is so fast compared to my Legend (which sometimes never picked up a signal) the 550 is locked on in the 5 seconds it takes to boot up.

BTW - you can pick up all of the land ownership/topo maps (plus a million others, including elk winter range, HD boundaries and other great stuff for FREE at gpsfiledepot.com. I now have MT, WA, ID, WY and CO and I didn't have to spend $500!

 

[npaden]

I leave my GPS on and clipped to my backpack with a caribiner. I drop my pack occasionally but never get more than a hundred yards or so from it and have never felt like I need to mark where my pack is.

 

[deer_shooter]

I never drop my pack and usually keep the gps on all day. I keep a fresh set of batteries in my pack along with my old gps unit powered down but with camp/truck marked.

 

[What Map]

I leave mine one and carry spare batteries. I mark waypoints frequently when I'm in new country. My unit uses batteries relatively quickly.
Also bottons get pushed when I don't want them to be sometimes in my saddle bags and dry bags on my boat. Anyone know how to lock buttons on Garmin GPSmapg 76C5S x?

 

[sagebrush]

I keep mine in my cargo pocket. If I decide to drop my pack, the first thing I do is power up the GPS, slip off the pack, then mark the waypoint. Every once in a while it takes some time to acquire the satellites. I also power it up ocassionally while I'm hiking so it doesn't need to search and then change satellites which really speeds up the start up.