So we're in the slow part of hunting. It's thinking and planning time. So I started going through my gear and my wife said, "Why do you still carry this if you have a GPS?" And held up my compass.
It got me thinking about 2 instances where walking a grid search for a deer in dense grass and tall sagebrush my GPS wouldn't update fast enough to keep me going in a straight line while looking at the ground. I kept wandering 10 yards here and there recovering tracks sometimes. It just wasn't accurate enough that day. We found the deer after regridding using that compass and a heading.
Another instance my GPS died. The screen went crazy. Some software issue... It was dark and I was on the sagebrush flats chasing antelope for miles until the sun went down. I pulled out my compass and took a heading. I ended up 1/4 away from the pickup but on the pavement. I still carry it every time I go out.
I fell through the ice in November and got soaked on an elk hunt. The creek wasn't that deep but I flailed in comic form while falling. Doing my best to imitate a drowning victim in 10 inches of ice water I was soaked. It was freezing. My day pack managed to soak up most of the creek. No problem. Break some limbs, gather tinder, break out my fancy mini torch and... not working. Bic? Soaked even in a ziplock. Apparantly it had a hole. Same ziplock my torch was in. Pulled out my safety matches in a water tight container and they fired! $3 well spent!
The list goes on. Sewing needle and thread when a torn clothes, a leftover hydro when I broke my ankle, paracord replacing boot laces, tweezers... (Insert image of Randy sitting on a cactus! He he) a glow stick I marked the truck with in the dark when we were packing out elk. A garbage bag to line my pack so it doesn't get blood soaked. Etc. All my "extra" stuff in a bag weighs less than a pound. I just weighed it. It is right at a half pound. Things get taken out some times of year and others get added. And yes, sometimes I too have returned with my head hung low because I didn't have something simple... like water tablets. I have done the one sleeved walk of shame when my toilet paper ran out now that I think about water tablets. 2 shots of whiskey and a mini deck of cards saved my sanity on a 5 day backpack hunt when snow hit. Just as important.
Point is I'm sure I'm not the only one here. There are a lot of newbies here and occasionally we do pack dump posts so new guys can get some pointers. Feel free to share your experiences and maybe we will save somebody some trouble. And I'm anxious to read some funny stories here too!
It got me thinking about 2 instances where walking a grid search for a deer in dense grass and tall sagebrush my GPS wouldn't update fast enough to keep me going in a straight line while looking at the ground. I kept wandering 10 yards here and there recovering tracks sometimes. It just wasn't accurate enough that day. We found the deer after regridding using that compass and a heading.
Another instance my GPS died. The screen went crazy. Some software issue... It was dark and I was on the sagebrush flats chasing antelope for miles until the sun went down. I pulled out my compass and took a heading. I ended up 1/4 away from the pickup but on the pavement. I still carry it every time I go out.
I fell through the ice in November and got soaked on an elk hunt. The creek wasn't that deep but I flailed in comic form while falling. Doing my best to imitate a drowning victim in 10 inches of ice water I was soaked. It was freezing. My day pack managed to soak up most of the creek. No problem. Break some limbs, gather tinder, break out my fancy mini torch and... not working. Bic? Soaked even in a ziplock. Apparantly it had a hole. Same ziplock my torch was in. Pulled out my safety matches in a water tight container and they fired! $3 well spent!
The list goes on. Sewing needle and thread when a torn clothes, a leftover hydro when I broke my ankle, paracord replacing boot laces, tweezers... (Insert image of Randy sitting on a cactus! He he) a glow stick I marked the truck with in the dark when we were packing out elk. A garbage bag to line my pack so it doesn't get blood soaked. Etc. All my "extra" stuff in a bag weighs less than a pound. I just weighed it. It is right at a half pound. Things get taken out some times of year and others get added. And yes, sometimes I too have returned with my head hung low because I didn't have something simple... like water tablets. I have done the one sleeved walk of shame when my toilet paper ran out now that I think about water tablets. 2 shots of whiskey and a mini deck of cards saved my sanity on a 5 day backpack hunt when snow hit. Just as important.
Point is I'm sure I'm not the only one here. There are a lot of newbies here and occasionally we do pack dump posts so new guys can get some pointers. Feel free to share your experiences and maybe we will save somebody some trouble. And I'm anxious to read some funny stories here too!
