Handheld Garmin eTrex GPS
Used Christmas gift cards years ago to get it basically for free. It gave me the confidence to wander around without the fear of getting lost. I marked spots that I could easily find again in the dark. It works with or without cell service and still works well 10+ years later. I started saving rubs, scrapes, and jumped deer in the big woods at camp. I later saved those same coordinates into a Google maps account and started to see patterns in satellite view.
I now know how to use Google offline maps to achieve basically the same thing on my phone, but the eTrex paved the way for me in terms of effective scouting. I don't use it much anymore, but still carry it in my pack on every hunt as a backup.
Used Christmas gift cards years ago to get it basically for free. It gave me the confidence to wander around without the fear of getting lost. I marked spots that I could easily find again in the dark. It works with or without cell service and still works well 10+ years later. I started saving rubs, scrapes, and jumped deer in the big woods at camp. I later saved those same coordinates into a Google maps account and started to see patterns in satellite view.
I now know how to use Google offline maps to achieve basically the same thing on my phone, but the eTrex paved the way for me in terms of effective scouting. I don't use it much anymore, but still carry it in my pack on every hunt as a backup.