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best scouting app ive found

Tried OnX a couple times but don’t see what all the hype is about. keep going back to Gaia. So many more map layers and features (timber harvests, wildfires, like 5 or 6 satellite layers, cwd zones, WMUs and on and on)
 
Another vote for on X maps. Camofire.com runs a sale almost once a week (including today) for onX. You get one state for $17.99 per year. Worth every penny.
 
Tried OnX a couple times but don’t see what all the hype is about. keep going back to Gaia. So many more map layers and features (timber harvests, wildfires, like 5 or 6 satellite layers, cwd zones, WMUs and on and on)
I tried Gaia last fall after someone on here recommended it. Seemed good on the reviews, but in the woods, I would mark spots as I was scouting and hunting and then it would be horribly off on the aerial views and property lines. My garmin 62csx is always spot on, so I keep using it and deleted gaia. OnX worked well for me in Ohio the previous fall, may give it a chance here in NC this fall.
 
I use a combination of onX Hunt with the download/offline option and a combination of Huntwise, HuntStand and Scoutlook for the weather/wind options on their free versions.
 
I use ArcGis Explorer and have been decently happy with it but want to explore other options. Is there a free version of OnX? And are others free?
 
I use scoutlook for iphone. works great. It even gives you weather and wind direction. You can mark points on your map and then sign in at home with your compter and all youer information is there. Checkit it out at w.scoutlookweather.comww
Scoutlook is easily my favorite and it’s free. Can’t beat that. :)

OnX Maps is great too but should be for what it cost per year. The thing I really hate is it really eats up battery power unless you are on offline maps. Really crazy how fast it zaps your battery if you forget to switch.
 
I tried Gaia last fall after someone on here recommended it. Seemed good on the reviews, but in the woods, I would mark spots as I was scouting and hunting and then it would be horribly off on the aerial views and property lines. My garmin 62csx is always spot on, so I keep using it and deleted gaia. OnX worked well for me in Ohio the previous fall, may give it a chance here in NC this fall.

Probably me you saw recommend it. I don’t know what could possibly cause the issues you’re having. I use mine everyday for work and love it more everyday.

I especially like being able to take a picture and have it stored as a waypoint. I use this feature for property corners and for sign I find while scouting. I also use it to take pictures of trees I plan to send someone to later on. Doing that allows me to give them coordinates for the tree as well as giving them a picture of what they’re looking for when they get there. Same with property corners when I survey. I often have folks wanting me to walk them around and show them the pins and I do it, but every client that lets me send them Lat/Lon and pictures saves me time and money. The first person that agreed to this more than paid for the $29 the app cost me.

Also, I recently had a methhead adjoiner pull up 2 t-posts I set beside his back property corners while I was marking line for a timber sale. Heck, it was done to protect his property from encroachment. He was eyeballing me while I was setting them so the next day I eased in there to check and sure enough they were gone. The property owner was the county so the Sheriff’s office was more than willing to pay him a visit after I showed them the before and after pictures and now my t-posts are right back where I set them.
 
@Bwhana look at the screenshot below.... the waypoint symbols for pictures that I took of the actual property corners. 2 are really tight to where the parcel lines are located and 1 is way off.

f77c79f7c4e2145051a5c10db5587392.jpg


There’s several factors at play, but most often the culprit is the quality of the county’s parcel data. They do the best they can with older surveys (or no surveys at all). EVERY APP that shows parcel data buys the SAME dataset from the counties so one isn’t going to be any better than the other in that respect.
 
Scoutlook is easily my favorite and it’s free. Can’t beat that. :)

OnX Maps is great too but should be for what it cost per year. The thing I really hate is it really eats up battery power unless you are on offline maps. Really crazy how fast it zaps your battery if you forget to switch.

I use onX almost daily as I do a lot of hunting/scouting in the National Forest, and I probably spend as much time cyber scouting from the couch as I do walking the mountains. With that said, at $17.99/year the cost averages out to $1.50 per month so Price is a non issue. Regarding battery life, I have over 100,000 acres of NF stored to my phone, so I am always off line when using it and it uses almost no battery life In the “Go Offline” mode. No cell service required and the gps works great. I hunt some fairly remote spots in the national forest and on X has completely replaced the need to carry a separate GPS unit.
 
@Bwhana look at the screenshot below.... the waypoint symbols for pictures that I took of the actual property corners. 2 are really tight to where the parcel lines are located and 1 is way off.

f77c79f7c4e2145051a5c10db5587392.jpg


There’s several factors at play, but most often the culprit is the quality of the county’s parcel data. They do the best they can with older surveys (or no surveys at all). EVERY APP that shows parcel data buys the SAME dataset from the counties so one isn’t going to be any better than the other in that respect.
Likely the the case for me with this being a very rural county (Caswell). I tried it there and deleted it immediately after that hunting trip, so I have no idea if it works better elsewhere. Either way, it doesn't help me up there and I intend to spend more time there this year. Btw, I worked in surveying four years part time while in college. Wish I had partnered with my friend and got my license when he asked instead of an IT career!
 
I use onX almost daily as I do a lot of hunting/scouting in the National Forest, and I probably spend as much time cyber scouting from the couch as I do walking the mountains. With that said, at $17.99/year the cost averages out to $1.50 per month so Price is a non issue. Regarding battery life, I have over 100,000 acres of NF stored to my phone, so I am always off line when using it and it uses almost no battery life In the “Go Offline” mode. No cell service required and the gps works great. I hunt some fairly remote spots in the national forest and on X has completely replaced the need to carry a separate GPS unit.
I also have downloaded offline maps of my hunting areas to save battery life and that works well but still not acceptable battery life with my iPhone compared to my Garmin Oregon with the OnX map card installed in it. Both have a good purpose depending on the situation. For detailed maps with terrain and aerials I prefer the mobile version but for navigation I much prefer my GPS with the OnX card.
 
Tried OnX a couple times but don’t see what all the hype is about. keep going back to Gaia. So many more map layers and features (timber harvests, wildfires, like 5 or 6 satellite layers, cwd zones, WMUs and on and on)

This. I had Onx but did not care for it. I’ve been using Gaia for 3 years and to me it is superior


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Huntstand is my go to app. It serves my purpose, it's easy enough for me to figure out and it's free.
 
Have not seen anyone mention Back Country Navigator (bcnav). Have been using it for about 3 years. Works great for scouting/hunting. Very easy to use in conjunction with google earth, easily exporting/importing gpx files for tracks and waypoints.

They are beta testing the upgrade called bcnav XE. This will have a desktop web based version to use along with the app, similar to onX. I really lile onX, i would pay $30/yr for it, but its only one state. Wish they would do something like $30 for first state and $10 for each additional and then have a $100 elite unlimited or something.

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ONX does have a $99 membership that includes all 50 states. I believe they are $30 per state, or all 50 states for $99.
 
Where I Begin
  • My favorite, and where I ALWAYS start, is with google earth pro - specifically, I use the historical imaging feature and vacillate images between multiple time periods. This allows me to see high/low water, spring/summer, fall/winter etc. Some areas have more updated images than others but for river bottoms in particular, I've found a specific time-period that tells me a lot about bedding/travel.
Then, depending if I'm hunting in hilly terrain or flat:

Hilly Terrain
  • I like Hillmap to compare/contrast as 7.5min topo to sat view. This provides side-by-side comparison (better to determine combined elevation/terrain of certain patterns that I like). However, it's best (IMO) in areas w/elevation changes that warrant the addition of the 7.5min topo ...and not as valuable in the flatlands.
Flat Terrain
  • In some of the river bottoms I hunt, they can go 5-10 feet under water fairly quickly. I tried, forever, to work w/the Arkansas GIS department to build a topo map w/3' contour intervals vs the standard 20' on a 7.5min topo. Finally, I found DEM [Digital Elevation Model] shading on Caltopo. By using this function, I can essentially create my own elevation map on 1meter (~3') intervals. The elevation changes are color coded.This is especially useful in knowing; do I need a boat, can I get through with knee boots, hip boots, chest waders, will this elevation support oak tree growth etc.
While Hunting
  • I use ONX while I'm hunting (lots of private inholdings on some of the public I hunt). Also, based on where I live in NE AR, I have access to several states w/in 1-3 hours (AL, AR, IL, KY, MO, MS, TN). Just upgraded onX ELITE for $59.99 (All 50 state sale via camofire this past week - May 16)
  • NOTE: If you are not hunting in an area where understanding property boundaries is critical, there are likely better options than onX IMO. This is my go to as I hunt mainly public w/private inholdings so knowing where I am at all times is critical.
Deal might still be going and perhaps I should have posted in the coupon/discount section
 
Where I Begin
  • My favorite, and where I ALWAYS start, is with google earth pro - specifically, I use the historical imaging feature and vacillate images between multiple time periods. This allows me to see high/low water, spring/summer, fall/winter etc. Some areas have more updated images than others but for river bottoms in particular, I've found a specific time-period that tells me a lot about bedding/travel.
Then, depending if I'm hunting in hilly terrain or flat:

Hilly Terrain
  • I like Hillmap to compare/contrast as 7.5min topo to sat view. This provides side-by-side comparison (better to determine combined elevation/terrain of certain patterns that I like). However, it's best (IMO) in areas w/elevation changes that warrant the addition of the 7.5min topo ...and not as valuable in the flatlands.
Flat Terrain
  • In some of the river bottoms I hunt, they can go 5-10 feet under water fairly quickly. I tried, forever, to work w/the Arkansas GIS department to build a topo map w/3' contour intervals vs the standard 20' on a 7.5min topo. Finally, I found DEM [Digital Elevation Model] shading on Caltopo. By using this function, I can essentially create my own elevation map on 1meter (~3') intervals. The elevation changes are color coded.This is especially useful in knowing; do I need a boat, can I get through with knee boots, hip boots, chest waders, will this elevation support oak tree growth etc.
While Hunting
  • I use ONX while I'm hunting (lots of private inholdings on some of the public I hunt). Also, based on where I live in NE AR, I have access to several states w/in 1-3 hours (AL, AR, IL, KY, MO, MS, TN). Just upgraded onX ELITE for $59.99 (All 50 state sale via camofire this past week - May 16)
  • NOTE: If you are not hunting in an area where understanding property boundaries is critical, there are likely better options than onX IMO. This is my go to as I hunt mainly public w/private inholdings so knowing where I am at all times is critical.
Deal might still be going and perhaps I should have posted in the coupon/discount section

Gaia has private property and land owners and public land boundaries as well. I think it is a better set up than onyx.


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I use Huntstand and really like it. Has anyone used this app and found anything better?
 
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