Hunt Stand vs On X

[gcr0003]

Here is a six month trial for premium Gaia:

Gaia GPS: Navigate, Track, and Explore

Download, print, and navigate with premium outdoor maps. NatGeo, weather, land ownership, 4x4, motor vehicle use maps (MVUM), and hunting units.

www.gaiagps.com

That link was found in this thread. There are plenty of other trial codes out there, that was just the first that i found that was long enough to finish out the season.

How long have you been using GAIA Premium, or do you?

 

[raisins]

Two things I don't like about OnX:

1. when you turn the thing on it puts your location in the next county and you have to hit the location refresh thing until you are back in the right spot, maybe this is an artifact of acquiring satellites and other apps don't show this by not loading as fast (?)

2. when you zoom in and out it will change the date of your aerial photo (you'll suddenly switch from summer to winter), I wish that you could select a range of dates at any zoom level (like zoom in and then scroll through historic data)

#2 above is the biggie for me, does any other app address this well?

 

[JDHoosier]

not blurry like offline mode blurry. but satellite image isnt as crisp as google maps. i dont have any experience with other apps to compare with. but it does bother me when i want detailed sat images

I don't think Google allows them to use their high resolution satellite imagery.

 

[raisins]

I don't think Google allows them to use their high resolution satellite imagery.

I'm going to play around with google earth app then and might end up only using onx for property lines.

 

[five]

Has anyone uses GAIA GPS more than a season? Any tips or things to pay attention to?

I've used it since 2013, back when it was lifetime for $19.99. The biggest thing I have to remember is download offline maps. I don't really have any tips though. It's always just worked well enough, I've never needed to try anything else. Back when I got it, I was logging a lot of miles as a trail runner and offline maps were a necessity because of spotty cell coverage and batteries dying. I'd turn off cell towers / wifi so it would last longer. As I've transitioned away from reflective tacks to using my phone more, it's just worked. Over the years they've added more and more icons. I can kind of tell the ones I marked a long time ago because they are generic.

As a hunter my favorite feature is being able to gameplan on the computer and it auto transfers over to the phone when I'm ready to go out. I'll usually sync it up when I'm on wifi.

 

[bj139]

I've used it since 2013, back when it was lifetime for $19.99. The biggest thing I have to remember is download offline maps. I don't really have any tips though. It's always just worked well enough, I've never needed to try anything else. Back when I got it, I was logging a lot of miles as a trail runner and offline maps were a necessity because of spotty cell coverage and batteries dying. I'd turn off cell towers / wifi so it would last longer. As I've transitioned away from reflective tacks to using my phone more, it's just worked. Over the years they've added more and more icons. I can kind of tell the ones I marked a long time ago because they are generic.

As a hunter my favorite feature is being able to gameplan on the computer and it auto transfers over to the phone when I'm ready to go out. I'll usually sync it up when I'm on wifi.

How do I download offline maps? So far, They just seem to be on my phone in the area I've been hunting.

 

[gcr0003]

I've used it since 2013, back when it was lifetime for $19.99. The biggest thing I have to remember is download offline maps. I don't really have any tips though. It's always just worked well enough, I've never needed to try anything else. Back when I got it, I was logging a lot of miles as a trail runner and offline maps were a necessity because of spotty cell coverage and batteries dying. I'd turn off cell towers / wifi so it would last longer. As I've transitioned away from reflective tacks to using my phone more, it's just worked. Over the years they've added more and more icons. I can kind of tell the ones I marked a long time ago because they are generic.

As a hunter my favorite feature is being able to gameplan on the computer and it auto transfers over to the phone when I'm ready to go out. I'll usually sync it up when I'm on wifi.

Could you share what your top layers are for hunting. I’m going through and trying to find the best satellite and topo to add to my standard layers that I’ll use all the time as well as property boundaries and public land but that’s pretty straight forward. I’d be curious what
Satellite, Topo And Satellite with topo Layers you favorite. I am already loving the sync up.

thanks for responding!

 

[gcr0003]

How do I download offline maps? So far, They just seem to be on my phone in the area I've been hunting.

Layers and overlay —> scroll to bottom —> Add Map Layers

They have a folder for hunting specifically.

you then go to your layers and choose which ones to show on your map. I like that you can change the transparency on them.

 

[PEEJAY]

I'm going to play around with google earth app then and might end up only using onx for property lines.

I would really be careful using onX for property lines. looks legit...sometimes it is. But sometimes its way farther off then their 5-10 ft accuracy claims. unless my buddy actually owns half of farmer dans field, its about 15 acres off. thats a big jump from 5 ft. baffling honestly.

 

[bj139]

I left the track running while I was in a few trees. It looks like my GPS gives about a 20 foot radius on my position. It seems to be the same with OxHunt and GAIA.

 

[splatek]

I’m disappointed with the number and quality of layers on OnX. I found a free trial of GAIA GPS premium and ive been super impressed so far. I was needing better satellite and better topo maps. Has anyone uses GAIA GPS more than a season? Any tips or things to pay attention to?

I’m disappointed with the number and quality of layers on OnX. I found a free trial of GAIA GPS premium and ive been super impressed so far. I was needing better satellite and better topo maps. Has anyone uses GAIA GPS more than a season? Any tips or things to pay attention to?

I have been using GAIA GPS for backcountry angling for 5-6 years and now just started hunting and am using it for that as well.
I like the slope angle shading, because I hunt hill country/mountains, southern Appalachians.
I also like shaded relief with topo lines
I also like the national map.

What I found is that cross-referencing the USFS 2016 with GAIA topo with lanscape layer and with national map layer will usually identify any and all trails that are or were there. The historic 1930 USGS maps are pretty good too. I have been way back off trail several times and found what looks like a trail or even a road. When I crossref with usgs1930 turns out it was an old road. That helps.

THe waypoint icons aren't the best, particularly wrt hunting, but they work, especially if you have a system.

I like the fact that you can take a photo at a hot spot: I did this the other day when I found an gorgeous buck bedding area and some rubs on trees that were wider than my calves. Rather than just label as "rub" I took a pic because this was a special place.

Record your tracking is legit and has saved my a** more than once.
Man, I could go on. I would subscribe to the GAIG GPS blog, because every so often they will release something that hits home. Most times is not relevant, but when it is... it's usually gold.

 

[Bwhana]

I have been experimenting a lot this fall. It may be a location thing, but for my area (NC), I have OnX, Gaia, and Basemap (all premium memberships) loaded on my phone, but the maps are ancient on Gaia and Basemap compared to OnX, and they provide no better features or accuracy for me. Google Maps has the best aerial views of all, so I use it with downloaded maps the most, and OnX for ballpark property borders.

 

[gcr0003]

I have been experimenting a lot this fall. It may be a location thing, but for my area (NC), I have OnX, Gaia, and Basemap (all premium memberships) loaded on my phone, but the maps are ancient on Gaia and Basemap compared to OnX, and they provide no better features or accuracy for me. Google Maps has the best aerial views of all, so I use it with downloaded maps the most, and OnX for ballpark property borders.

interesting

 

[thelefty41]

I have been testing out the trial version of OnX and find that it drains my battery pretty hard. It doesn't help that my phone is 5 years old. Does anyone have a preference on which of these apps is the best for battery usage?

 

[Nosaj]

For my area in South West NH the Huntstand Digital Globe Maps are the most up to date including Google. They have 20 different maps to choose from several different map providers, both commercial and gov..

 

[gcr0003]

I have been testing out the trial version of OnX and find that it drains my battery pretty hard. It doesn't help that my phone is 5 years old. Does anyone have a preference on which of these apps is the best for battery usage?

You can save maps with the premium version and that will decrease the battery drainage. I’m running a iPhone SE (basically iPhone 6).

 

[JDHoosier]

I have been testing out the trial version of OnX and find that it drains my battery pretty hard. It doesn't help that my phone is 5 years old. Does anyone have a preference on which of these apps is the best for battery usage?

This year I've been hunting areas with little to no signal so I've started to run airplane mode some. Even if I have signal I always turn off wifi and bluetooth. Seems to help

 

[BuckTown]

I have been testing out the trial version of OnX and find that it drains my battery pretty hard. It doesn't help that my phone is 5 years old. Does anyone have a preference on which of these apps is the best for battery usage?

I went from OnX to HuntStand due to battery drain and am very happy with the minimal battery usage on HuntStand. Even with my offline maps downloaded on OnX, my phone would get hot and battery drain while using the app. HuntStand has been far superior in that regards on both my iPhone SE and now iPhone SE 2020 version.

 

[Homebrew454]

I left the track running while I was in a few trees. It looks like my GPS gives about a 20 foot radius on my position. It seems to be the same with OxHunt and GAIA.

I believe the accuracy of consumer based GPS units are/were restricted by the US govt. Lately I'm seeing it only accurate to around 9 feet... Used to be 20 feet. Also had a lot to do with your satellite locks too. I've found this app (GPS test) useful to determine my satellite reception strength. Almost always 3 meters but does fluctuate at times to worse. I've yet to get a lock better than 3 meters/9 feet.

Are you still using Gaia and liking it?

Sent from my SM-G781U using Tapatalk

 

[Iron_llama]

I believe the accuracy of consumer based GPS units are/were restricted by the US govt. Lately I'm seeing it only accurate to around 9 feet... Used to be 20 feet. Also had a lot to do with your satellite locks too. I've found this app (GPS test) useful to determine my satellite reception strength.

GPS signal degradation hasn't been a thing since the 90s, at least since 9/11. Nowadays, the limiting factor with consumer-grade receivers is the number of satellites they'll consider simultaneously. IIRC, it's generally 3-4. Your receiver might 'see' a dozen, but only use the best 3-4.

Going off of memory here, the 'pro' grade receivers will consider double-digit numbers of satellites. They'll also use Russian/Soviet (GLONASS IIRC) satellites. I've used surveyor-grade Trimble receivers, which is not to mention the pro-grade DOD hardware we had aboard ship. A 3-4 satellite fix on a Garmin will get you down to a 3-meter error circle, which, really, is good enough for what we're doing because we can also navigate by sight and landmarks. I've also had 14-satellite fixes on infrastructure components, and navigating in restricted waters, with 10-cm error circles. We needed sub-meter resolution before we'd authorize GPS to be the primary means of navigation; we'd use LORAN-C, sunlines, alidade bearings, celestial fixes and the like to 'confirm' what the GPS said. So, undegraded GPS signal - which is available to the general public and not restricted to DOD or commercial mariners, is good enough to be as good as or better than the older methods.

Remember that anything between your receiver and the horizon will degrade your reception and hide satellites, and thereby increase your error circle. Down in the valley you might only see 3 satellites, within a few dozen degrees of each other. Vegetation, like trees, cloud cover, fog, mist, wildfire smoke in the atmosphere, etc., will degrade that further, getting you a 3-4 meter error circle. On top of the ridgeline, looking down at the horizon, you might have an uninterrupted view of a dozen or more satellites with 150+ degrees separation, which will result in a much smaller error circle. It's really not fair to blame your Garmin or OnX app under these conditions, any more than it's fair to curse your cell phone because you dropped a call in a tunnel.