I've never been a GPS app "plot book" guy, but I am thinking of adding a service for Spring. I think it would be equally valuable for my Fall trapping.
I have never heard of Huntwise or Huntstand but they come up during my research of OnX.
Anyone have any opinions on a preferred service?? OnX appears to be the highest priced option, but I assume you have to cover all of those advertisements so wasn't sure if it was superior to the others.
I just use the free version of huntstand and it does everything I need. You can put sightings, stand sights, kill locations, tasks to be completed, measure distance etc. on it. I see no need for anything else. Plus if you have service where you hunt it will guide you to a certain plotted location. If I don't have service no biggie I will plot a point on my topo map shoot an azimuth and distance and go in I know what my pace count is for my 100 meters so no biggie. Try the free one first and see if it suits your needs before you pay for one.
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I use Hunt stand, and since I hunt a lot of public land in Florida I use their maps on Avenza. I started with the free version of Hunt stand but have bought the pro version now. I have not used On X yet but it is a bit more than Hunt stand. I have heard a lot of good review about On X though, may give it a try for next year.
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i personally prefer huntstand over onx. works great and map is more clear
I like huntstand however I could not get it to load in the rolling hills I hunt Base map and on x have been the only 2 that will load .
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I have both OnX and Hunstand. Use OnX more for turkeys and I like the quick save feature for marking waypoints and the little compass arrow thing I can point and mark when I hear one gobbling to figure out pretty accurately where he is. Huntstand also seems to drain my phone battery faster than OnX. Archery for deer though I tend to use Huntstand more marking trails, scrapes, rubs, food sources, etc. I do like the multiple map layers for Huntstand. OnX only has 3 with Topo, Hybrid and Satellite. Usually that's plenty sufficient but sometimes you see something on one of those other Hunstand maps that can be very helpful in unfamiliar terrain. Either will certainly work, wish I could combine some of the features into one.
Do they all give accurate property borders and landowner info?
Can you download area maps so you don't have to be online to use them?
Yes and Yes. I have used OnX for a long time... but maybe changing to Huntstand. The resolution is better...
My biggest gripe with HuntStand back when i tried it was the lack of ability to export waypoints.
Maybe that has changed now but i had a bunch of points from a couple out-of-state whitetail hunts and had to manually re-enter them into my Garmin. Transferring between Onx and Garmin took a couple steps but was easily doable.
I also really like the "offline" feature of OnX, can download the areas I hunt and keep phone on airplane mode while in the woods. not sure if the other two do that or not.
I use Huntstand
GAIA is another option, I tried it free, it was missing some layers onx has so I renewed onx.
I think between turkey and deer I hunted 8 states last year, one state in particular for turkeys a certain layer was worth the 100 bux for the year alone, found a bunch of huntable land that is not posted, game changer, GAIA did not have that layer.
My experience:
OnX mapping tools and offline maps way are way better than Huntstand.
Hunstand's multiple map layers are somewhat better than OnX's three.
Biggest disappointment is both app's satellite imagery for some states was captured during the summer months with the full out leaf canopy. An unforced error on their part because border states will have winter satellite imagery where not only see the ground, you can see blow downs, creek seepages, remnants of old logging trails and skidder paths, etc.
If I hunted the same 350 acres wouldn't care, wouldn't even need the apps. But hunting big tracts of public ground out of state those states with late fall / winter satellite imagery is way better for recon - that leaf canopy covers almost every detail.
OnX has stated they are upgrading their satellite maps, and when they do I'll cancel Huntstand. Not enough on Huntstand you can't do with OnX or other smartphone apps to justify keeping both. In the end it how easy those OnX mapping tools are that tips it in.
Onx for the offline maps mainly!
Great option for poor cell service and to conserve battery life when you put in airplane mode.
Quote from: Dtrkyman on April 02, 2021, 12:10:16 PM
GAIA is another option, I tried it free, it was missing some layers onx has so I renewed onx.
I think between turkey and deer I hunted 8 states last year, one state in particular for turkeys a certain layer was worth the 100 bux for the year alone, found a bunch of huntable land that is not posted, game changer, GAIA did not have that layer.
I use Gaia GPS. You can't compare free Gaia GPS to $100 OnX.
The $39.99/yr GAIA GPS has more maps than OnX.
Well I use Gaia. Now...it doesn't have all the "fancy" features and waypoint symbols of some of the others. BUT...IMO, one of the primary features...if not the most important feature...of a GPS is that it gives you a "GoTo" (as my now unused Garmin GPS) or a "Guide me" (as my current Gaia GPS app). Without this feature it's no more than a POS. But maybe that's just me.
Thanks for all the opinions this far!
What I'm looking for, by importance to me, would be:
1st: accurate boundaries with landowner info
2nd: ability to "search out" public hunting land - fed, state, county, "walk-in".
3rd: Ability to use as GPS.
No one has mentioned HuntWise so I will strike them off the list. I hadn't heard of GAIA so I will have to check them out as well.
I had used onx for years, even back to when they were selling chips for GPS units. Last year I canceled onx and downloaded gaia and basemaps to give them a try. Long story short I am now back to onx. I really wanted to like basemaps but to me it's too cluttered and not as user friendly in the field as onx. Onx has better up to date trail and logging road information than basemaps. Now gaia's topo maps are unmatched by any app that I've found. Gaia is better for at home map scouting and onx is better for in the field navigation in my opinion. The best way I have found to scout is use Google earth pro and mark all areas of interest and then you can transfer all that information to any of the mapping apps available for in the field navigation. I was able to go to Kansas 2 years ago and kill a Rio and I must say having onx played a HUGE role in finding success out there when our first couple of spots didn't produce.
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Quote from: Jimspur on April 02, 2021, 03:14:17 PM
Quote from: Dtrkyman on April 02, 2021, 12:10:16 PM
GAIA is another option, I tried it free, it was missing some layers onx has so I renewed onx.
I think between turkey and deer I hunted 8 states last year, one state in particular for turkeys a certain layer was worth the 100 bux for the year alone, found a bunch of huntable land that is not posted, game changer, GAIA did not have that layer.
I use Gaia GPS. You can't compare free Gaia GPS to $100 OnX.
The $39.99/yr GAIA GPS has more maps than OnX.
Yep. Tried them all and prefer Gaia. Only thing I hate is the waypoint symbols are lacking
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I only have experience with OnX. I pinned a roost area on my couch 800 miles from the tree in Florida. When the turkey gobbled on the 20th it was 56 yards from my pin.
I think today the 100 bucks I spent on the OnX is the best 100$ I have spent on any hunting tool, device, clothing, weapon, anything. Not being bias, I only have experience with OnX, the others have their merits as well I am sure. Give one a try. I think you can buy one state on OnX for 30$ a year. The whole country is more.
Today I am boots on the ground inspecting waypoints I marked from my couch 1300 miles from my couch. Found two lone long beards, it's going to be a long time until the 6th.
Get an app and try it, even if you don't travel I think anyone can learn some things about their own home range hunting area.
I use onx for all my hunting. Save the maps To the phone/tablet/ laptop of the areas I plan on scouting/hunting for offline use in case of bad/no reception. Make sure you are logged into onx before you go into bad reception areas. I keep logged in whether I'm using the app or not.
I will say the definition in onx topo is somewhat lacking when getting into larger terrain features. The bigger features show well. The drainages, benches, smaller points coming of the main feature are shown as wavy lines. When you get to let's say a small drainage off the side of a ridge line you find it deeper than it appears on the onx map. The begginer user will not be able to interpret these land features right off. After using the app for a couple years I'm now starting correlate onx topo to with what I have seen in the past. I'm able to see these now where in the past I'd show up and be confused wondering why this drainage I'm standing on the edge of is 50 yds deep and 150/200 yds wide when onx only shows small variation in contour lines. There is definitely a learning curve when comparing onx topo with what is actually there.
I use the line distance function quite frequently when tryin to gauge distance. I'll drop a point on my location dot and another on the feature I'm navigating to and onx will give me straight line distance to that point. I helps tremendously when navigating in the dark in areas I'm not that familiar with. I can tell how far I am from borders, pins that I have dropped, and terrain features.
Onx areal photos seem to be lagging a couple years behind realtime data. You may find yourself looking at an area that has been clear cut in recent years when onx shows untouched forest
I hunt public exclusively and onx shows borders for public private on most cases onx will give name and tax mailing address for private. I think the info is limited by what info the counties supply online.
Was in the process of switching to gaia because of good reviews when I found out they didn't show all public water access points. They only showed access points in state and county recreational sites. As a waterfowler this a must for me so gaia got sent to the curb.
I've even mapped out mining claims in AZ. I use the info provided by the county recorder. Let's say the southwest corner of the mining claim in located 1500' west from the corner intersection of section 2 and 3 in township 10s range 8w. I'll turn on the sections layer in the hunt portion of the library. That turns on the plss system in most staes. Find this corner Of sections indicated above, use the line distance to measure 1500' from the corner intersection, and than use the area shape function to map out the claim. I'll do this sitting in my living room and show up 1800 miles away and be within 5 to 10 yds from the corner marker of the mining claim. I blame the offset on my manually plotting the mining claim corners. It's more than good enough to keep me from trespassing on an active mining claim.
That's all I can come up with right now. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff.
I don't have any experience using the other apps.
Onx for me is definitely $100 well spent.
I like Basemap myself, you are able to zoom in much closer without the map distorting and see things better. I had all the others mentioned except Gaia and bought the yearly plan for Basemap.
Sound interesting, i'm going to check this stuff out. Would be great for knowing boundaries when hunting state lands.
Once I downloaded OnX hunt several years ago, I never looked back. It does what I need and works great.
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