GPS for tracking wild birds.

Stoneface · Post by **Stoneface** » Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:26 pm

Okay, it seems like people in this area who find birds consistently go at it in a very scientific way. I want to find birds consistently so I better get with the program. I'm gonna need a GPS system to help me mark locations of covey finds. Does anyone have any suggestions? The cheaper it is, the better, but it has to be able to mark an area for future reference, the cheaper the better, has to be reliable and the cheaper the better. I stay away from technology as much as possible (just got my first cell phone in three years and just bought my second computer ever). The simpler and cheaper, the better.

DGFavor · Post by **DGFavor** » Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:49 pm

Uuuhhh, you do know the reason for having a bird dog right!!??

Stoneface · Post by **Stoneface** » Wed Sep 05, 2012 11:34 pm

Yeah, but, man, my dogs are all long-tails and you know they need as much help as they can get.

RayGubernat · Post by **RayGubernat** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 5:38 am

Stoneface -

If you want to go low tech and inexpensive, you cannot do much better than a USGS contour map of the area you are hunting in a plastic sleeve(to protect it) and a crayon. A compass might help. A sheet of water resistant paper and a pencil for notes(time of day, weather conditions, etc) would also be helpful
A good GPS with maps and waypoint storage and such is on the order of $500.

I'm with the good Doc on this one. I kinda want to let the dogs do what they do. Drive someplace that has had birds in the past, drop the tailgate and follow the dog.

RayG

Mountaineer · Post by **Mountaineer** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:39 am

A GPS used for that is more the tool driving the use rather than the need driving the tool.
Take notes.

brad27 · Post by **brad27** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:20 am

I always just remember where I found birds.

Post by **ezzy333** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 10:15 am

I think I can remember the exact location of every covey the dogs ever found. I do know what we don't need if we are going to have any birds at all is a GPS tellong us where every bird is. Might as well get rid of the dogs and forget the sport called hunting and just walk out in the field and shoot a couple of birds.

Ezzy

deseeker · Post by **deseeker** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 11:19 am

etrex is one around $100(sometimes a little cheaper when someone has a sale)---it's made by Garmin. I mainly use it to try to relocate underwater islands and points when I go fishing in Canada(plus finding my way back home if it is after dark or I had too many beers at shore lunch :roll: ). It's about 5 inchesX 2 1/2 inches X 1 1/2 inches. Runs on 2 AA bateries.

Elkhunter · Post by **Elkhunter** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 2:08 pm

I just remember where I go! And take the hounds.

x Bred Pointer · Post by **x Bred Pointer** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 6:27 am

Why not bight the bullet and by a Garmin Astro so you can find your dog and also mark every covey location. Check e-bay for DC30 or DC40 and 220 handheld. You won't regret the decision.

gonehuntin' · Post by **gonehuntin'** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 7:42 am

Use a GPS and mark the finds as waypoints. Most store around 750.

northern cajun · Post by **northern cajun** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 8:50 pm

If you have an iPhone just drop a pin.

Stoneface · Post by **Stoneface** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 11:12 pm

I just got my first cell phone in about three years and downloaded an app called "TrackBack." It's supposedly just for marking hunting spots. It's real simple, was cheap, which I like, but it simply doesn't work. I marked a specific spot and after I got to the pickup I looked at my screen and it had the mark about a mile off.

For those who are unaproving, I don't just want a straight line right to birds. I'm want to gather data and evaluate the habits of the birds from a scientific point of view. If I can mark every find over several years and enter information about those finds, from wind speed to cover type to time of day to temp, it would be interested to see what turns up.

Stoneface · Post by **Stoneface** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 11:13 pm

P.s.- It's not an iPhone, it's a TKE something. I think they call it an Android.

Mountaineer · Post by **Mountaineer** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 5:38 am

Stoneface wrote:...For those who are unaproving, I don't just want a straight line right to birds. I'm want to gather data and evaluate the habits of the birds from a scientific point of view. If I can mark every find over several years and enter information about those finds, from wind speed to cover type to time of day to temp, it would be interested to see what turns up.

Not sure of unapproving...more like unnecessary.

The exact info you note has been collected in hunting journals by many of us for decades...likely since Hector was a birddog pup.
By pen and paper.....GBE added illustrations.

Francois P vd Walt · Post by **Francois P vd Walt** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:22 pm

Stoneface wrote:Okay, it seems like people in this area who find birds consistently go at it in a very scientific way. I want to find birds consistently so I better get with the program. I'm gonna need a GPS system to help me mark locations of covey finds. Does anyone have any suggestions? The cheaper it is, the better, but it has to be able to mark an area for future reference, the cheaper the better, has to be reliable and the cheaper the better. I stay away from technology as much as possible (just got my first cell phone in three years and just bought my second computer ever). The simpler and cheaper, the better.

Should I ship you a well bred S. African x U.S.A dog it will find the birds ! LOL !

You can the cheapest Garmin you do follow the dogs ? When they find birds mark it remember they move around also, what cell phone you have, sure it has a gps logger, google maps etc that would be the cheapest way .....
Good luck

MO_GSP · Post by **MO_GSP** » Fri Sep 14, 2012 3:15 pm

keep a journal, after the hunt just write down things like weather conditions, wind direction, time of day, cover birds were in, any crops close etc etc I have a garmin but my journal gets more use as to figuring out where to go

Trekmoor · Post by **Trekmoor** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 5:21 am

I used to do what are called " grouse counts" for big shooting estates here in Scotland. It was pretty scientific. The landowners wanted to know in advance how many birds they had and in what areas of ground in order to shoot only the surplus and not the following years breeding birds.

I used brittanies and GSP's to find the birds. After they had been flushed and the count made, their location was put onto a grid map of that section of hillside or moorland. It was pretty accurate and it made interesting reading when the marked grid maps for maybe 10 years were studied. The birds held to an area, a "territory" but exactly where they would be varied from year to year according to changes in the plant life around them....... Heather too high or "rank" , encroaching ferns , not enough fresh, young heather etc. They may not always look like it but the best grouse moors are very carefully managed in terms of habitat.

Bill T.

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GPS for tracking wild birds.

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