Basic Map Skills for Hunting Western Public Lands

Western hunting requires basic map skills as shown by Randy Newberg. In this example, an elk unit Randy has hunted before. Map skills, both digital maps and paper maps, will get you to better hunting spot and prevent you from accidentally trespassing.
The best products you can get are digital maps, gps chips, and the Hunt App, from onXmaps. I used a Garmin Montana GPS.
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[@micahswandive]

Randy, The view of the wall behind you in the garage is something to see. What a cool trophy wall my friend!

[@jsl1497]

The OnXMap system is by far and away, the hands down best system out there. I've been using it for quite awhile and absolutely love it. If your GPS syncs with your cell phone, all the better. But, don't make the mistake many make and go out with only a GPS or cell phone. You should be proficient with using a map and compass, changing True to Magnetic and vice versa. I never venture out into the backcountry without my GPS, cellphone, and if those fail, a topo map and compass.

[@Fresh_Tracks]

I always have those back ups with me and being an old codger I am proficient in using them. Good reminder; I assumed everyone carried that as a backup.

[@michaelgrubb8896]

The Mount Saint Helens area is Federal Public Land, which is mostly closed to hunting. It's considered a national monument now. There is a raffle to hunt elk in the area, but very limited.

[@itstheadventureimtalkingab4016]

Dude! Thank you for this …. I needed this video

[@popswrench2]

ok ,saw onX with a few other youtube hunters , purchased basic on cellfone & 3 times already has been quite handy just for new york and possible border problems . easy to use

[@Fresh_Tracks]

I would be lost without it, figuratively and literally. Thanks for watching.

[@lupe123233]

Thank you!

[@JoseChung21]

Thanks Randy - Looking forward to your KZbin elk hunt today. I think it's a great idea. Uncut and raw footage that shows everything including butchering would be awesome.

[@Fresh_Tracks]

What you are looking for will be live on this channel, by tomorrow ;).

[@confluxxx]

Great video Randy. Going to go ahead and get myself a subscription to that map company. Will make hiking and hunting trips a lot easier.

[@Fresh_Tracks]

If you get the Hunt APP, use promo code "Randy16" and you will get 20% off the APP products. Good luck.

[@confluxxx]

Thanks Randy was wondering if you had a promo code to use, will be glad to support you.

[@johnthompson7811]

Corner crossing will get you in trouble in most states. In WY they have directly addressed it: “In 2004, the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office issued an opinion that “corner crossing” from one parcel of public land to another in order to hunt that other public parcel, depending on the factual situation involved, may not violate the game and fish trespass statute, but may be a criminal trespass violation. The factual situation would include whether the person doing the “corner crossing” was hunting or intended to hunt private land at the time the corner was crossed.”

[@valleysheds4232]

Good vid

[@jward9637]

ONX is awesome!

[@jerryhouse1716]

I just did a scouting trip for muleys in NM. UNIT 21A B and found this very useful,, Saves a lot of time by not looking at land you can't hunt. This will be my first hunt on public land. ( from Texas). My only hope is that everyone else is not going to be the same place I am. Nothing like being there though, I eliminated some areas for just being too rough for me to navigate and get an animal out by myself.

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Good luck. Hope you have a great hunt.

[@ezskanken]

I just picked up a Garmin Montana 600. I am inspired by your show to strictly hunt on public land. I am completely new to this fancy GPS stuff and OnXmaps deal. I will most likely miss this year's archery seasons because I want to fully understand this device so I don't get lost ha ha. What I really want to do is just park the truck, and start walking/exploring. I live in Idaho and I know we got some nice areas that hold some nice animals. With this OnXmaps chip, will I be able to save where I parked the truck? Will it save my "bread crumb trail" so I can turn around and go back to where I started? Sorry if these are dumb questions. Like I said I am completely new to this GPS deal. Thank you!

[@Fresh_Tracks]

With your GPS, you can save your truck as a waypoint to return to and it will save a "bread crumb" trail of all places you go. Bring spare batteries, for sure. And make sure you know how to use a compass if in some event you lose your GPS or it fails (very unlikely). The onXmap chips will show you the public land private lands in Idaho. Good luck.

[@ezskanken]

Thanks Randy! Joined your forum yesterday. Seems like a lot of people willing to help a newb out. Enjoy it very much. Thank you for the reply.

[@garneroutlaw1]

I bought the Garmin Montana 600 back in 2015 just for hiking before I started hunting. It's a great GPS and not a hiccup to this day.

[@allenheart582]

Because of the coming micronova, declination is moving much farther, and much faster and so declination information is likely incorrect but there is still a way to recalibrate magnetic declination using the shadow of sticks recording the path of the sun---rotation of the earth has not yet changed. First stick will show East. Mark it with a sharp stick pushed in. After a few minutes you can mark sun shadow travel where the shadow has moved - Push another stick in to mark West. Lay a straight stick from the E mark to the W mark. Geographic north or True North is 90 degrees from the E-W line. With your compass pointing toward True North, note how far off your compass is now. That is your true up-to-date declination. My up-to-date declination is 30 degrees, 15 degrees off from the official declination for my area. More on micronova in my 2nd book, Surviving the Micronova: This Train Is on the Tracks

[@mackkenamond1800]

Just thought I'd add a bit of an update. I downloaded Hunt on my phone for free to test it out and quickly decided to subscribe for around $40/year for the premium package which gives me everything I need for my state (NM). What I thought I'd mention is that you get all the premium features for a 7 day trial, free of charge, so you can find out if you get private land information in your county during that trial period and decide to buy or not.

[@pstank88]

Randy - who do you buy your maps through. I purchased a topo for my recent Montana hunt but did not have all these colors and features. Thanks!

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Rugged Maps is a great source.

[@mikebeaumont4600]

Also, if you purchased the elite membership with your OnX chip, you can purchase maps through your membership. They offer discounts on lots of stuff, from backpacks to ammo. Make sure you check them out.

[@woodysan23]

Hi Randy. I have an OnX membership and I use their app on my smartphone. I hunt Ohio and have been fine using my smartphone with its GPS to navigate public lands. How about out West? I'm planning to elk hunt Colorado for 2nd rifle. Am I going to be able to rely upon my phone (assuming I've saved my hunting areas for offline use) or will I need to seriously consider using a separate GPS unit? Thanks for all the content and information!

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Your phone will work fine. Make sure you download your maps to your phone so you can run it in airplane mode and will not need to have cell coverage. Many people think you need coverage to use the APP version. You don't. All you need is the map downloaded on your phone from the cloud and it will work.

[@TheMathewsman]

I just ordered my onxmaps chip a few days ago! you said you use your computer for Onxmaps? does that come with the chip? I would like to use my computer also just didn't know that was possible with them.

[@onXHunt]

The Computer version will be included in the onXmaps Membership. The Membership gives you the ability to view your maps on your phone (App) as well as on your computer (Web). As stated in the video, there is currently only a beta version of web. It will be released for the public this summer. Everyone who has purchased the App will receive the computer version as well for no additional charge.

[@andrewhinkle5831]

Hey Randy, thanks for the great content. I will keep watching. When you use the gutless method per your video, how do you deal with proof of sex requirements in MT? With the head removed, are you leaving proof of sex on one of the hind quarters, or is it not necessary when the elk is processed to this degree? Thanks again!

[@Fresh_Tracks]

In MT, you must leave proof naturally attached to one of the quarters. It is a pain, but it is require in MT.

[@kiegh]

Hey Randy, Nice video. I'm hunting just north of the map shown near Quemado, NM this year and am trying to figure out what system has the best private land maps. I know Catron County doesn't include private land information in NM... Do you know much about this or have any recommendations for me? Thanks, love the videos!

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Some counties, Catron being one of those counties, do not provide land ownership information. You can go to the County courthouse, but that is a big pain. Rather, I use the onXmap chip/app and I don't worry about the individual owner, rather I focus on the Forest Service, BLM, and State Trust Lands, and I stick to hunting those. Good luck.

[@kiegh]

Thanks for the info Randy. I'll be hunting on private land, that's why I was hoping you had some more information. If you know why some counties don't have that information available, can you expand on that? Is it a cost or a privacy thing? Thanks!

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Craig Mann - It is a privacy issue. Some counties have decided the benefit of having the information available is not worth the supposed problems that come with public records. Every county is required to have it available, it is just a matter of whether or not that county has it available in a manner other than going to the court house and manually searching the records.

[@kiegh]

Thanks. I appreciate your responses. I'll probably pick up OnX for the boundaries so I don't hunt on the land I'm not supposed to hunt on.. I'm sure the topography is still available for the private lands, just not the owner information... I'll look into it a bit more before I choose which platform I want to invest in...

[@rabit7538]

Randy, a hunting friend was listening to a Chicago local news channel and one of the articles they talked about was that in the next couple of years that all GPS devices would be useless due to some changes in the Vortex?? Are you aware of any thing like this being talked about? I'm moving to Cortez, Co. in the very near future and am excited about my first Elk and Mule deer hunts. I was looking at the Garmin Montana, but that is a pretty expensive gps if it's not going to be able to use it for the next few years. Please reply.

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Not heard of that.

[@ravenfeather7087]

I have a Garmin with the chip (actually several chips) and use it a lot. Both here in the mid-west, Rockies, and on the west coast. Extremely accurate. So much more dependable and easy than paper maps. I did that for years and even being skilled at map reading there were still always questions of property boundaries. Fences placed improperly etc. I'm wondering about using the phone app. I don't know of any cellular service that does not have gaps in their coverage. Do the cell phone apps depend on cellular service (towers) or GPS/satellite coverage? By switch in to airplane mode? Why not leave it on airplane mode all the time? And what is the cost of using a phone device and having the device on almost all the time?

[@ravenfeather7087]

BTW, the only issue I've ever had with my Garmin (a 64st) is that I frequently need to re-calibrate the compass). And it eats batteries pretty good.

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Load the maps to your phone and go to airplane mode. The GPS still works in airplane mode so you don't need service for it to work. And, it will save batteries.

[@mussskyrat3096]

Does blue on the map mean u can hunt it or does it have to say state

[@Fresh_Tracks]

That depends on each state. Blue land is State Trust Lands. In Colorado, the answer is "No," you cannot hunt that. In most other states you can, but some require you have a special access permit. Thanks for watching.

[@trevorgomez3343]

Randy I just bought a Garmin 60CSx from a pawn shop for $45.00; my questions are what kind of memory card do I need to buy for it and what map technology do I need to purchase? I only hunt in here in Washington State. Please help me good sir I am new to GPS in general.

[@Fresh_Tracks]

You can get SD cards from onXmaps.com

[@trevorgomez3343]

Randy Newberg, Hunter Thanks a million Randy! 😀👍

[@vicparker8660]

Is there a promo code sir for 2017 for onx?

[@Fresh_Tracks]

Yup, for the smartphone APP, use promo code RANDY and get 20% off.

[@chameleonoutdoors860]

Reading the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Hunting Proc the rules have changed over the years and how you travel through private. Please read if you are in and traveling through private. Heavy points and fines can occur including confiscation of vehicles and firearms.

[@Fresh_Tracks]

I always read the proclamations for every state we hunt, as they all have different, and as you mention, changing rules related to access. Thanks for watching.

[@jesusbanda7769]

We’re can a first timer hunter learn to hunt?

[@leeboy244]

Mexico

[@tradyrb2147]

I’ve relied on maps and GPS my entire life. Never been let down. OnX screws up about every year and I can’t reboot it 19 Mike’s from service. The onX eats phone life in an hour. Phones cold. Battery dies. Sophisticated smartphone devices are for convenience only. Don’t get your life on onX.

[@peterkrasnoff6728]

If there is a gate just open it and say it was open when you got there