Don't Forget Your Compass

[taz3]

I just thought I'd put a reminder out, while GPS and smart phones are great they have their limits. I typically take a second to orient myself before I enter the bush so I know which way is out incase I get lost. The last time I was out for an evening hunt it happened, my buddy's phone app was not give proper directions and as soon as I became aware we were not where we should have be after 10 min of walking, out came the trusty hand held compass. Within a couple minutes, I located the trail and got us back in the right direction. I spend a lot of time deep in the woods, summer and winter so being in an unfamiliar place isn't something that worries me too much when I have my compass.

[Tom]

That is a GREAT PIECE OF ADVICE

While a GPS or Smart Phone are great devices, they are an Electronic Device which can fail or misguide you. Many different things can cause interference with these devices.

I remember that when the GPS devices first came out, when you turned them on, there was a window telling you to not rely on the GPS as your only form of directional guidance.

A compass is mandatory equipment for me.

Tom

[DaveShooter]

Great advice for sure and could save your life!!!

[wheelie]

Very true! I got lost in a bush I hunted for over 20 years last year. Minus 15 degrees and a snow storm. Was in contact with my wife via cell phone. Found a leanto that I figured I could light a fire at one end if need be. Told wife I may need her to honk her horn on some side streets and see if I could hear it. I didn't want to leave the leanto. Told her I think I hear water and if that is indeed the creek I will follow it down stream and it will bring me out at the gun club. Called her back that I found the creek and pick me up in 1/2 hour. She then drove me back to my truck four miles away on a totally different sideroad. Got out of the bush at 11 pm at night. Got dark at 5pm. I was cold and wet. Made some changes after that episode.

Morel to this story is don't follow a pack of deer and forget about what time it is. Deer do not walk in a strait line. They circle around all night long.

[Hi5]

It is good to have a compass along as well as the other modern devices.

Just be careful to know what your compass face will look like lighted with a flashlight. I have a high quality compass and it had me going 180 degrees away from where I should have been travelling. The North pointing needle has paint which stands out in daylight. It's luminous, so it stands out in dark. However, under a flashlight, the luminous paint looks dull and the South needle stands out like neon.

After a long, hard walk in pitch dark, heavy rain and wind to match, I sat down. I switched off my headlamp to save the battery, and to catch my breath. A quick glance at my compass, and with the luminous paint doing its thing, it was quite obvious why it had taken me far too long to walk out of the bush.

Lesson learned.

[bob1961]

yeah I like the no battery hand held compass as well ....

[Pydpiper]

You guys must hunt some pretty desolate places.. I have never been lost walking. A hundred ways to find north in the outdoors.
Driving, Oh yeah, I get lost all the time.
My son is the best compass I have seen, since he was born, 20 minutes after he goes to sleep his head is facing north. Took us years to figure out why he had such a hard time sleeping right in a bed. Then one day, my wife caught it, after he falls asleep his body works like a compass, and his head goes north. We built our house knowing this, and his bedroom was situated accordingly.
Some days I wish I could hunt somewhere where I could get lost, no luck yet.

[munch]

You guys must hunt some pretty desolate places.. I have never been lost walking. A hundred ways to find north in the outdoors.
Driving, Oh yeah, I get lost all the time.
My son is the best compass I have seen, since he was born, 20 minutes after he goes to sleep his head is facing north. Took us years to figure out why he had such a hard time sleeping right in a bed. Then one day, my wife caught it, after he falls asleep his body works like a compass, and his head goes north. We built our house knowing this, and his bedroom was situated accordingly.
Some days I wish I could hunt somewhere where I could get lost, no luck yet.

dave you want to get lost come down ice fishing with use on longpoint bay on a snow of fog day when the wind changes direction during the day and you can only see 20 feet but need to travel 3 miles back to shore .would not head out on a day like that but have had it change that way many times . i carry a compass in my tackle box and one goes in my breast pocket before i leave my house

[Pydpiper]

Meh.. I can do the inner bay with my eyes closed, grew up on it. The only time you have to leave from ice fishing is when you run out of rye. Pretty much the only time I walk in circles too.
Phones work fine on the bay though, sometimes bounce a US tower, but never lost.
In all seriousness, my watch has a compass in it, but never had to use it. I have a compass with me 24/7, it simply never comes off. But like I said, I have never needed it.

[Dand]

I have always drilled into my 2 boys to NEVER go in to the woods without a compass a knife and something to start a fire!!!! Many people would still be alive if they would heed that advice. It does not matter if you know exactly where you are going and have been there 1000 times....accidents happen. GPS is great....until it fails... And electronics seem to fail JUST when you need them most!!!!!

[Pydpiper]

Redundancy is key in the woods, I always have two of everything, if not more.
On a northern trip I noticed my Brunton compass had got knocked off my pack after a days hike in. So now we keep a double set of essentials in our pockets, as well as our packs.
Last summer my son took an 8 hour course on compass and map reading. Hopefully it is something he never needs to rely on.

[Fatboyxc]

A compass is key and to remember that the compass never lies unless of course you are up around Port Loring Ontario in certain parts of the bush & your compass will do circles.

I use my compass more that I use my GPS when I'm on my rifle hunt in Northern ONT., the GPS is great but unless your walking the compass on it takes a bit to orinetate itself. A compass is key in that you can pick a spot ahead of you & walk to it & then take another bearing after that & walk to it. Even when I'm snowmobiling I've got a compass on me....mainly for when I'm ice fishing on Lake St. Clair, it doesn't take much to have a snow squall kick up or fog roll in & you lose the shore line.

[Fullquiver]

Going out in the woods without a compass is like going out without footwear. You might get a little ways but you'l be more comfortable if you have both. I never completely trust anything but my compass.

[Pydpiper]

A compass is key and to remember that the compass never lies unless of course you are up around Port Loring Ontario in certain parts of the bush & your compass will do circles.

That is where the cottage is, and you are right, there are places a magnetic compass is completely useless. If I am not hunting 10 minutes from home, we are in Port Loring.
Good lesson to trust what you have, and that a compass is not always the best tool.

[Lake shooter]

I keep two compasses and two lights in my pack. There are some hunting or hiking accoutrements that one can get by without, especially in the daytime. When night falls, all bets are off!