Navigating the Backcountry

[ALEX]

Just wondering what everyone's methods are for navigating around hills and mountains (or any big/rough country) without losing your way and be able to make it back to your truck without any hiccups? Whether on foot,horseback, snow machine, what are your guys surest methods of "taking the path less traveled" without the worry of getting turned around.

[FullCryHounds]

GPS

[mark]

Instinct

[ALEX]

GPS

I'm guessing by marking the truck as a waypoint and tracking back to it on the hike out?

Instinct

Please elaborate?

[mark]

GPS hasn't been around forever and compasses didn't tell you anything but which direction you are pointed, so if you are off a few degrees on your compass reading when you head back to the pickup you could miss it by a long ways. Some people have good sense of direction and some dont. You learn to pay attention to topography and landmarks and things like that. It doesnt hurt to stop and take
A look behind you every now and then to see what it looks like so you reconize it on your way back. When the fog sets in really heavy you better have a real good sense of direction lol

[twist]

Have to agree with mark pay attension to where you are going. My thoughts are if you can't find your own way back you have no reason to be out. Andy

[jcutler]

Take advantage of all the resources/technologies we have these days. GPS, compass, google earth is fun to play around on. Best tool of all though for me anyway is to get out and get to know the area.

[FullCryHounds]

Back before we had GPS, we used to leave one of our collars on the truck when we were hunting a new area. I do remember using it one time to get back to the truck in the middle of the night.
Every GPS has a button to mark your current position, you just have to remember to use it before you leave the truck.

[imchestnut]

Might help to learn the drainages and were water runs in your country. Some of the people that have gotten "lost" that you hear about are in country where all they needed to do was walk downhill and they would have hit a major road or state highway. Knowing what drainage your in and where it falls out is very helpful. A GPS is awesome as Dean said. Drawbacks are they run on batteries which always seem to go dead on me, they do occasionally stop working, the screen breaks, they need to be calibrated so you need to know how to work them, also they sometimes will misread in thunderstorms and stuff like that. I always keep track of what drainage I am in and where I can walk out to the closest road if something were to happen.

[LarryBeggs]

Always thought I was pretty good at the instinct thing. And just general knoledge of the area. But after a couple long walks back to the truck. Like miles after I hit the road.Most of the night walking instead of hunting I had a GPS on my Christmas list this winter.Hit some of these creek bottoms on the coast at night in the fog cross a creek or two pull up stream cross another creek or two shoot the cat out head back down stream and the creek is flowing the wrong way. Pull the wrong ridge that looks a lot like the ridge you went down but the pull up is three times higher and miles from the truck All in country I " knew" and a GPS starts sounding pretty good.

[Cowboyvon]

I have an astro with me all the time and I always carry extra batteries in my saddle bags, but I try not to use it, I think it's like anything else if you don't use your natural instincts and keep working on developing them the time might come when that thing breaks and you'll be screwed. The one thing that I absolutely always do though is when I get some where that I have to tie up the mule is mark that location, not so much because I'm worried about loosing him because I think I will eventually find him but to eliminate as many steps as possible...

[Emily]

Being mildly lost is not such a bad thing. Nothing like getting lost a few times to improve your instincts. Those hiccups aren't fun while they're happening, but they make great stories afterwards...
It does help to look at a map before you go just to refresh your mind about where the roads and streams and peaks are, even in places right out your back door. A big picture map is a lot more helpful than an electronic one with limited perspective. I don't usually take the map out of the truck, but glancing over it just before I cut the hounds reminds me how the features of the landscape line up.
We all have days when we can get lost in our own back yards. Know what you need to be comfortable in the back country if you have to spend the night out--nothing messes up your sense of direction more than panicking. Some people are comfortable with practically nothing, others need food or dry socks or some other thing to avoid getting frantic. Whatever makes you comfortable, make sure you have it in your emergency supplies.

[Dale T]

If your looking for a simple and cheap gadget to get you back to the truck the Bushnell Back Tracker will get it done, but the Back Tracker won't show you roads that could be a short cut out if you are a long way from the truck.

[Patrick]

Just use my instincts and sense of direction. I am afraid to start trusting electronics and batteries.
When I was a kid, hunting with my dad, he would keep asking me where the truck was. After awhile I learned to pay attention to the country and where we were going. I have been doing this with my sons and it is interesting to watch them progress from clueless and blindly following to paying attention.
And getting myself turned around a few times and doing some extra walking has also helped refine my sense of direction. I think after spending a lot of time in the woods you get to where you quickly build a big picture in your head for the lay of the land. It is tough to walk in circles when you decide to head for the nearest ocean.
Once I crossed a creek flowing the wrong way and still don't know why. Years ago we were hunting in an area I am very familiar with (treed a fox in there this past Sunday). It was night and pitch black. The dogs had treed and we went to them, don't even remember what it was. As we were heading back to the truck (over several small ridges and creeks) we hit one creek that was going the wrong direction. I stopped and told the guys something was wrong, but they were just blindly following me. I finally decided I was right and headed on to the truck, and to this day don't know how I got turned around in there to where the small creek was going the wrong way.

[come-hunt]

I have done the same thing while horseback in the fog riding in country I'm very familiar with, it's easy to get turned around when you can't see landmarks . Windmills and water holes are a way point for me and cattle trails are my map. Get on one and follow it, if it forks you're going away from water, if another trail comes into the one you're following then your going right . The bad part of this is, you might end up at a watering you don't recognize then you are screwed until the fog lifts. Terrible feeling, being turned around and everything is out of place and the dang drinking tub isn't where it otta' be.