Navigating a hunt with a Garmin Rino
HIGH ON THE LIST of must-have hunting gear is my handheld Garmin Rino 650 GPS . This dual radio / GPS unit has proven invaluable many times .
Like most hunters , I love studying topo maps . It ’ s important to figure out where animals travel or bed downand get a grip on the lay of the land before I hit the woods . Invaluable for these
BRIAN HOULE tasks , the Rino has other key uses as well .
One is tracking and polling . Before you start hunting , everyone in your group keys the talk button on their Rino and accepts each other ’ s icon , so the units are connected . This means you don ’ t need to radio another hunter asking for their location , or where they ’ re headed , or if they ’ re at their stand yet – you can just poll their Rino which automatically updates their position . We ’ ve also trained ourselves to key that talk button every so often , which does the same thing .
This is incredibly useful when your group “ dogs ” or “ drives ,” as you ’ ll know exactly where everyone is , whether you ’ re pushing or shooting . For safety , it helps determine your shooting lanes or prepare you in case the animals are just ahead of the pushers . The result is less radio chatter and nobody gets hurt .
The Rino comes with preset notes which you can send “ as is ” or edit . It ’ s similar to text messaging on a smartphone , but limited in the size of the message . Our group has “ fresh trax ” “ scrape !” “ rub ” and “ beds ” for deer hunting . Short and sweet messages , to the point , are perfect .
Then there are waypoints . I mark great shooting spots or other useful areas – where I parked the ATV or truck , or where my stand is . One year I marked a fantastic back watch spot overlooking a marsh . Two days later we were setting up in that area and I sent that waypoint to another guy ’ s Rino . He navigated to it and a nice eight-point with a doe came bolting across the marsh and he bagged the buck . One happy hunter .
Waypoints are useful if you ’ re tracking a wounded animal and lose the blood trail – mark waypoints as you find blood and if you lose the track , navigate back to the last spot and start your circles over .
The unit itself is compact , has a touchscreen , built-in compass and a lithium ion battery that lasts an average of two full days of tracking cookie crumbs and waypoints , and radio use . I carry an extra battery because it seems someone always forgets to charge their unit .
It has two watts of maximum power for FRS / GMRS (“ family radio service ” or “ general mobile radio service ”) radio , and any such radio can “ talk ” with this Garmin unit . It works well when line of sight is good , but can be spotty in differing elevations . I find it does well in Eastern Ontario where terrain is flatter than the Canadian Shield further north , where we hunt moose and deer . The range is two to 13 kilometres , depending on elevation .
The Rino also connects easily with a PC or Mac . I hunt Stittsville , Carleton Place , Nipissing and up towards Chapleau and Basecamp allows me to keep those areas
GARMIN RINO
The Rino comes pre-loaded with maps , but I prefer a set by TrakMaps – extremely detailed , right down to beaver dams ! Another option is the one-year , $ 45 subscription to “ Bird ’ s Eye Imagery ,” high-resolution satellite maps by Garmin . Load them via Garmin ’ s Basecamp software , overlaying your current topo maps . Download as many as you need for that year and if you don ’ t use them , you can keep them as long as they are linked / tied to the unit you bought them for – you can ’ t load them onto another Garmin device . It ’ s a cheap way to acquire quality maps .
But just in case , I still carry zip-loc bags with Tyvek maps and maps printed off Basecamp – and a compass .
organized with waypoints , tracks and maps saved . I can quickly transfer information back and forth so I ’ m ready to navigate anywhere .
Rino units average from $ 550 for the 650 and $ 850 for the just released 755t . The new unit has a built-in camera and it holds more map segments . Functionally , the units are the same .
As with anything in hunting , nothing is guaranteed . Your quarry can still get away , but the Rino can definitely boost communication and navigation , deepening the experience of your hunts .
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