Don't put all your faith in onx!

[DH56]

I used onx maps in Wyoming this fall. State land and private land. I tested it on properties here where I live over the past year as well as in Wyoming while I was there. It did well in positioning me right where property lines met etc..... I had no issue with it being incorrect or far off of where it said I was or getting back to way points. For me, it worked well, but I also went into it knowing it could be "off" some based on data that is entered at all levels.

 

[Prerylyon]

Plowed ground here in this thread; but always recommend carrying on your person an official paper copy of the BLM quad for where you're hunting, and knowing how to orient your GPS and compass to said paper map. That being said, property ownership is dynamic and can change anytime. I found a spot where the 2007 BLM map was clearly outdated in WY earlier this month: it indicated BLM in an area, but there was a beautiful ranch house, new fence, and tidy gravel road to someone's new acreage right there. Clearly, somehow this land changed hands since the map was published or it was made in error. I wasn't going to argue with the obvious! I just drove down the road and found someplace else on the BLM to hunt.

 

[88man]

But anymore they use gps to map it and mark the corners

Yes you are correct. However, how do you know if the area in question was mapped by GPS and stamped by a certified surveyor and that is the tax map overlay you are looking at??
Now on same topic. I am often so impressed where a fence was installed that runs for miles and its been there for over a 100 years and its basically spot on with the current mapping software.

 

[JimP]

A lot of fences years ago were put up after a survey had been done. I worked for a surveying company back in high school and hiked all over the mountains of Utah verifying corner pins and such then stringing a line right on the property line for when the fence company showed up to install the post. Even the surveying companies that are using GPS now to plot lines still have to verify the corner pins and markers, using GPS just makes it a lot simpler to find them after they haven't been seen in a great number of years.

But there are also those that ran from this tree to that tree as a close enough when they were installed. I always figured that if you are close enough to a fence around private then you are too close to hunt that area. As for range fences that is what a good paper map is for. With a quick glance you can see if there is white in the area that designates private or not.

 

[taskswap]

Speaking of paper maps, if you're going onto BLM/USFS land make sure you get the MVUM for the area you're in. Paper topo maps are "supposed to be" accurate (if yours are recent) but are only printed every few years and mistakes can be made. But the digital MVUMs are considered the legal record for motor vehicle access. Wherever you happen to be driving it's nice to have that to point to if somebody challenges where you're driving.

https://apps.fs.usda.gov/TravelAccess/ is also a really good link to bookmark. This is an interactive map of the same access rights but in addition to showing the routes, it also shows closure dates. If you're not from a certain area, few things are more frustrating than driving 12 hours to a spot you want to hunt and finding a locked gate across the road because of a seasonal closure. This is also kept up to date with closures for longer-term reasons (e.g. to rehabilitate heavily eroded areas).

 

[tim]

I wonder how many issues are user error. I know I am not very tech savy. Are the legend easy to get to, so you know what you are reading?
In my instance, this guy thought a road was legal when it was not. The mvum did not show the road, but his app did. user error, or just playing games. hard to tell.

 

[JimP]

The problem with roads on any data base is that if they don't carry a county, state, forest service, or a BLM road number you have no idea if it is legal to use. Last month while I was hunting in north west Colorado there were a lot of roads that were on my OnX maps on my GPS, they were also marked on a BLM surface map, however a person could not use them since they were crossing private. They had no road number or designation and there were other ways to access the ground beyond the private property.

 

[nv-hunter]

Reading some of these posts makes me glad I'm in Nevada. Property owner has to mark at regular set intervals all private ground not open for access. Not posted means open for use. And have to post all sides of property see a bunch posted only on the highway side but if you cross onto it from the back no signs means not posted

 

[Daubs]

I used to carry my a Garmin Rino every time I left the truck...didn't want to get lost in the Sandhills of Nebraska. Had OnX, but never really used it...listened to Gritty Bowman podcast and the person they were interviewing said he only uses OnX...I think it was the guy who started Solo Hunter.

I tried OnX this year and was pleasantly surprised. I know the public land I hunt well...and OnX was spot-on with regard to boundaries. Granted, this is Nebraska...every square inch is mapped, grazed, or farmed : )

 

[tim]

the interesting part of private land and trespassers is: which side of the fence are you on. I don't have a lot of property, but enough.
This time of year, we are always studying the truck that goes slow by our field. Over the years lots of deer have been shot out of it. Heck Saturday night I went down there after someone shot into it. 2 hours after dark. What I am getting at, there are a lot of people who don't care, like the family I said, the no trespassing sign obviously does not pertain to you. They where picking morels. One person shot towards the house, ect ect.
Personally people should know where they are. So I am not against idaho's new trespassing law, but I have not studied it, but I have a hunch it is not as bad as the internet wants it to be.