Hunting GPS maps - individual state or region

[Devil Diver Down]

Ok, I'm sold on the software from what little I've seen of them in action and I just bought a new GPS unit (Garmin 62S for $230) to put them into action. The big question to me is do I pick up the AZ map or the Rockies South region as I plan to hunt CO, NM and possibly Utah in the future. They're both $99 (or $109 for the download) - it seems the major difference between the 2 is that the region just shows you private land and the premium (state specific) shows you ownership names. Almost all of my hunting has been far from private, so it's not been an issue, but I'm curious if any of you feel there's a major benefit to having those names. Also, anybody see an upside for buying the download instead of the chip?

thanks in advance!
DDD

 

[ScottP]

I wondered the same thing, and confirmed with the company that the only difference between the two was private property ownership info. All the topo, landmarks, etc. are the same. It was a no-brainer for me as the area I hunt most didn't have private property owners names available anyway. So check that out first as many rural counties don't have digitized parcel ownership.

As for chip vs. download, I went download as you can either load a partial map to the internal memory or use mapinstall to write the map to a microSD card you purchase yourself. then the map is always on your computer and say you lost that tiny chip, well just make a new one.

good luck, I think they are great products.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

Couldn't you save the chip info into your computer as well, so if you lose the chip you have a backup?

I think I'm going to go with the Rockies south region chip as I haven't seen a good reason yet to need the landowner info for what might turn out to be 4x the price.

 

[Marshian]

Sorry to stray off topic, but where did you get a garmin 62s for $230? My brother just moved out out west and he needs a gps. We looked at the 62s and it's always more than $300.

 

[ScottP]

Couldn't you save the chip info into your computer as well, so if you lose the chip you have a backup?

I'm not sure about that, worth a call to the company. All the map operations are run through Garmin MapInstall and MapManager, so I don't know if the map format on the card can be copied/imported to your computer. I'm sure you can straight copy the chip contents, but not sure if it can be rendered useful or not. Maybe you could make a backup chip? Maybe I will try this tonight when I get home, unless I go antelope hunting after work...

 

[Devil Diver Down]

Sorry to stray off topic, but where did you get a garmin 62s for $230? My brother just moved out out west and he needs a gps. We looked at the 62s and it's always more than $300.

Sportsman's Warehouse in Mesa, AZ. I don't know if any of the other SW's have them for that price, but I think the sale ends Thursday. $120 off? Yes, please!

 

[Kevin W]

Not the 62s, but another option would be the Garmin 550t. Cabelas has the 550T on sale for $259.99 then with the 20.00 off mailer they sent out this month I got one for $239.99 (shipping included).

 

[02bfishn]

Another option - Cabelas has the Oregon 450 for $175. $20 off, $5 ship, and used a few Club points to have one shipped and done for $150. Was wanting the 62s, but will give this a try.