I don't carry a compass, because I hunt 39 acres, nearly in town. I can almost see my car from where I set up. Still, I like to get out my Smokechaser compass, shown here, or my little thumb compass, also shown, and pretend I'm lost. It's good practice in case I ever do hunt in a more remote setting. Do you carry a compass?

Joe

A closer look.

Joe

Yes, two.

Yes. One in my pocket, one in my pack. I hunt large sections of wilderness as well as small parcels where I don’t need one but they’re with me anyway.

Ha HA,..is the grass green,…does the sun set in the west..

ALWAYS carry a compass… GPS or not

If you ever went on a real hunt, like Crooked or Pdiddly, you would need such equipment at which point I'll bet they would teach you the finer art of getting beyond sight of your vehicle.

Just kidding Frisky...years ago I helped teach a map and compass course for fire fighters. Knowing how to utilize a compass is ALWAYS a good asset, for everyone. Much encouraged!

I always take a compass, at least one if not two in case I lose one or it breaks. The bush in FL can get very thick and you can get disoriented in a hurry if you're not paying attention. Id think it foolish to rely solely on GPS and/or cell phone. It is no different than offshore boating. Always bring a compass.

I carry three. A globe pin on type for convenient viewing and a Silva Polaris base plate and a little Suunto/thermometer combo for back ups in the fannypack or haversack. The pin on was attached to the outside of my haversack and I noticed it was way off compared to the other two. Something in the haversack was making it go off 160 degrees. It was the Case Mako folder knife...must be polarized from being sharpened. Never noticed that before.

Silva Ranger in a case on my belt and a pin-on on my shirt.

First is for taking precise bearings and the second is a reference in thick crap when you can't see a landmark.

I did, map as well. Besides hunting used to backpack in mountains. Trails can disappear when it snows.

I do in bigger tracts of Forest.Especially when I am not familiar with them.But I do make a point of having a compass and map in larger areas with less roads.

Its easy to get turned around.Its especially critical near dark to find your way out and also if bad weather is moving in the evening or near dark.It could get bad quick!Your gonna want a good flashlight or 2 as well.

I forgot my other compass, my bow compass! That means I do take a compass when I hunt. It's accurate too.

Joe

Like everybody above, I carry one every single day when hunting big game, and often two. They were only needed two times in the hundreds of days hunting in my lifetime. I won’t say they saved my life, but they certainly helped it. Both were when snowstorms with swirling winds created near blizzard conditions in country I was familiar with, but you can’t recognize landmarks if you can’t see them. Plus I had horses to locate. And don’t think a desert is any different in those conditions. Carry a compass or two and trust them. Give one to all your kids and grandchildren and show them how to use them. You’ll sleep better.

Toss in a contractor’s heavy duty trash bag and a couple of cigarette lighters, and then make sure you have some movies downloaded on your phone and you’ll be set! And have Frisky bring the popcorn.

Here you can see the class of the Bear TD compass, in all of its glory! A fine little compass indeed!

Joe

Yes, two.

I think it’s crazy not to. I was always taught to carry 2, even when I’m on a familiar piece, hunting a known area I carry one

Even in 'familiar' woods you can get disoriented. Happened to me on a foggy gray morning. No compass, no sun. Dumb to leave a small safety item at home.

No. It's unnecessary here and I don't carry anything there's no chance I'll need.

One is none, two is one! Absolutely. I prefer Silva

Here in Nova Scotia its mandatory . If stopped by a conservation officer and if asked you must show the compass and how to effectively use it. I carry one round my neck with a whistle and one in my pocket along with one in my pack. Always trust your compass.

The above only applies to hunting. Its part of our Bowhunting education.

Always. Those who don’t have never been lost all night.

I always carry one also. Not necessarily because of getting lost (I hunt small midwestern farm woodlots), but for when I shoot a deer. If the deer drops within sight, no big deal. But...if it runs off out of sight, then I take a bearing on the last place I saw it and then use that when I begin tracking. Why? Well, experience has shown me that even though you may have a good mental image of where that place is, when you walk towards it and have to detour around anything then your view can change. This was especially true when I hunted from treestands. Your view will change dramatically from when you sight on something from up in the tree, to when you climb down.

If the deer is well hit, I could find the trail without a compass obviously, but the compass DOES make it easier. It's a small item that takes up almost no room in my fanny pack, but it can be of very valuable use.

I don't always see my deer drop, therefore, I take a compass bearing to the last point I saw the deer, before getting down from my treestand. If I can't find blood to follow right away, I can always stand at my tree and mark a beeline to follow.

I prefer a sighting compass and a liquid filled lensatic with thumb ring is good when you learn how to use it.

always when in the woods. Have argued with mine a couple of times, but the compass always wins.

Yes.

Yes I carry a compass. I hunt small tracks of land around home but I also hunt large game lands. And the numerous times I hunted out west for elk and muledeer and Canada even though I had a GPS I still always had a compass and maps on me. The U.S. Army taught me how to use a map and compass so why not take advantage of it.

Not usually. I mostly hunt on very small lots(under 100 acres) or medium size lots around 1000 acres that I know really well.

I never need one where I hunt now, but I got very disoriented out in the mountains once and would never hunt unfamiliar terrain without one now. Likely I'd carry a GPS instead though.

I use one to mark the last spot I see the game as it runs from a shot. And for navigation as needed.

Hmm... been fearsome confused for a month or two, but I ain't never been lost!”

I have a few if i need them and also have onX Hunt on my phone.

Always have two, one in a pocket and one in my pack. Sometimes I also have a pin on compass on my jacket, until it falls off.

I like a compass. I get turned around easy.

Always had one when I hunted western forest land. Couldn't get lost if I tried in west KY where I hunt now. I could and have walked my woods and the neighbor's by moonlight.

That's a real good one Nemo.

Jon, I have four compasses but the one in the picture seen the most use.

A compass is really useful in the dark when you can't see landmarks. First time deer hunting out of state was in ME with a friend back in '79. We stayed at his friend's parent's farm and hunted the woodlot across the street. He got his first deer mid afternoon and dragged it about halfway out and left it just before dark. We went back in to get it and after a half hour we ended up back at the road where we started. We had walked in a circle... no compass. We got the deer out the next morning.

Yes, I am usally in wilderness areas. I also mapp out the cordinates i could be in prior to the hunt incase I do not show back up. Usally by myself.

No, I generally only hunt smaller parcels of land any more. I've been there before and know my way in and out. Usually you can hear the road from where I hunt. I'd rather have a cell phone and a signal mirror and whistle If I get hurt and cant get out.

I always have at least one with me. The Bruton is from the 50s. The brass Taylor USCE is from the 40s. The nickel Taylor is from the 20s.

I do for exactly the reason Woods Walker explained. Things look different when I get out of a stand. With the compass bearing to the exact spot the animal was standing it gives a confident starting point.

A Brunton is a wonderful tool. You can bury a treasure or a body and find that exact spot later … or a wallow.

Not often but do have a silva that I need to adjust as it's set for BC and I am in NB now

Yes, for all the reasons mentioned. But I would be remiss if I did not put in a plug for the value of getting one's self good and lost now and then. Like learning the value of one's ability to do hard work, being truly lost clears away the spiderwebs and can remind you, in retrospect, that you still know what to do and what not to do when there is no road map. Likwise the value of first aid training...I dont recommend anybody get injured on purpose, but when it's needed, being ready for it can save your life and/or somebody's elses.

Yes

You can also use a watch with hands to get you in the right direction ( north, south, etc ) and keep you in a straight line.

My wife bought me a Swiss Army watch with a compass 20+ years ago. This watch has helped me back to camp many times. I used to hunt all over but the compass watch never served me better than in the San Juan Mountains :)

ALWAYS JUST IN CASE

I do carry one, and there are two more that stay in the truck. I had a Silvertip with an inlaid compass, but I checked it against my others as well as the compass app in my phone I learned that the bow compass, at least in my bow was nowhere near the other compasses and that it was just for looks.

In a prior life I was a fireman and kept a compass in my coat pocket. Before entering a large burning warehouse or similar structure I always pulled the compass out and took a reading. A couple of times it really paid off.

Liquid filled compass resides in my pack.

What Woods Walker said. I wish I had a nickle for every time I've thought "no need to take a bearing, I saw where he went, I can walk right to that spot!". All your "mental landmarks" disappear when you get out of a tree.

Joe, I do carry a compass or two but you should have purchased a riser with limbs!

Woods Walker X3. Plus I use it to help hunting buddies. Just because I know where I'm at or where something is doesn't mean they do.

I always carry one.

I use the compass on my iPhone to set up new stands with regard to wind direction. I really don't need a compass to navigate around in the smaller tracts of timber here in mid-Missouri.

Nemophilist, thanks for posting that photo. I still wear an analog watch, so I'll try that method. Right now, I just look for the sun and guesstimate. Clint

The watch-and-sun technique is fine, until you get a really overcast day. (See my earlier reply.)

A compass takes little room, doesn't weigh much and the battery never dies. I just ordered a new one after reading this thread...

At least two. Legendary lack of sense of direction.

Ornery enough to argue with 1; not dumb enough to argue with 2.

X4 on Woodswalker’s remarks.

True story: Once upon a time while still hunting the edge of a mostly standing cornfield, I shot a buck. He bolted straight south into a section of soy beans. Tho didn’t make it much more than a hundred yards, this was dead flat, nearly landmark free Kansas land and a sea of lush beans at that. Sure I Thought I’d walk right to where he dropped. Nope. Unbeknownst to me most of what he ran thru was impassible mud at the bottom of the chest high beans, so I had to go a good ways off line and circle back just to get to where I thought he lay. Long story shortened, after considerable effort and reciting every bad word I know (plus inventing a couple more) I went back to where I’d shot him, replayed it in my mind, dug out my compass, took a bearing, plotted a route around the muck, and found him in short order…. By stepping directly on his bloody carcass! Should mention that my first efforts to find him were not even close and I’d have never lucked into him at that rate.

I dont usually carry one unless im in big bush. But i always use one if I have one.

I carry one and use it when I need it. I always liked the embedded compass in the Bear riser so I embedded one in my Bruin recurve riser.

I don’t hunt big woods much anymore but I always have a compass or three on me !!

I was hunting across the road from my house. Had a 40 acre hay field to cross to the woods. Lake Superior kicked up a good whiteout blizzard and it was getting hard to see 20-25 yards in the woods. I started across the field towards my house and the lake effect snow wound up to full blast right in my face. I couldn’t see anything but white but it was just over 400 yrds to my house.. When I came across tracks it took me a second to realize they were mine! I stopped and dug out my compass and found I was almost going back to the woods. I walked out with the compass in my hand. I carry 2 always now. Arrowchucker

Fortunately I know where I am anytime I got to the camp. It’s a good thing too cause I can’t read a coompass. <>

I suppose having one of those dial compasses that wobble liked a bobble head doll is better that none but If the sun is out using the sun and your shadow is better.

Buy the best you can and learn to use it because if you "really" need one it might just save your life.

There are two things I learned as an artillery forward observer and 45 year professional forester. Buy the best glass and compass you can afford.

And yes, I got turned around once blood trailing a hog with a group at night. We left off a woods road, I set my old Ranger and off we went. The hog lead us a merry chase and crossed back across the road in the dark and I failed to notice it. We finally ran it down and the GPS guy said the truck was over there and I said the road was in the opposite direction. My mind was convinced I was right. GPS guy took us back to 10 yards from the truck. I still get reminded of it at least once when around that bunch. Trust your trail dog and a compass. :)

Always!

Comes in handy in darkness, cloudy overcast days, swamps and very thick underbrush woods.

I primarily use a GPS but always have a compass and map of the area in my pack.

There's nothing to stop you from using a compass *with* a GPS. Get the bearing to 'whatever' from the gps, set it on the compass. Turn the GPS off to save battery power and follow the compass. If you think you've veered off course, re-set and proceed.

I've never carried a compass. Where I hunt now, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for me to get lost. Having said that, many years ago I hunted in Wisconsin with my brother and nephews. We went out one dark, foggy morning and I got so turned around I wondered if I'd ever find my way back. Thankfully, I ran into Sasquatch and he pointed the way out to me. I will never again hunt a new woods/forest without taking a compass along!

I always use one when hanging Stands for different winds.

Knowing which way is north or any other compass direction won't help you if you don't know the direction you want to go. Who among us cannot tell direction without a compass? Unless of course it is night. But to answer, no, I don't carry one. When you leave the truck, don't forget your bread crumbs.

I use electronic GPS and onX. I do carry a small little compass on my pack but I never use it. If I’m going several days in the back country I will bring paper maps and a compass depending on where I’m going but most the time I don’t.

Always...toilet paper, too. If all goes as planned I won't need either one.

Depends on where I am hunting, I hunt what is considered ridge and valley mts a lot, meaning they run in a straight line. Even though some of it is pretty big, for example the bald eagle state forest is 192,000 acres it's easy to keep your bearings most places.

Where I sometimes use one is large flat featureless terrain, especially if there is a lot of my laurel.

And another good time is dense fog, when you cannot keep your bearings by landmarks.

If you want to sharpen up your sense of direction, try coon hunting at night, in fog, in large unbroken tracts of forest, that'll do it.

For a long time now I have entertained the idea to walk to my parents home from here cross country with no compass, just food and water, not sure exactly how many miles it would be? Maybe 90, if you flatten out the mts, mabye 900 ?..lol (joking)..it would require crossing some pretty big tracts of unbroken state forest, tuscarora...part of rothrock, bald eagle, sproul and the big one tiadaghoton..it would also require crossing the juniata, susquehanna, rivers, Pine creek (a river by most standards)...and numerous other creeks less than 50' wide..

But I am about 100% certain I would come out of the mts right across from my parents..I imagine crossing the high knob above Brown's fork, there is a place where you can see the fields by ski sawmill far in the distance, id think, there it !! is only a couple more miles to go!...more than one person has gotten lost in those last couple miles between Brown's and the rd...but to me...id be home.

No.

Same as Woods Walker first thing I do if deer dosen't fall within sight.Take a compass reading because thing always look different when come down from tree.Has helped in recovery many times. L

Thanks Woods Walker. Could of used that info last year. Shot a doe ran 40yds through the oaks 20yds into cattail swamp. should have been easy, heard the crash. I was so far off it was laughable.

Yes in my bow riser

If you bail off in the swamps down here you’d better have one. Or two. I had to sit through too many land-nav courses not to use it.

Serious question. Is there any significant difference between a cheaper compass and one much more expensive. Not talking about a miniature size.

I do have a couple. Thanks

Always! Even in small lots everything looks different in the dark! In big woods I carry 2 because if turned around I'll argue with one but when the second comes out I believe them.

Some people can manage to get turned around on a highway in daylight. Early 70's I attended the state university located in central MA and would thumb home occasionally on weekends. First time with my roommate we got a couple rides the 20 miles south to I-90 and climbed the embankment to the highway to head east toward Boston except he went across the four lanes and started thumbing west to NY. Took me 15 minutes to convince him to walk a 1/2 mile east to a sign to see he was headed the wrong way. Going south take a left to go east, well not that easy for some.

I main reason I carry a compass is to locate a downed deer. When you shoot a deer and be runs off, listen closely and sometimes you will hear a crash when the deer goes down. That's when you take a compass reading and it can lead you right to your deer.

I could tell you story's that this has happened to me.....trust me, it works.

Good advice Ron! I never considered that, and the next time I'm in that circumstance I definitely will.

Ron makes a good point. Never thought of that.I

Agree with Ron because he taught me that. One time I shot a deer just before dark and say a flash out in the distance as it exited. Took a compass reading of the spot. Next morning I went out with my buddy to find the deer. No bottom exit so no blood to speak of around stand. I climbed the tree and direct my buddy to the last spot and before I could get down he had found blood and then the deer. Also, the north woods slashings all look the same in a pitch black night with a flashlight, you best have a compass to keep you on line or your going to get more exercise than you want

I carry a compass as a back up to my OnX. Also it’s much easier to navigate with a compass once you have a heading than follow an electronic device.

I carry two because if I don’t believe one, I have to believe two. I don’t own a gps except for the one that I use with tracking collars for beagles. I have topo maps I carry in my pack, and they, along with a compass work for me. If you know the orientation of the logging roads, take a heading as you enter the woods, a compass will get you at least back to the road.

I carry two because if I don’t believe one, I have to believe two. I don’t own a gps except for the one that I use with tracking collars for beagles. I have topo maps I carry in my pack, and they, along with a compass work for me. If you know the orientation of the logging roads, take a heading as you enter the woods, a compass will get you at least back to the road.

This past week, I hit 600 nights out with my telescope. One advantage of knowing the night sky is you can navigate by the stars and planets if you can see them.

Joe

No, I don't; Bugle Up gives me too much credit! Never happened to take one with me while elk hunting in either AZ or Co...but I do make a point of studying the heck out of my hunting areas on Google Earth before I go there.

I also pay lots of attention to hydrology and vegetation, as well as anything remotely like a landmark--big dead trees, fallen logs,unusual boulders, and the nature of any mountains on the skyline.

So far I've always been able to find my way back to camp...although once in Arizona, on a big,flat mesa covered with thousands of nearly identical pinon pines and junipers, I needed a little help. It came in the form of a flock of ducks coming in low just at dusk. They were headed for literally the only waterhole in several miles, I figured--so I followed their heading in a hurry, and got to the tank just as it got REALLY dark. I knew where my tent was in relation to that tank (about 200 yards), and managed to find it...partly because of some bones laying on the ground that I remembered having seen before.

Another time in AZ, again at the dying of the daylight, I spotted a lightning scar on a big pine tree, and remembered that I had seen it earlier in the day...and knew where it was in relation to my tent. It's a big relief to find your tent after dark, and it really points out the value of paying attention to your surroundings.

Crookedstix got lost in my backyard, so I don't know what he's talking about.

Joe

No, I just got turned around...and luckily, there was a blue light flickering in a nearby window all night long, with an occasional cat silhouette moving by as well. Once I spotted that, I knew that my tent was only fifty feet east of there, against the side of a garage full of arrow holes. I found it after a bit of looking around...and would have found it even sooner if there were any streetlights in your part of town.

I always carry two.Most times I have a GPS as well.

Another WATCH tip, to find North:

Use Military Time, e.g., 2pm or '14 Hundred', divide that # by 2 = 7 in this example. Point the 7 on the watch at the sun and 12 will be North.

I got turned around upland hunting once. Nice day, but overcast enough that there was no sun. Very weird woods, all small pocket lakes and drumlins, no one place looked like the next, and in a huge square where if you took off in the wrong direction, you would never get out. Normally I have a great sense of direction. Did not have a compass. Just happened to stumble on something I recognized, and I got out, but it was a really near thing. I still don't carry a compass, but it can turn out badly in the wrong kind of place.

Is the pope catholic.

Rooster who post here occasionally can verify this story. I was hunting near Fred Bears old stomping ground one year. My gear was a Roberson 65# recurve smoothing big snuffers. A doe came out in the rye field I was hunting near from my perch in a big pine tree. It was near dark and the shot was a long shot. The arrow took the deer too far back in the guts. I could hear the deer running and then a crash and all was quiet. I took a reading with my compass and climbed down.

Rooster soon came to pick me up and I told him the story. We looked but there was no blood. All we had was our flashlights but I told him we could follow the compass reading. We made our way through the brush with only the light from our little lights.

Rooster wanted to go back to camp to get lanterns and some help. I told him no I'm on a line and soon I saw the white belly of my dead deer. The big snuffer didn't go out the other side of the deer and as it ran the broadhead went through the diahapram into the lungs. All the blood was inside the deer and none left a trail to follow, only my compass reading led us to the deer.

Reply to Thread Name: Ron LaClair

Yes almost always. And When I carry this knife I have 2 on me. I have been turned around in the swamp at dark and you can’t see any landmarks a lot of time.

Like the old ad said " don't leave home without it"

Never been lost,..a powerfull bit confused a day or two maybe! Carried one when I hunted in Mt. and Id....but never needed it,lots of landmarks.

I have a Suunto Clip-it on my watch band a Suunto mini pocket compass in my pocket and a full sized navigation compass in my pack or knife sheath pocket.

I once helped a friend blood trail a buck on state land.lots of blood but the trail went on forever. Neither one of us had a compass eventually we simply found a good stump and waiting for last call at the local watering hole. Around 3 am traffic picked up and we were able to locate the road. Lesson learned now I carry 2.

I carried one as a kid, but then got out of the habit until I worked in the bottoms along the Mississippi River between MO and IL. In the winter especially, you might have no idea what direction the sun was. And in those bottoms, all the trees tend to be the same age. Plus there is no consistent terrain/slope to guide you. I got turned around one afternoon and spent about 2 hours trying to get back to my truck, all on just 2400 acres of bottomland. After that, I always had a compass on the wristband of my watch.

i learned to use a compass as a young kid, father was an avid boater so compass was a big part of navigating our regular trips from N Miami to the Fl keys and back. Same thing hunting, he showed me how to take basic headings for roads and the levee's we hunted from in the everglades. No precision orienteering, just enough to know how to get back to main access points in the dark. Still carry a compass in the woods to this day whether I have a gps or not.

Actually had to use it a few weeks ago when gps got squirrely under thick swamp canopy heading out to a stand before day break.

Yes, regardless of how familiar I am with the woods, I think it is a good HABIT to be into.

old habit, whenever I step in the woods I have a knife and compass, usually a little brunton clip on. But when I go in hunting I have that little one and my Cammenga in my pocket.

A weeny with a compass is smarter than a knot head without one

I have been on several “lost hunter” searches. One was lost two nights in the woods when me and the warden found him. He had one bullet left, for himself if he had to spend another night. I walked him 5 miles out of the woods to a bridge where the warden picked him up and drove him 20+ miles to hs camp. He was beyond desperation and cried when I found him. People go nuts when they are lost. I spotted him across a river with thin ice so I yelled for him to stay put and I cut several alders, laid them on the ice, laid on them and crawled military style across the ice, slick as a whistle.

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