iPhone Apps for hunting?

[Badger]

Is there an iPhone app that will give me info on speed, distance, etc. that my horse has covered if I carry the phone along in my pocket on a hunt?

Or one that gives a garmin-like map tracing the path taken?

[RacetrackReject]

I don't have an iPhone, but I have Blackberry Storm and I can do this, so I did a search for you and came up with this guys' review of Instamapper GPS tracker for iPhone.

http://www.jonathansblog.net/iphone-3g-instamapper-gps-tracking-google-maps-satnav

I think it might work for what you need.

[LexInVA]

MotionX GPS is the app you want. It's one of the featured outdoor apps accessible from the Apple iPhone App Store.

[Allagash's mom]

MotionX GPS is the app you want. It's one of the featured outdoor apps accessible from the Apple iPhone App Store.

This. I use it for trail riding and such. GREAT app :)

You can learn more on their website for it at:
http://news.motionx.com/category/motionx-gps/

[xeroxchick]

As long as it doesn't ring in the hunt field. That, to me, is reason to commit murder.

[birdsong]

So I just downloaded the $2.95 version of MotionXSport. Looks really interesting...thanks for the heads up!! Now to read the 31 pade manual!! This is exactly what I have wanted.

[twofatponies]

I am very excited about trying this iphone app. I love mapping stuff and it would be fun to keep track of mileage and speed.

[iechris]

@Racetrackreject- what is the app you are using on your Storm?

[Bensmom]

yes, please! How do you do it on the Storm? I have finally solved my memory leak mystery and want to try to do more things with my Storm since hopefully I won't have to restart it five times a day. :) I can now actually add an app! :D

[nicbarker]

MotionX GPS is the app you want

Annoyed with myself now! I bought a Garmin for this very reason at the end of last season, and while its been great fun to take hunting, and very useful in mapping mileage, I wish I knew I could have done it via an iphone app instead! Doh! Didn't occur to me...Only consolation, the Garmin is waterproof and my iphone isn't.. :-0

[RacetrackReject]

It depends on your carrier which will work. I have Verizon and they have an app you can get through them (you have to pay for it monthly) which you can use to do this, but for free you can get Instamapper which allows your phone to be tracked and you can pull up all of the information from a computer, but not from your phone. Blackstar is also free and can be done from your phone. It was originally made for geocaching, but works for this too.

I haven't used Blackstar personally, but I've heard good stuff about it.

Some carriers have some glitchy stuff that will not allow one program to work, but will allow another so if you have problems, try a different program. Luckily, most are free. With Verizon, if you aren't using one of their programs, you have disable aGPS I believe it was, to use a non-Verizon GPS program.

Anyway, if you go to the BB app store, you will have a few different programs come up.

Hope that helps!

[LexInVA]

Annoyed with myself now! I bought a Garmin for this very reason at the end of last season, and while its been great fun to take hunting, and very useful in mapping mileage, I wish I knew I could have done it via an iphone app instead! Doh! Didn't occur to me...Only consolation, the Garmin is waterproof and my iphone isn't.. :-0

I can assure you that the Garmin is vastly superior to the faux-GPS functionality of an iPhone. The iPhone uses A-GPS which is reliant on cellular networks to get it's information whereas your Garmin depends solely on satellites.

[Badger]

Thanks! I've downloaded the free version of MotionX GPS Sport Lite and hope to take it for a spin tomorrow. No fears, xeroxchick, it'll be muted.

[drmgncolor]

I can assure you that the Garmin is vastly superior to the faux-GPS functionality of an iPhone. The iPhone uses A-GPS which is reliant on cellular networks to get it's information whereas your Garmin depends solely on satellites.

Yes and no... at least from what my company and very techie DH tell me. No, I don't work for apple :)

The iPhone (3G and 3Gs) has two types of "GPS" functionality. Cellular and straight GPS. Granted the Garmin has maps built in and a better antenna, but the iPhone does have a "real" GPS and doesn't necessarily need the cellular tower for that function. It is quicker when you have cellular connection, though.

Case in point. Take your iPhone out into BFE and try to download a map. If you are not under cloud/tree/buliding cover you will have a GPS signal and you will see a blue dot in the middle of a blank gray grid. This is because the iPhone needs a network to download the map, but you can see exactly where you are (you are the blue dot). Doesn't help in the least, but it does work. If you download the mapping area you need prior to losing the cell signal, then the iPhone will work very similar to the Garmin GPS and you can zoom in/out and track your route with little issue.

I wouldn't trust my iPhone to take me out into the remote wilderness, but for a hunt, hunter pace, trail ride, etc... the motionX app will do just fine!

[twofatponies]

Annoyed with myself now! I bought a Garmin for this very reason at the end of last season, and while its been great fun to take hunting, and very useful in mapping mileage, I wish I knew I could have done it via an iphone app instead! Doh! Didn't occur to me...Only consolation, the Garmin is waterproof and my iphone isn't.. :-0

I got the iphone app last night. tried it out on a 20 mile car trip. Nifty keen! Love it!!! Meant to try it on our ride this morning but completely forgot to turn it on when we started. Duh. Remembered when we were a mile from home.

I have Garmin Gps's but hate them - clunky and hard to use. But they do get a good signal anywhere, which is nice. But such a tiny screen. And so hard to download the info - you have to remove the chips, get special software, etc.

I got the Garmin's a few years ago, before I had the iphone.

[Badger]

Tried the free app on today's hunt and it absolutely worked, giving me speed, distance, and a map of the route taken. I can zoom in on the map and get a better understanding of exactly how the trail system fits in our hunt country. This is very helpful for my staff duties.

[Elghund2]

I had a thread on this back at the beginning of hunt season. I ended up getting the Garmin Etrex H. Its been easy to use. Its a one click option to load the map onto google earth.

[Badger]

Coming back to say that the app is awesome. The free app only lets you save one "track" at a time, but by upgrading for $2.99 to the full app, you can save 105 tracks. I've done NO reading on how to make this thing work, but have easily figured out how to make a track, save it, and e-mail it to myself...it can also easily be posted to facebook. We have new hunt country that we haven't hunted yet but plan to do so tomorrow. I did a recon ride today with a couple other staff, and having a the track to share with others is that couldn't make the recon but need to know how to "work" the country is really helpful. Big thumbs up for this app, and thanks for the recommendations.

Oh, and it was cool to find out that the draft crosses' forward canter is over 28 mph...who knew?

[Xanthoria]

TrailGuru for iPhone - it's free, and when I requested it they added meters per minute as one of the speed options! :mrgreen:

[Badger]

Oooh...now that has possibilities for eventing. Have you used it for course walks or gallop sets?

[pleasantmeadowfarm]

I would love to get the Polar Heart Rate monitor & GPS sensor... soo many really cool functions.. can't even think about it at nearly $600.00 for a toy~

[Xanthoria]

yes! works wonderfully. I did get an armband to hold my iphone for that.

[visorvet]

I would love to get the Polar Heart Rate monitor & GPS sensor... soo many really cool functions.. can't even think about it at nearly $600.00 for a toy~

You can achieve virtually identical functionality with a Garmin Forerunner 305 and purchase of a few add-on bits to run extension electrodes from the human chest strap. Takes about 10 minutes to do the mods. Total purchase price of around $220 max. Even cheaper if you use the older Garmin 301. Go play if you are so inclined! Lots of fun for techno-geeky human athletes, as well, of course.

[Alibhai's Alibar]

I have to interrupt this thread with a silly thought...

I picture an Appaloosa sailing over a jump with this slogan under the photo:

Hunting? There's an App for that.

[SimpsoMatt]

I have MotionX on my iPhone, and I have problems with it. I start it recording at the beginning of a hunt and stick the phone in my pocket. At the end of the hunt when I look at it, I usually find that the app crashed at some point and didn't record the whole hunt. Have any other MotionX users had this problem? Any suggestions for keeping it running?

[Badger]

Do you turn off the screen before sticking it in the pocket? (Not the whole phone, but the screen?) I do that to conserve battery, and turn off the ringer, and it's working okay for me so far.

[SimpsoMatt]

Yes, I turn off the screen, turn off email, turn off push notifications, turn off wifi, turn off 3G .. anything I can turn off to save battery gets turned off. But the damn thing never runs long enough for battery life to be a problem.

[visorvet]

Yes, I turn off the screen, turn off email, turn off push notifications, turn off wifi, turn off 3G .. anything I can turn off to save battery gets turned off. But the damn thing never runs long enough for battery life to be a problem.

Two thoughts:

1. Perhaps it would work better with 3G turned on, since the phone is constantly trying to download map data via the data connection as you move around. At a brisk pace perhaps it cannot download the maps fast enough to keep up with your movement and the slow connection contributes to the crash? Alternatively, download and cache the maps of the area you plan to hunt in beforehand and see if that helps you out.

2. Is your phone a 3G or a 3GS? My friend has a 3G iPhone and none of the GPS apps work as well on it as they do on my 3GS. I have not researched the matter myself, so cannot attest to the accuracy of this statment, but when she looked into the issue she reported that GPS function was upgraded significantly in the 3GS units.

[Badger]

Yes, I think the phone needs the 3G for the mapping to work. FYI mine is the 3GS.

[nicbarker]

Hunting? There's an App for that.

Made me laugh :):lol:

N

[Allagash's mom]

Yes, I turn off the screen, turn off email, turn off push notifications, turn off wifi, turn off 3G .. anything I can turn off to save battery gets turned off. But the damn thing never runs long enough for battery life to be a problem.

Keep the 3G on. and even when it DOES crash, it'll still map (if the 3G is on) even if you lose the statistics (miles, speed, etc).

[SimpsoMatt]

It's a 3G phone. I'll try it with 3G on, but most of our hunt country doesn't have 3G coverage. Maybe that's why it crashes.

Before I got Motion X, I tried another app called InstaMapper that saved tracks and also uploaded to a website in real time. That was cool, because theoretically people could sit at home and see where the hunt was, but I don't think anybody ever did. It worked great for a while, but after an OS upgrade (I forget which one), it started crashing, so I started playing with other apps without much luck.

[SimpsoMatt]

Today I tried it with 3G turned on, in an area at least partly covered by 3G. It recorded the entire hunt (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=http:%2F%2Fbitchpack.us%2Ftracks%2F2009-11-01-Foxtrot.kmz&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=43.037246,58.974609&ie=UTF8&ll=37.961659,-84.345796&spn=0.010506,0.014398&t=h&z=16). Now I need to study the Google Maps features to tweak the way it displays. Thanks for the tips!