Measuring target distance with GPS

[dfrahm]

Set up your GPS to use UTM's or Universal Transverse Mercator. That measures in meters, Easting is meters East of an arbitrary line or zone boundary. The Northing is meters North of the equator. Then use the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the distance or length of the hypotenus.

	13T
XXX	284738​	from here		From Point A to Point B is:​			-221​	221​
	4838390​				Meters	Yards	Miles	Feet		-246​	246​
					330.69	361.64	0.21	1084.93
YYY	284959​	to here
	4838636​
	These numbers above are Easting and Northing from the GPS

If you need the sheet I can email it to you....

 

[jimisbell]

Thanks, I have found an App that will do it on my phone.

 

[yobuck]

Different way to skin the cat=old school

View attachment 342514

What took a lot of figuring, thought, gadgets and art 30 years ago now can be done with with a cell phone and a few programs.
All in the spirit of a mans gotta know his limitations or lack there of.
Have fun its a trip!

That is a nice Wild there, and assuming its condition is as good as its looks it would do a great job.
Also remember this, as recently as about 20 years ago nobody had any of those wonderfull new devices called cell phones and lazer rangefinders. Non the less quite a few of us in at least some parts of the country were living very well without them as for the long range shooting/hunting was concerned.
As far as im concerned at least, there has been no major improvements in the needed equipment in the last fifty years.
The difference is much of this started for a great number of people on the day they became involved.
Therefore they know very little of what was available prior to that.
But anytime somebody out there wants to put their very best legally owned lazer up against that Wild at extreme distances , especially on marginal days, count me in on the bet because it wont even be a contest.

 

[Tulsa Reiner]

Does google earth allow you to stand at the target and place a "pin" there and then do the same at the firing line, and then measure the distance?

No. Google Earth Pro allows you to zoom in on their satellite picture and drop a pin at a location. It then gives the GPS coordinates of the pin. Then do the same for the other location, and it will measure the distance between them when you pull a line from one pin to the other.
A more precise method would be to buy a Garmin InReach Mini (about $320), It will give you very precise GPS coordinates of your location, but requires you to activate it for at least one month, (about $30). You can then cancel the activation until you need to use it again. So this is kind of expensive unless you do some serious off grid hunting and want to keep track of where your are, and be able to send an SOS for rescue if you get seriously hurt.
OnX Hunt would definitely be cheaper.
PS: a Garmin Feenix 6 watch (and other models) catches GPS coordinates too, if you want a Smart watch.

 

[338 dude]

No. Google Earth Pro allows you to zoom in on their satellite picture and drop a pin at a location. It then gives the GPS coordinates of the pin. Then do the same for the other location, and it will measure the distance between them when you pull a line from one pin to the other.
A more precise method would be to buy a Garmin InReach Mini (about $320), It will give you very precise GPS coordinates of your location, but requires you to activate it for at least one month, (about $30). You can then cancel the activation until you need to use it again. So this is kind of expensive unless you do some serious off grid hunting and want to keep track of where your are, and be able to send an SOS for rescue if you get seriously hurt.
OnX Hunt would definitely be cheaper.

Onyx would not be cheaper I believe it's 100 a year HuntStand is $10 a year and can be used for many other things

 

[sp6x6]

Onx is $29 for single state.

 

[Betarider]

I am setting up a range for up to 4,000 yards. I want to use a simple GPS for measurements. Not sure which ones will work. BUT....I DON'T NEED MAPS!! All I need is the ability to mark both ends of the path and have it calculate the distance. Assuming level ground. Even without the calculator I could use pencil and paper to calculate it if the unit would give me the GPS positions. It seems that most small handheld units are geared to using maps and land marks, not just raw GPS.

But there may be some out of the box solutions as well.
1) is there a program for tracking that will use my phone to find a tagged object and give me the distance to that object?
2) Since my phone does have GPS information that is accessible to the police, how can I access that information?
3) maybe time the bullet from firing line to target? That would be hard without very accurate instruments.
Any other ways other than a 3 mile tape measure?

How about using the huntX program? It goes on my phone, gives a Birdseye view of the area and you can connect any two points and it will tell you the yardages.

 

[DWier]

Good idea , just use a rangefinder and range one another , hopscotch your way along .

The key word here WALK!

 

[DWier]

Sounds like some of my shooting, 42 ' off!

Ah, someone else shoots like me.

 

[DWier]

Go out walk it and shoot it with lazer at halfway point,to launch and target.Then add 2 up. Simple and done

The key word is WALK

 

[Pro2A]

I am setting up a range for up to 4,000 yards. I want to use a simple GPS for measurements. Not sure which ones will work. BUT....I DON'T NEED MAPS!! All I need is the ability to mark both ends of the path and have it calculate the distance. Assuming level ground. Even without the calculator I could use pencil and paper to calculate it if the unit would give me the GPS positions. It seems that most small handheld units are geared to using maps and land marks, not just raw GPS.

But there may be some out of the box solutions as well.
1) is there a program for tracking that will use my phone to find a tagged object and give me the distance to that object?
2) Since my phone does have GPS information that is accessible to the police, how can I access that information?
3) maybe time the bullet from firing line to target? That would be hard without very accurate instruments.
Any other ways other than a 3 mile tape measure?

First question to ask and answer: How accurate must the dimensions be? What is the accuracy of each considered method? Don't blindly accept a number merely because "it is written".....this isn't the Bible, faith doesn't cut it at precision rifle shooting distances..., or displayed on a screen..... Hand grenade accuracy merely adds to the variability in your shooting process. It's like using the Muzzle Velocity as listed on the ammo box.....yeah, that might be the number, but probability says NOT, for your barrel, location. GPS has a tolerance. Even surveyors have a +/-.....hence "400 acres +/-". Example, when confirming scope precision/tracking/repeatability, don't step it off, don't range it, MEASURE with a tape from target to point of turret....not barrel muzzle, not scope objective lens. Variations in the distances may be good enough for your needs, but don't move ahead without asking/answering that point. CONSISTENCY is KING; ACCURACY is his QUEEN. Just a really, really old engineer kinda guy's life observations. YMMV, but I doubt it.

 

[yobuck]

No. Google Earth Pro allows you to zoom in on their satellite picture and drop a pin at a location. It then gives the GPS coordinates of the pin. Then do the same for the other location, and it will measure the distance between them when you pull a line from one pin to the other.
A more precise method would be to buy a Garmin InReach Mini (about $320), It will give you very precise GPS coordinates of your location, but requires you to activate it for at least one month, (about $30). You can then cancel the activation until you need to use it again. So this is kind of expensive unless you do some serious off grid hunting and want to keep track of where your are, and be able to send an SOS for rescue if you get seriously hurt.
OnX Hunt would definitely be cheaper.
PS: a Garmin Feenix 6 watch (and other models) catches GPS coordinates too, if you want a Smart watch.

No. Google Earth Pro allows you to zoom in on their satellite picture and drop a pin at a location. It then gives the GPS coordinates of the pin. Then do the same for the other location, and it will measure the distance between them when you pull a line from one pin to the other.
A more precise method would be to buy a Garmin InReach Mini (about $320), It will give you very precise GPS coordinates of your location, but requires you to activate it for at least one month, (about $30). You can then cancel the activation until you need to use it again. So this is kind of expensive unless you do some serious off grid hunting and want to keep track of where your are, and be able to send an SOS for rescue if you get seriously hurt.
OnX Hunt would definitely be cheaper.
PS: a Garmin Feenix 6 watch (and other models) catches GPS coordinates too, if you want a Smart watch.

While im well aware of

No. Google Earth Pro allows you to zoom in on their satellite picture and drop a pin at a location. It then gives the GPS coordinates of the pin. Then do the same for the other location, and it will measure the distance between them when you pull a line from one pin to the other.
A more precise method would be to buy a Garmin InReach Mini (about $320), It will give you very precise GPS coordinates of your location, but requires you to activate it for at least one month, (about $30). You can then cancel the activation until you need to use it again. So this is kind of expensive unless you do some serious off grid hunting and want to keep track of where your are, and be able to send an SOS for rescue if you get seriously hurt.
OnX Hunt would definitely be cheaper.
PS: a Garmin Feenix 6 watch (and other models) catches GPS coordinates too, if you want a Smart watch.

While im well aware of the value of GPS for navigation purposes

First question to ask and answer: How accurate must the dimensions be? What is the accuracy of each considered method? Don't blindly accept a number merely because "it is written".....this isn't the Bible, faith doesn't cut it at precision rifle shooting distances..., or displayed on a screen..... Hand grenade accuracy merely adds to the variability in your shooting process. It's like using the Muzzle Velocity as listed on the ammo box.....yeah, that might be the number, but probability says NOT, for your barrel, location. GPS has a tolerance. Even surveyors have a +/-.....hence "400 acres +/-". Example, when confirming scope precision/tracking/repeatability, don't step it off, don't range it, MEASURE with a tape from target to point of turret....not barrel muzzle, not scope objective lens. Variations in the distances may be good enough for your needs, but don't move ahead without asking/answering that point. CONSISTENCY is KING; ACCURACY is his QUEEN. Just a really, really old engineer kinda guy's life observations. YMMV, but I doubt it.

Actually variations at that distance arent good enough.
A 100 yd error at that distance could cause a miss on a large barn.
You need to know the correct distance.
The whole idea is a form of mental masterbation. lol

 

[jimisbell]

Any software tbhat requires me to look at a satelite picture and determine where I am to drop a pin, wont work. Too inacurate. I want something that determines where I am using GPS and drops the pin there on the satelite picture. My guess by looking at a two year old photo and the brush and trees is full of error.

 

[Rob Hunt Instruct]

I am setting up a range for up to 4,000 yards. I want to use a simple GPS for measurements. Not sure which ones will work. BUT....I DON'T NEED MAPS!! All I need is the ability to mark both ends of the path and have it calculate the distance. Assuming level ground. Even without the calculator I could use pencil and paper to calculate it if the unit would give me the GPS positions. It seems that most small handheld units are geared to using maps and land marks, not just raw GPS.

But there may be some out of the box solutions as well.
1) is there a program for tracking that will use my phone to find a tagged object and give me the distance to that object?
2) Since my phone does have GPS information that is accessible to the police, how can I access that information?
3) maybe time the bullet from firing line to target? That would be hard without very accurate instruments.
Any other ways other than a 3 mile tape measure?

I think a decent hand held range finder capable of ranging out to 1000 yards will do the trick if you follow this procedure: With a highly reflective target positioned at your starting point. Look for alignment points at the beginning and more then the 4000 yards out that you want to set up. Take your range finder with you and travel the first 1000 yards. Set your self between the aligning points at both ends and then walk in and out until you are exactly at 1000 yards from your starting point aiming your range finder at the reflective target you set up at the starting point. MAKR THAT 1000 YARD SPOT. Once that is done go back and get your highly reflective target and set it up and the 1000 yard mark and proceed to the 2000 mark and repeat the steps above. Do it again for 3000 yards and then again for 4000 yards. I am sure after thinking about that you realize you are out at 2.27 miles from your starting point. That might be a useful range if you sighting in a cannon.