SPACE-AGE GOBBLERS WITH DON TAYLOR

Give A Turkey To A Friend

Editor's Note: Global Positioning Systems (GPS) is a system of satellites that circle the earth and give off signals. Each GPS satellite transmits its precise location (position and elevation) and the start time of the transmission. A GPS receiver acquires the signal and then measures the interval between transmission and receipt of the signal to determine the distance between the receiver and the satellite-a process called ranging. Once the receiver has computed range for at least three satellites, the receiver's location on the surface of the earth can be determined. Each satellite transmits two types of data, almanac and ephemeris. Almanac data, general information on the location and health of each satellite on the constellation, can be collected from any satellite.

A receiver with a current almanac in its memory knows where in the sky to look for satellites, given its last known position and the time of day. Ephemeris data is the precise satellite positioning information that is used for ranging. Each satellite transmits its own ephemeris data. Both almanac and ephemeris data are required for a GPS receiver to locate and acquire satellites quickly and compute your position. GPS produces accuracies of about 27 yards or better, bringing you within visual range of a destination or a target. Most GPS receivers allow you to log waypoints, either by number or name, which remain in its memory until you either delete it or change it. Regardless of your distance from a waypoint, the computer can calculate the direction you need to travel and the distance from it. This week, Don Taylor, a longtime turkey hunter from Alabama, shares the experiences he's had hunting with his GPS receiver.

Sometimes a turkey hunter may want to give away a gobbler. He may have located a turkey and wants a friend to hunt it. Tell your friend the GPS coordinates for getting to that gobbler. Then your friend can log those coordinates into the memory of his receiver and "Navigate" to the spot where he can begin to call and hunt the tom. However, usually people give away turkeys because they can't take those turkeys themselves. I've often had tough-to-take toms I've wanted other hunters to bag to keep me from having to fight them every morning of turkey season and dream about them each night. Give this kind of gobbler to someone else to solve your problem. A GPS receiver will help you put your friend or enemy in a position to find and hunt this bad gobbler. I love to hunt all kinds of wild turkeys, particularly gobblers no one else has hunted. I like going deep into the woods where other hunters won't and hunting new land and turkeys in other states where I've never been before. But I don't enjoy getting lost.

The hand-held GPS receiver enables me to ...
* hunt further and deeper in wilderness areas day and night,
* hunt new land in different states and
* keep up with gobblers on the land I hunt often. To increase your chances of bagging more gobblers every year, plan to enlist satellites to help you hunt turkeys. And don't forget, you won't have to come home to a cold supper after being lost until after dark, if you'll use a GPS receiver.