Best GPS Watch For Hunting 2023

GPS Watch for Hunting


Every job has the tools that make it come outright. The same thing goes for anyone that spends time outdoors. A good hunting watch with GPS will keep you on track and found wherever you go in the woods. The right watch will give you GPS coordinates wherever you go so you can keep your location at all times.

The right watch comes with multiple special features that will help you stay connected and provide you with all the information you gather while you hunt. The perfect hunting spots will not get lost when you get lost. You need to stay found wherever you go, and the right hunting watch will keep you on the map no matter where you go.

What should you look for in a GPS Hunting Watch?

Global Positioning Systems

Buying a good GPS watch means you should have at least one high-quality GPS built into the watch. The systems can include GPS, Glonass, Gaia, or any other mapping program that gives you a high level of detail as well as GPS coordinates. The systems your watch needs to access will help you out by helping you plan your trips, but also getting you out of trouble should something happen during the trip.

Online Mapping Software

Many GPS-ready watches come with mapping software you can use through their websites. The software should be high-quality with multiple topographical maps and online to help you plan your adventures ahead of time and make notes on them afterward. You can keep precise and up-to-date records of your adventures.

Heavy Duty materials

A good quality GPS hunting watch needs to be of high-quality materials. These materials can be a sapphire coated watch face to prevent scratches while you are in the bush. The watch can be made with high-quality plastics, but also steel to prevent rusting. The band should adjust to fit your wrist using either a high-quality plastic or a woven band that can withstand water and bushes.

Battery Life


If you decide to take an extended hunting trip, you need a GPS watch that can survive for days without charging. A high-quality GPS watch needs a battery that comes with at least a two-week life before recharging. The low battery life of a poor-quality watch of less than a week will not meet your needs, and if something happens while you are hunting, you need to know your watch will not die before you can get to help.

What are the Top Hunting GPS Watches?

Garmin Instinct, Rugged Outdoor Watch with GPS - Best Garmin GPS Watch for Hunting


The Garmin Instinct, Rugged Outdoor Watch with GPS, is a touch multi-functional watch. The watch comes in eight different colors, and its construction meets military standard 810G, which sets the requirements for resistance for shock, thermal, and water resistance.

The GPS watch comes with multiple gauges to keep you aware of your environment, including a barometric altimeter, a three-axis compass, and built-in GPS that connects with multiple satellite systems, including GLONASS, GPS, and Galileo to help you stay connected wherever you are.

Your new Garmin watch will come with additional features to keep you aware of what your body is doing, such as keeping your stress levels in check, your heart rate, and activity level. You can take the watch wherever you go to help you build a plan for working out and monitor your progress using preloaded activity profiles that you can access with the few taps of the watch buttons.

You can stay connected to your progress and position using Smartphone notifications to receive updates about your progress. You can connect with other Garmin users through the online fitness community.

Your connectivity extends to the watch having the Tracback feature to help you follow the route you took back to your original starting point. You can plan by using the Garmin explore the website to help you plan your trip before you hit the trails. Your Garmin watch has up to fourteen days of battery life while in Smartwatch mode and sixteen in GPS mode. You will have up to forty hours in Ultratrac battery silver mode.

Pros

  • You can track your fitness progress using fitness tracking modes.
  • Your new watch will be a shock, thermal, and water-resistant for all of your activities.
  • The watch has battery life for fourteen to sixteen days depending on the mode you set.

Cons

  • The built-in Bluetooth for the GPS watch needs improvement.
  • The band is silicone, which can cause allergic reactions.

Garmin Fēnix 5X Plus, Ultimate Multisport GPS Smartwatch - Top Garmin Hunting Watch


The Garmin Fēnix 5X Plus, Ultimate Multisport GPS Smartwatch comes in thirteen different colors and two different styles depending on your need. The Garmin watch comes ready to take on multiple outdoor sports that will track your heart rate, show you your route with maps, and consider your best route for your fun and activities.

The watch has built-in wrist sensors so you can have awareness about your body's stats, including blood oxygen saturation, which can be a benefit when hitting higher elevations. The watch is durable and can survive rough outdoor hiking, hunting, and sports.

You can take your watch on all your adventures because it comes with a sapphire lens that is scratch resistant. The watch is stainless steel with a carbon DLC titanium bezel to help withstand rocks and other rough surfaces that it can encounter.

When you are exercising or going about your daily routine, you can store up to five hundred songs on the watch and connect Bluetooth wireless headphones to listen to music in whatever you are doing. The battery has twenty days in Smartwatch Mode and thirteen hours in GPS mode with music included.

Pros

  • You can store up to five hundred music files on the watch.
  • The watch supports GPS functions for your outdoor adventures.
  • You can monitor your body's health using the heart rate and oxygen tracker.

Cons

  • If you need to reboot your watch, the reboot can be faulty.
  • The watch can freeze without allowing for a reboot.

Garmin Vívoactive 3 Music, Gps Smartwatch - Garmin GPS Hunting Watch


The Garmin Vívoactive 3 Music, Gps Smartwatch, comes in seven different colors and with multiple functions. The watch comes ready to connect with Bluetooth technology. Through that, you can download up to five hundred songs onto your watch so you can listen to your music wherever you go.

You can connect all your cards to your Garmin Pay payment solution app so you will not need to carry any cards with you and just pay-on-the-go using your watch. You can customize the watch with any app your think might suit your needs so you can track your yoga, running, or strength training workouts.

You can connect to your computer with the Garmin charger for easier updating and charging. You can also use your watch for up to seven days in Smartwatch mode or up to five hours in GPS mode, including music mode.

Pros

  • You can load up to five hundred songs onto your watch for later playback.
  • You can connect all your cards to your account to use Garmin Pay for your activities.
  • Your new GPS watch will come with multiple training modes for your activities.

Cons

  • The tracking app doesn't follow your body exactly.
  • The GPS doesn't connect to the systems well.

SUUNTO Ambit3 Peak HR Running GPS Unit - Top Suunto Hunting Watch


The Suunto Ambit3 Peak HR Running GPS Unit provides you with the tools to track your location and meet your goals. The GPS Watch provides you with information about the barometric pressure, your location through the compass, and GPS location.

The watch comes with water-resistance up to one hundred meters and has an amazing battery life even while using the features. The watch has up to two hundred hours of accuracy before you need to recharge it.

The phone comes with Smartphone connection capabilities, so you can sync your phone with your watch to receive text messages, but also receive updates on activities. You can also customize your watch to receive phone calls and notifications through the watch.

A built-in camera allows you to track your activities and connect your moments to your locations. You can even use the Suunto Movie application to build movies of your adventures to share with friends and family.

Pros

  • The watch can track your global position accurately as well as provide weather patterns on your trips.
  • The watch has a battery life of up to two hundred hours with complete accuracy.
  • You can create movies from the built-in camera.

Cons

  • The GPS accuracy needs improving.
  • The watch can randomly stop working.

Suunto Traverse Alpha - Overall Best GPS Watch for Hunting


The Suunto Traverse Alpha comes in six different colors and with a multitude of features. The design of the watch helps it be rugged with a knurled stainless steel bezel and a water-repellent nylon strap to hold it on your wrist. The face has a sapphire crystal glass cover that is scratch-resistant.

The Suunto uses short detection technology to track where you are and where you were when you go shooting. You can preload mapping GPS locations. You can also track your location, so you know the GPS coordinates of where you found the perfect hunting spot. The built-in systems connect to the GPS and Glonass systems so you can always find your position.

You can also use that same tracking app to find your way back using the automatic breadcrumb trail feature, so you don't get lost. The location features also include location-based moon phasing so you can track moonrise and moonset times for best hunting and fishing times. Using the Suunto Movescount Web app, you can plan your route ahead of time using topographical maps.

The Suunto Travers Alpha watch is a handmade product of Finland. The standards for the watch match those set by the United States Military standard 810g. The watch is pure functionality for the outdoors; it also comes Bluetooth ready for smart connections to your phone so you can receive a text message and incoming phone calls.

Pros

  • The watch comes ready for outdoor adventures with hunting and fishing tracking features.
  • You can use the watch with the built-in GPS and Glonass system tracking applications.
  • You can plan your routes using topographical maps through the Sunnto Movescount Webapp.

Cons

  • You must use Movescount.com to use any of the features.
  • Transferring data into or out of the watch can take a long time.

Final Thoughts:  The GPS Watch that is Best for Hunting

A good hunting app that will get you to and from your hunting spot accurately requires extras that will give you maps as well as GPS coordinates. It also needs to be accurate and provide you with the secure knowledge that you will be lost while using it. Of all the watches, the Suunto Traverse Alpha has all of what you will need for a good hunting trip.

The Suunto Traverse Alpha is a heavy-duty, military approved watch that is cratch resistant and built to withstand time outside. You can wear the watch in the outdoors and always ave GPS coordinates at your fingertips. The watch uses water-repellent nylon to hold it to your wrist and keeps track of your location no matter where you are.

You can view your locations while using the app so you can mark where good game trails are and the ideal hunting spots. It is perfect for ensuring you have the best hunt and make all the notes you want while you keep track of every detail. You can also follow the moon and expect to get back home safely from your extended outdoor hunt.