Being an avid outdoorsman and professional guide who spends nearly 100 days every year in the field, a solid mapping system is an absolute necessity anytime I leave the comfort of my home and head afield. This need is exponentially amplified when heading to an area for the first time. Cellular coverage away from civilization is often spotty at best, making the ability to download maps beforehand a game changer. Knowing BaseMap had just come out with their new high-speed offline maps, I decided to put the new update to the test.

Pictured: Author Colton Heward

Although aoudad was our primary target, the ranch also had a healthy population of javelina. Being that they were a secondary target, I would open my offline maps and drop a pin whenever we saw javelina while sheep hunting. The evening of day three was drawing to a close and the sheep hunting was near done for the day. With a little bit of light left we hustled to a nearby dry creek wash that we had seen javelina in the day before. As luck would have it, we located the group of javelina not 300 yards from where we had seen them the day prior. With the wind in my face, I quietly slipped within 37 yards. When the largest bodied pig in the group stepped into a clear shooting lane I drew, settled my pin, checked my bubble, and squeezed the trigger. The arrow seemed to fly in slow-motion as it arced through the air and disappeared into the unsuspecting javelina. Mere seconds later the javelina expired not 50 yards from where I had shot him. The euphoric sensation of successfully hunting an animal with your bow, no matter how big or small, never gets old.

When hunting multiple species, drop SmartMarkers™ of your secondary target as you spot them so that once you are tagged out on your primary target you can easily/efficiently return to punch another tag.

By the end of the week our group had gone five for five on trophy class aoudad rams with several javelina in the cooler as well. BaseMap’s offline maps were used on a daily basis keeping us within ranch boundaries and providing valuable intel of where game had been seen.

BaseMap has always had the option to download maps, but the new features of the high-speed offline maps have improved the simplicity and efficiency of this process. First, I found they download much faster than their previous maps just as they have said. Second, all offline maps are saved to a map vault allowing quick access to previously downloaded maps from the cloud. As I mentioned earlier, you can download a map, delete it, and grab it again in mere seconds ensuring that you don’t bog up the space on your device. Third, I loved the new multitask abilities – my maps would continue to download as I checked ranch boundary lines, viewed SmartMarkers, and even while I responded to a text message. The new update certainly made saving, planning and navigating a breeze.