Phones Compass Tried to Ruin Me - PSA

I was hunting the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge last week and while walking an abandoned road came to an old crossway. The roads to the left and right looked interesting so I poked around a bit and came back to the crossway thinking about heading back before dark. When I got to the intersection I looked down at my OnX app on my Iphone to see how far down this trail/road I was and noticed it was directing me to go left when I was certain the road I came down was right. Im standing there looking down the abandoned road I knew I came down, then down the road it says i should go down and while they both looked identical (just a continuation of the same abandoned road) I had no doubt which way I went - but with the compass pointing the opposite direction it certainly through me for a loop. I closed out the app and opened my phones regular compass and sure enough it was also telling me to go left vs right. I turned off the phone, waited a few minutes, then turned it back on and still the same - both app and compass on the phone telling me to head left.
Now where I was on the refuge, and the direction I knew I came from all said to head South East, and the fact that the setting sun was to my left I knew I was right and the phone was wrong and worked my way back and of course found all the same trail features I'd noticed on the way down the road (I'd been kicking over deer poop along the way so I could see how active the trail was as I planned to go back the next day) - it was funny to see the phone as I walked down the trail show me essentially walking backwards when I worked my way out, however it certainly is a creepy feeling to find out something we're all happy to trust can get so out of wack. When I got back in that night i googled the calibration issue and plenty of folks online reported their phones compass is off and it's just a bug with the software, and I've noticed it off/on sporadically since now. I was awful lucky I wasnt deep into a Colorado Wilderness trip where I didn't have nearly the same bearings as I did on the refuge - but guys and gals, let me tell you, I've gotten out of the habit of bringing a compass along with me when I hunt over the years, and you better believe it's going to be part of my carry gear again.

I noticed my phone compass was way off, my last trip out to the lease. 'Don't know whether it's really worth uninstalling and reinstalling. I always carry a conventional one, buried in my ridiculously over-packed daypack.

The good thing is you were aware of your surroundings and had common sense to know which direction you truly were going. Many people lack the common sense of this these days. I will never rely solely on my phone (or any hard electronics) for any directional data for this reason. I can't tell you how many times the mapping software or directional issues I've seen with my phone, and mainly my wife's phone. She relies on her phone for almost all directions. At least once a week or more often when we get in the car to go somewhere, the phone takes you a route you know makes no sense. She maps everything, even if it's somewhere we've been many times and know the route. I'm amazed at how ridiculous the routes are.

And when we go archery hunting in CO in the mountains, a good topo map and compass is all I need.

Interesting story!

Noticed you said yours was an iPhone. They are some of the best and most accurate compass apps out there, but do need re-calibrating occasionally if you have done something to mess with the settings by accident. The 4/5/6 are very stable, with more problems appearing with the 7/8/9/xX. They are most commonly affected by carrying phone next to metal objects, using one of the protective cases with a magnet on the back so you can use it hands free by sticking it to something, or putting it next to another electronic device which has Bluetooth turned on (small camera). Glad you were paying attention.

You just gave me an out for an agruement

I got turned around last year in wildness, after a brief Agruement about my direction I hit track and sorted it out pretty quick. So now it’s the first thing I do if I’m questioning myself or map is hit track . I also have Gaia downloaded too.

Problem with 8 and 10 digit grid coordination is trying to retain it if you only use once or twice a year

Yea, it was a lesson learned - and you hear about folks getting lost on familiar properties all the time due to weird circumstances, but just like a lot things, it'll never happen to me... a little compass weighs nothing though, and just like a spare tire, no reason NOT to have one with you, even if you never use it.
For reference, I have an iphone 8 that I got within the last couple of months. Everything is updated as soon as updates are available, and I have a water proof case on it - but not a magnet or anything like that. It was just me, my rifle and bino's on this trek as I was more enjoying being out and exploring at this time of day than hard hunting (I'd already shot a young buck opening morning so was working with house money at this time) so nothing magnetic on me - but I honestly gave consideration that I may have been in some kind of abandoned military testing site hidden deep in the marsh haha. The issue wasnt the OnX App, as that's using the phones internal compass (I assume), but the phones pre-loaded compass that was turned completely around.

I was traveling to Kansas one year to hunt. I was driving by myself and at night. I blindly followed my GPS. After hours of back roads in Kansas my GPS said I was at my location. I was in the middle of nowhere in front of a barn full of equipment. As I was fumbling with my map trying to figure out where I was, a farmer approached me in a truck and asked what I was doing. I am sure they thought I was about to steal equipment. I asked for directions to the nearest city. That added several hours to my trip

LoL nothing like the adrenaline rush you get when you discover your are "misplaced". I got myself completely turned around crawling through brush trying to track a hog. I know this place like the back of my hand but with nothing more than a small flashlight I ran out of trail. Trying to orient myself in thick brush no clue where I was at. I had to chuckle at my predicament but it was kind of fun. All things being equal, the simplest solution is usually the best. I just held tight until enough stars were visible to navigate hit the fence line and hiked back to the ranch house.

Eish, yea no thanks man. It's hard enough following a trail in the dark let alone trying to gather my bearings when all turned around.

Yep, my grandfather taught me when I was knee high to a duck, if you get lost (on a ranch, won't work on wide-open public land) walk 'til you hit a fence. Follow the fence and you're gonna find something you recognize, gate, house in the distance, something.

Once I followed a trail through thick brush into a clearing and then for the life of me could not find the trail head again to get back. It took a hour or so of time of searching. I bought a GPS and have not looked back or got lost since. I had the Garmin Etrex 10 and now have upgraded to the Etrex 20 which has better maps that mark roads, rivers and lakes. One can also download topo maps as well and have them layered on the E trex 20. I no longer get lost as it is easy to mark way points and see the track history walked. I can also download the info later in Garmin connect or Google Earth. It is disappointing to see all the ribbons people hang and leave behind to mark a trail on public land. Sometimes the most obvious trails are marked over and over again.

Buddy and I were at our deer lease and trying to determine direction. My iphone showed dead south - his showed dead north - oh well

Map and a compass won't let you down and you won't run out of battery. The map can be in your head if you are familiar enough with the area you are in. I'm a forester and am amazed at the number of people that have no idea how to navigate in the woods or have any sense of direction. They will rely blindly on battery powered technology only to find themselves S.O.L. when their batteries crap out.... Modern cell phones with all their apps are draining the intellect of our population to the point that some struggle when they are without them.

I don't carry a compass - I carry two. I was once deep into the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge late on a rainy evening. My compass said go that way and my gut said that beat up old compass was wrong. Well, it was right. Ever since that "interesting evening" following my gut I've carried two. My gut can't argue with two that say the same thing.

You have to be smarter than your technology.

I got caught depending on my onx too much once. Put a pin where I set a camera then took off got a few hundred yards away and said I think I want it here instead. Went back to pin and it just was not right. Took me a minute or two to get my bearings and found the camera it was a solid 100 yards off the pin. It was a cheap easy lesson.

Well my wife's phone is an Iphone and it lies to us constantly. My Samsung seems much more accurate and reliable

Thank you and amen. Use my Silva Ranger about everyday and its always on and doesn't lie. I can't find my way around town but give me a spot on a photo and no problem.