The only time I've ever used a GPS other than to checkout my breadcrumb trail when I got home, was just to double-check my exiting path out of an area during dark one time when looping back around on a slightly different trail on the return. That's it. Either way would get me back to the truck, but I started feeling that the return path trail was gonna go outta the way by a bit, confirmed my hunch, and made a correction by pioneering back over to the other line I'd normally exit on. Learn to recognize early when you're feeling that "hunch" and act on it!
Most of the time I've Google Mapped the snot outta where I'm going to be going, and all those years of bombin' along on DirtBikes over large expanses in the Desert I guess just got my brain wired for taking in all the landmark recognition and my spatial position between all the various large landmark features. That... and all the extensive quick memorization of the terrains in 3D first-person shooter games in order to commit them to memory quickly so I could know them like the back of my hand rapidly in order to exploit certain positional features within the maps.
Also, whenever I'm going to try to explore/scout a new area. I consider that day a sacrificial test-run into the area where I insure that I arrive just AFTER sunrise, so my entry into the area is all done during light so I can commit the lay of the land to memory.
Also that way, if current conditions create the need for an alternate creek crossing that looks weird and like it could be possibly tricky to find when returning during dark, I'll go ahead and wisely shove a reflective push-pin way up high on a tree to mark where to turn in. I've found that if you use marking tape, or if the push-pin it's not high up... lotta times some other a$$hole takes the damn things back off while you're back up in there!!! (I wish those people a horrible painful death) They don't seem to do it as much with the push-pins, since they aren't as obvious during daylight. Highly recommend those push-pins.
