I’ve found it to be very precise and accurate. Are you sure that onX is wrong? I’ve known public land signs to be moved by private land owners to fatten up their own land.


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I have seen a good amount of this but on private. Not as far off as you are seeing though. I think it's for reference only. It would be up to us to learn where the actual lines are. I am still liking the app though. Looking forward to using more of the tools to map out some properties.

 

I’ve found them to be pretty accurate here in Michigan.


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My buddy has the paid version and in the spring of 2017, I used his phone with OnX to walk the general boundaries of a piece of ground for sale. OnX showed the corner of the property and I was about to change directions when I found a marker in the tall grass. That impressed me a great deal. I have the free version and it is pretty accurate as well, just not as many features and the paid version. My guess is that the state property was not surveyed with a great deal of accuracy rather than OnX being off so far.

 

I agree with the above. Though 100 yards is a big difference. But it’s funny how over decades property lines can change because farm fields may “grow or shrink” for various reasons and eventually people are way off with where they think the line is. Some folks get really upset when a neighbor is having a survey done.


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All of the software for boundaries is only a"reference". Even the boundaries the individual counties have available online tell you they are for reference only. Only true way to know, is to have surveyed. Even on private, you still get land owners who push pins around, arguing over who owns what. I usually use the software to get into new areas, then trust the marked land. I also have a free trial of that app, and am curious how accurate it will be

 

It can only be as accurate as the county/state data they pull is. If the county/state property/tax maps are wrong, then OnX will be wrong. Not really an OnX issue, but a data issue

 

In my experience it hasn’t been that far off. I have a rule of thumb for a buffer of 25 yards away from the line that OnX gives me. Typically it isn’t OnX that is off, its the landowner. Just give it a little buffer and understand, as mentioned above, that it is for reference only.


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I have used the payed version for WI. & have been able to find corner pins with it so it seems like it is pretty accurate. Also walked lines that were surveyed & mark & it was correct.

 

I have said this before, never trust what you see on a GEO Spatial referenced map. Any GIS based service is not accurate.... precise but never accurate and accurate but never precise..... Court records and deeds is where it's at. Do people really think that these companies sit down and realistically draw up each boundary line with the right metes and bounds off of the deed description? It would take years to even research deed books and court files let alone measure up and draw the lines. Use it for reference, get the free ones, same boundary lines, same spatial reference.

 

You are RIGHT !!! I was at the ATA show and pointed out wrong roads and land that was listed as public which was not. Public land can change at the stroke of the pen. Be Careful.

 

Dad once had a surveyor come to his house to see if he truly was in a flood zone in San Antonio, the GPS the company used took over half an hour to connect to the satelites and it was several [as opposed to the 3-5 your commercial units might connect to] and gave the altitude of his house to the 1/16" Think the system cost in excess of $10k...

I spent several weeks teaching students with visual impairments urban orientation skills, part of which was GPS travel... Always had to tell these "super techie" kids [usually laughing as they passed their address several times] that a GPS is never 100% accurate.

So, as to the OP's findings, could be the lines weren't entered correctly, could be number of sattelites the GPS connected to, could be atmospheric interference, could just be a low quality GPS [especially if you're using your phone...]. Point is, when challenged by law enforcement they'll look at the actual markers on the lines before anyone's OnX app.

Anyone remember when GPS first started becoming popular... Law required them to be at least 50 meters/yards off so the chips would be less likely to be used for projectile guideance. Even when my GPS has indicated "accurate to within 16ft," I''m skeptical [use GPS a lot when teaching to indicate upcoming street intersections].

 

It can only be as accurate as the information entered into the system to be used. I haven't used Onyx but I am sure its very good. I usually just use Google maps coupled with the assessor's GIS system to get my boundry's.

 

All of Oklahoma is off about 30" to the South. I know this because I know where two different section corners are, one is in my parents back yard. Everytime anyone has anything surveyed within 3 miles of their house that's what is used as the starting reference. My understanding is that when you download a map it does a decent job of correcting it.

 

I have found it to be pretty accurate. It might be off a bit, though they get all their information from each State, so maybe the State has it wrong on their records. I would contact them and see.

 

Are there no other Surveyors who hunt and belong here? Established monuments are accurate. OnX is not accurate no matter how the spatial information is brought into format. I work for a municipality and our GIS boundary lines aren't even close to what's recorded at the court house. It's used as a reference and even states on OnX that they use what the State and County's offer. My county is no where near designated and established survey monuments. Again, use as a reference.

 

I noticed this recently when comparing a state map to OnX. Who's wrong? :noidea:

 

Both... There's no possible way that the lines drawn on a state map, county map or on OnX can be exactly right. I guess it's the surveyor in me that gets me all riled up over this debate. Every time I see a post on this topic I always have to chime in. If these were so accurate and correct, I wouldn't have a job!

 

Shows me owning an extra 15acres.... so I like it hahahahaha... however I wouldnt trust it if relying on it legally.

 

Mostly spot on but I’ve reported a small piece they have completely wrong, it’s like a quarter mile up the road according to them from where it actually is!


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The electronic stuff is not perfect, gps will give you some routes that dead end in rural areas. Good for a basic idea and backup.

 

The only way to find the correct property lines is to get boots on the ground and look. PA Game Lands are almost always marked with white paint on the trees. I would trust those paint marks before any app, tax map or GIS data.

If you're hunting private ground, ask the landowner to show you a survey map of his property. Assessment maps are not accurate. Most landowners have some sort of map in their personal files that was drawn from a survey at some point in history.

I've worked for a civil engineering company for 22 years and have done a ton of surveys and survey drawings - most assessment maps are a "sketch" based (roughly) on a actual deed plot and cant be compared to what is actually on the ground. Most GIS property lines are based on assessment maps......so you can see how things get messed up.

 

I have said this before, never trust what you see on a GEO Spatial referenced map. Any GIS based service is not accurate.... precise but never accurate and accurate but never precise..... Court records and deeds is where it's at. Do people really think that these companies sit down and realistically draw up each boundary line with the right metes and bounds off of the deed description? It would take years to even research deed books and court files let alone measure up and draw the lines. Use it for reference, get the free ones, same boundary lines, same spatial reference.

The only way to find the correct property lines is to get boots on the ground and look. PA Game Lands are almost always marked with white paint on the trees. I would trust those paint marks before any app, tax map or GIS data.

If you're hunting private ground, ask the landowner to show you a survey map of his property. Assessment maps are not accurate. Most landowners have some sort of map in their personal files that was drawn from a survey at some point in history.

I've worked for a civil engineering company for 22 years and have done a ton of surveys and survey drawings - most assessment maps are a "sketch" based (roughly) on a actual deed plot and cant be compared to what is actually on the ground. Most GIS property lines are based on assessment maps......so you can see how things get messed up.

Off topic a bit, but see you are from PA. My neighbor had his property surveyed a couple years ago. After it was completed, I found a stake labelled "reference point" or something along those lines. Is it normal to "tresspass" when doing survey work? Also, what we that stake have been used for?

 

One of the state land spots I hunt is a huge old farm that overlaps the invisible line between two counties. There is a very short east-west "road" that becomes the farm lane access when it hooks to the north and is marked as the county line on a map and my OnX. Because an antlerless tag can only be used in a designated county and it is public land, we are very careful to be where we need to be with a margin of error to spare. Hopefully a CO would have common sense and an ounce of grace....but that is nothing I am willing to bet upon.

 

I have the paid version of oNX and it has worked well for me, but typically there’s some sort of maker to help differentiate between boundary lines. A lot of what I hunt is pasture ground so fence lines are obvious.

 

Fencelines are obvious - and as others have said, they do NOT always line up with actual property lines. Had a case a couple years back where there was a VERY clear fence line, and it VERY clearly ran diagonal across the private land and if you'd walked up to the fence you were already trespassing by 200yds. I use OnX a ton out here in CO and WY and have always found the corner markers right where OnX says they'll be for section boundaries. It is a reference, but around here it is a pretty good reference!

 

I have had some issues with my app on my farm with saying who owns the property. But I think thats just because the mining company hasn't completely restored our property and that their lease is still good for another year or so.

 

I too am in the midst of the free trial. I see a yearly subscription in my near future. I wouldnt trust OnX in an attempt to overturn a trespassing ticket in court. But the info on OnX is so much better than looking at a 10 yr old plat book and trying to transfer that info to an aerial photo, for ease of use. I think I can get it figured it out from there.

 

The 2 properties I hunt are both accurate with OnX, the only issues I've ever read about was where stateland meets private land.

 

It seems to match pretty accurately the County GIS system. What does seem to vary a bit is where you are standing via the GPS signal. It will show me as the blue dot, but then after a few minutes it reloads and moves, even if I have not moved. If you are deliberately looking for a line using it, you do have to wait a bit for the GPS to "catch up" to you. I haven't seen it vary 50 yards + though.

 

County GIS maps aren't always spot on.