Hunting is the ultimate test of man versus nature. Whether doing it for sport or filling your freezer, venturing into the great outdoors will require significant prep work to make it possible and, more importantly, enjoyable.
Having a watch that will keep you versed on what time of day it is will allow you to hunt with more precision, utilizing daylight for increased visibility or night to remain hidden. An excellent hunting watch, however, sports more utility than you know what to do with.
With that being said, what are the best hunting watches? We have researched many watches and will review nine of the best ones that suit your needs.
- Garmin Instinct 2: Camo Edition Battery Life
- Garmin Instinct 2: Camo Edition GPS Hunting Watch
- SUUNTO 5 Peak
- Coros Pace 2 Sport Watch
- Garmin 010-02540-34 Fenix 7
- SUUNTO Core
- Casio Men’s Pro Trek PRG-270-1 Digital Sport Watch
- WINKONMU Military Watch
- Timex Men’s Expedition Scout 40 Watch
This article goes over reviews on these watches. For more information, we encourage you to continue reading.
What Are the Best Hunting Watches?
The best hunting watches obviously will tell time, but it’s about what else they bring to the table that will inevitably allow you to discern one as being better than the other.
A hunting watch’s most valuable traits are high endurance or the ability to endure the elements and impact. Another practical boon would be the ability to track your location should you get lost or, worse, injured on the trail and need assistance.
Below are the nine most popular hunting watches available, with information regarding their overall price, durability, useful features, and overall aesthetic so that you either look your best or blend in like a nest.
GPS Watches
.jpg)
1. Garmin Instinct 2: Camo Edition Battery Life
The first notable entry on this list is the Garmin Instinct 2: Camo Edition, which emphasizes battery life. The watch itself features a digital graphite camo in a black and gray pattern. It also has a built-in heart rate monitor to gauge your pace while on the move or doubles as a fantastic sports watch when trying to remain in peak physical condition for the hunt.
The bundle here also comes with their signature portable power bank alongside a wall and car plug adapter, meaning you’ll have various ways to keep your watch charged. With the portable charging battery, you can have up to 28 days of battery to rely on. The watch also features ABC sensor tracking technology with a native Tracback Routing system, ensuring you get back to square one without issues. This watch is currently available for $359.00.
.jpg)
2. Garmin Instinct 2: Camo Edition GPS Hunting Watch
Garmin is at it once again with their GPS variant on the same hunting watch as above, although the primary difference between this one and the other lies in their battery-saving utility whilst utilizing GPS mode, offering up to 30 hours of life while keeping you up to date on where you are at.
The watch can handle just about any environment and is even water-rated to 100 meters, making accidental or purposeful plunges into the water no hassle. The watch is also thermal and shock resistant, so you can rely on this watch to be just as rugged as you are. Finally, it has the same GPS tracking systems built-in, so you’ll know exactly where you stand in almost any location for only $349.99.
.jpg)
3. SUUNTO 5 Peak
While price doesn’t necessarily make the watch, it does make it easier to obtain, or at the very least, a more justified expense. The SUUNTO 5 features a sleek futuristic design with a healthy battery life and native GPS technology to keep you in the know wherever you go.
The watch comes in a few additional colors ranging from teal, pink, black, and gray and can function as both a hunting watch and a great general-purpose sports watch. It can track your steps, watch your calories, and keep up with rough journeys made of durable materials. The watch will cost you about $192.00, but it’s a drop in the hat, considering what you stand to gain from this beauty.
.jpg)
4. Coros Pace 2 Sport Watch
The Coros pace earns its name by being flexible enough to thrive in any environment it has to deal with. Whether you are wading in a river to get to a more favorable location, dealing with dust and sand kicks, or climbing up a mountain, this watch will always be at your side.
The 20-day battery backed with barometer, strava, built-in navigation systems and optimized to use just two buttons for the entire watch makes it one of the most no-nonsense designs, which is fantastic for $179.00.
.jpg)
5. Garmin 010-02540-34 Fenix 7
Putting your best foot forward seems like the obvious line of progression when it comes to Garmin, and with this rock-solid piece of tech, you can’t go wrong. It comes in various colors, but the watch might outlast you due to its amazing features. This watch contains solar charging, a touch screen, and personal health and fitness features. The Garmin watch endurance and sustainability are staggering.
Alongside heart monitoring features, step-o-meters and the like, this watch also has an elevation tracker, fitness tracker, and even distance tracking technology; seemingly any physical activity you can do, this watch can keep note of. The watch also comes with an app called Pulse Ox, which will allow you to dive deeper into your fitness to micromanage yourself while on the hunt.
ABC Watches
.jpg)
6. SUUNTO Core
The SUUNTO Core is another friendly face (watch face) making an appearance. The other version was nothing to scoff at, but the SUUNTO Core is essentially that watch’s older, more experienced brother. With native ABC tech backing its geographical tracking capabilities, you almost cannot get lost using this black and red watch, short of refusing to look at it.
Versatility does not end when the watch integrates the ABC tech with an additional weather module, allowing you to plan your entire route regardless of the difficulties Mother Nature intends to throw at you. The watch won’t just let you know of the weather; it can endure it with you, being heat, cold, drop, shock, and freeze-proof. In most cases, you’d be hard-pressed even to try to damage this watch while just hunting purposely.
.jpg)
7. Casio Men’s Pro Trek PRG-270-1 Digital Sport Watch
In the Casio, overall utility is perfectly balanced with overhead cost, allowing this durable and dependable watch to shine. The watch has a fundamental design, but that is just what you’d expect when you think about something built around a base needs premise.
The watch has solar charging utility, extreme water resistance, low temps and impact, built-in ABC tracking to keep you on course from one area to another, and can display the world time accurately within 15 seconds of overall accuracy for only $129.00 if you need a dependable hunting watch without dropping several hundred dollars, this just might be the watch for you.
Regular Watches
.jpg)
8. WINKONMU Military Watch
There is a certain comfort to be found in one-size-fits-all in just about anything, and general-purpose watches can fit both your budget and needs. In the WINKONMU, you’ll get the benefit of only paying $49.99 for a watch but having all the luxury of an ABC watch.
The Winkonmu features a digital compass that will make sure you know which way you are going in near-zero visibility conditions. This watch also has a neon green face to ensure that if you cover the face of the watch, you can read it. The watch is also remarkably durable for the price and has waterproof qualities alongside general application sports utility like step, distance and calorie counters.
.jpg)
9. Timex Men’s Expedition Scout 40 Watch
Simplicity in its rawest form, this watch is a bare watch face on a leather strap, with simple water resistance up to a depth of roughly 160 feet. The strap and face of the watch can come in a wide variety of colors but have no other extreme features of note outside of those listed above, but for only $32, what more could you ask for?
Final Thoughts
Bringing the right gear for the road is just a rule of thumb. If you are going on a longer hunt, it only makes sense to bring a watch that requires less charging, has more GPS options, and can bring more utility to the table to get you and your catch back home. With any luck, the information above will allow you to make a sound investment in a hunting watch that will help you track time the same way you track your prey.
