Kerry, My experience with the total station is not great, but a colleague bought one and regretted the purchase. It was difficult to setup and haul through rugged terrain. It was designed as a precision survey instrument, but that level of precision wasn't needed for the type of work he has doing. I used a Criterion laser range finder to do similar work (apparently it's no longer manufactured. It was easy to use and could shoot through foliage (a major consideration) to hit a reflector with the right filter. it seems that if you could see any part of the reflector you could get a shot. Stem maps could be created from distance and azimuth measurements. Similar products are now on the market and they're probably cheaper than the Criterion was.
-Peter
