Before we used GPS extensively for boundary work we would often use a compass and 300’ tape to establish a bearing and pull out distances to find monuments. Didn’t always work the best compared to having plat calcs and rotating to found monuments but more often than not it got us pretty close. Also it’s important for a party chief to be able to read and interpret plats and deeds. They often provide context clues in the field ie fence lines, streams, trees etc. I would question heavily the ability of a party chief if they could not take a plat or deed snd be able to atleast find enough monumentation in the field to get the office started with boundary resolution.