GPS collar and unit advice

[Ucsdryder]

All-

I am training the new pup (Dutch Shepherd) to be my scouting and one day hunting companion. This is not a traditional hunting dog, as I don't hunt birds.

I want a GPS collar in case he takes off. What do you suggest for my needs? I have a zoleo, so don't need one with inreach capability. Is there such a thing as a unit that pairs with the iphone that is trusted? Although its been years, I wasn't a fan of the maps resolution and detail on the handheld garmins.

My area has zero cell, all wilderness.

Thanks in advance-

Garmin alpha and TT-15 mini is a badass setup. My GSP can range and i never worry about where she is because I can pinpoint her to a couple of feet.

Oh, they aren’t cheap.

 

[TSAMP]

I have the pathfinder 2.0, with iPhone and Apple Watch. I would not recommend, pain to correct dogs as you have to take phone out each time. Also GPS can be off by a significant amount on both dogs and your location. I would go with a device that has a specific unit for application with easy stimulus, easy map access, and reliable gps.

You want to sell it?

 

[Mosby]

I just bought the Garmin 550 plus with the TT25 collars. Gives me the direction and yardage of my dogs. No map but I'm a bird hunter and I just need basic information when I'm walking in fields. I also have a Drivetrack 71 which I keep an Onyx chip in...in my truck and I will pair the 550 plus with the Drivetrack in case I loose a dog and need to go after them in my truck. The Drivetrack and map detail with ownership info is nice when I'm driving around scouting for places to hunt but it is my back up if I loose a dog and I can't keep up on foot...which hopefully will never happen.

If I had my dogs in thick woods an Alpha with the map detail might be more useful but a lot of it is personal preference.

 

[TSAMP]

Bumping this thread. How are upland guys using these gps collars in hunting scenarios? Specifically chest high grasses. Im on week one of an alpha 300. While I enjoy the data side of it. Ive had 2 scenarios where my dog was 9 feet from me and I still had no idea where he was exactly until the bird jumped up or he moved.



It's hard to walk in boldly and confidently when your lookin at a screen.

 

[jmez]

I just get close and then walk in where the arrow points. Really thick cover like that I really don't worry about the exact location of the dog.

Sent from my moto g power 5G - 2024 using Tapatalk

 

[sbalfour24]

Garmin alpha series and Tt model collars. Run cats and bears with hounds in bc. pricey but pays for itself first time out knowing exactly where your dogs are. Especially in wolf country.

 

[mtnbound]

I have been using Garmin Alpha for years, and it has never failed me. It gives great peace of mind when you can't see the dogs, and the vibration or beep alert is a great way to call the dogs back.

 

[RS_Non-Res]

How are upland guys using these gps collars in hunting scenarios? Specifically chest high grasses. Im on week one of an alpha 300. While I enjoy the data side of it. Ive had 2 scenarios where my dog was 9 feet from me and I still had no idea where he was exactly until the bird jumped up or he moved.

I'm not a bird hunter but...

Anything less than ~30 feet is aproximated "She's right here somewhere" and use eyes and ears.
The direction arrow is almost always right unless she's moving really fast past me, then the distance also is off by up to 50 feet. But that's all pretty close in.

I suppose that these characteristics make my unit more usefull for hounds that might be running 100s of yards or miles away, rather then for upland where you want to approach to within a few yards of a pointer before letting her flush.

 

[TSAMP]

I just get close and then walk in where the arrow points. Really thick cover like that I really don't worry about the exact location of the dog.

Sent from my moto g power 5G - 2024 using Tapatalk

I guess that is about all you can do. There are trade offs. Our cover is still very dense and green so it's about worse case scenario right now.

I don't miss the beeper until a scenario like this happens.

 

[TSAMP]

Any alpha users have issues with the ON Point feature taking forever to register? Hunting wild roosters I'm seeing the dog go on point and getting there before this thing actually notifies me. I'm talking a 12-15 second delay. Which has resulted in a few missed opportunities.

I also noticed the icon of the dog showing it's status is delayed enough it's not of much use.

I couldn't find a setting to adjust sensitivity here.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Any alpha users have issues with the ON Point feature taking forever to register? Hunting wild roosters I'm seeing the dog go on point and getting there before this thing actually notifies me. I'm talking a 12-15 second delay. Which has resulted in a few missed opportunities.

I also noticed the icon of the dog showing it's status is delayed enough it's not of much use.

I couldn't find a setting to adjust sensitivity here.

You can adjust the sensitivity of this. I don’t exactly remember how, I think it’s the refresh rate.

If a bird is moving and your dog is relocating it’s hard to get a point alert unless you go with the faster refresh rate. The downside is battery life, which is more important to me.

I’d change yours and see if it helps.

Edit: found it

Changing the Update Rate While on a Hunt | Garmin Customer Support

Garmin Support Center is where you will find answers to frequently asked questions and resources to help with all of your Garmin products.

support.garmin.com

 

[TSAMP]

You can adjust the sensitivity of this. I don’t exactly remember how, I think it’s the refresh rate.

If a bird is moving and your dog is relocating it’s hard to get a point alert unless you go with the faster refresh rate. The downside is battery life, which is more important to me.

I’d change yours and see if it helps.

Edit: found it

Changing the Update Rate While on a Hunt | Garmin Customer Support

Garmin Support Center is where you will find answers to frequently asked questions and resources to help with all of your Garmin products.

support.garmin.com

Mines on dynamic. I think the quickest is 2.5 sec. I'll give that a shot. Thanks

 

[chemist]

Mines on dynamic. I think the quickest is 2.5 sec. I'll give that a shot. Thanks

I run a 2.5 second refresh rate. It still takes 5-10 seconds to indicate a point. You also get more false point alerts from dogs stopping to drink, poop, etc.

I have never run into a battery life issue but I also charge the collars every night.

 

[TSAMP]

I run a 2.5 second refresh rate. It still takes 5-10 seconds to indicate a point. You also get more false point alerts from dogs stopping to drink, poop, etc.

I have never run into a battery life issue but I also charge the collars every night.

I had a feeling that was the case. 5 to 10 seconds sounds reasonable but even this early in the season I'm not having alot of birds holding for us.

 

[mtnbound]

All-

I am training the new pup (Dutch Shepherd) to be my scouting and one day hunting companion. This is not a traditional hunting dog, as I don't hunt birds.

I want a GPS collar in case he takes off. What do you suggest for my needs? I have a zoleo, so don't need one with inreach capability. Is there such a thing as a unit that pairs with the iphone that is trusted? Although its been years, I wasn't a fan of the maps resolution and detail on the handheld garmins.

My area has zero cell, all wilderness.

Thanks in advance-

I have been using a Garmin Astro 300 for almost 10 years, and it gets used twice a day, every day walking the dogs. With the extended-range antenna, the furthest I have been able to track a dog in the mountains has been 880 meters. It has been the best investment for peace of mind. I can pair it with my Garmin watch or other GPS units, but I prefer to just use the handheld unit because of its Tone, Vibration, or Shock features.

 

[RS_Non-Res]

I gotta fix that refresh rate, too.
My dog can be tearing back to me through the woods and be at 10 yds when the Alpha still says 95 yds.

 

[TSAMP]

I updated it. I didn't see a noticeable difference. Still 10+ seconds.

 

[loganwayne]

I updated it. I didn't see a noticeable difference. Still 10+ seconds.

I think it's just nature of the beast. I've hunted with a guy that has a beeper collar that has a locate only function (push a button it beeps) for the very situation you are talking about.

In the thick stuff it really comes in handy. It's why I still run a bell in thick grouse woods cover

 

[AKG]

I updated it. I didn't see a noticeable difference. Still 10+ seconds.

I recently added dogtra beeper collars set to hawk screech on point only mode to the alpha gps setup I was using. I put electrical tape over the speaker so its not nearly as loud. So far I've been liking this combo. The dogtra has been sounding off on points before the Garmin alerts. I'll have to check but I'm reasonably sure I have my refresh rate at the fastest setting already. If the dogs are out a ways the gps alerts and the United beeper makes it a lot easy to find the dogs in heavy cover.

 

[TSAMP]

I think it's just nature of the beast. I've hunted with a guy that has a beeper collar that has a locate only function (push a button it beeps) for the very situation you are talking about.

In the thick stuff it really comes in handy. It's why I still run a bell in thick grouse woods cover

Ya I am inclined to agree with you.

I have a dogtra beeper. It's probably a 2 or 3 second delay time. It actually gets annoying because if he pauses to look around it goes off.

If these birds would just dumb down abit a 10 sec delay wouldn't be a huge deal.