Is a Garmin Pro 550 Plus Overkill for just Duck Hunting?

[RDUB]

I mostly hunt ducks and just trained my lab for retrieving marked birds and am moving on to blind retrieves. His obedience is great, and I haven't had his recall fail while training in a variety of environments. However there is still a fear in my mind that one day on the refuge he might just get spooked and take off, I see posts all the time during the season on Facebook of people looking for their dogs that got lost on the refuges. I was thinking of getting the Garmin Pro 550 Plus to have the tracking ability with still any easy access for corrections. I was curious if some of you guys are using that for waterfowl with your dog or would you recommend another tracking system? ( I have an airtag but that only works if there are iPhone nearby).
I would like to get into upland but just haven't done any training for that and don't have any spots to hunt lol.
Let me know, thanks.

 

[KurtR]

I see no need for it with a retriever. I use the sport pro for hunting and the 550 controller for training.

 

[Macintosh]

I had a lab that would chase deer, I put an astro on him after one particular night. Astro is the precursor to the unit you are talking about. But thats more a failure in training than whats inherent in a dog. Personally I would let the dog tell you. For sure you need to work up and practice your recall with increasing levels of distraction. Easier said than done sometimes, but get ahead of it and you shouldnt have that issue. If during training you think something like that is going to be problematic it might help. But if you do train and make a point to reinforce those commands with gently increasing levels of distraction till the dog is solid, then chances are its overkill.

 

[KurtR]

Following a proper collar conditioning program is a must

 

[HairyScandinavian]

I can't imagine ever needing it for a duck dog or for geese, can't speak to upland because I don't do that but at the ranges the dogs typically work I think it'd have to be a pretty wildly untrained dog to run off enough to get lost.

I did have a dog disappear for probably 20 minutes solid many years ago that I thought for sure had gotten lost. She spotted a sailing goose we clipped and disappeared into the cattails. We could see the goose for probably half a mile where it went down. After about 15 minutes I put my shotgun away and grabbed a water and started walking through the marsh and got through that first line of cattails and spotted her across the next waterway making her way back to me very slowly with a pissed off goose chewing on her ear. It would've been real nice to have a tracker for that one.

My current 12 year old girl won't chase deer or coons or anything else but she will go bay hogs til she gets bored and nip at Coyote hamstrings. I can stop her from the hogs and even coyotes out in the field but there's no stopping her when she's going after a coyote from camp, she just won't tolerate them. She catches them pretty quickly though and comes right back. For this reason we got her a cheap Tractive collar that she wears, there's plenty good cell signal at camp. Works at home too in case the fence blows over or something.

 

[RDUB]

Following a proper collar conditioning program is a must

He has been properly trained through Obedience, Collar conditioning, and force fetch by me and a very reputable trainer in CA. This question is more regarding my fears of what if.

 

[Zak406]

I have an alpha for my pointers. It’s something you don’t need until you do. I personally never needed it but in the event I do I’ll be glad I have it.

Years ago my dad took his friend and his friends gun shy dog swimming. Someone let a round off and that dog was gone. Thankfully he had our collar on that dog and they were able to locate him 4 miles away using the alpha. I was not there that day but from what my dad said finding that dog would have been impossible.

I got to much money invested in my dogs to worry about losing them over 800 bucks

 

[KurtR]

He has been properly trained through Obedience, Collar conditioning, and force fetch by me and a very reputable trainer in CA. This question is more regarding my fears of what if.

If he has been through all that i would not worry about it. Most the stories are from people more worried about hunting and not handling the dog when they should be. I get more joy out of watching my dog work than actually shooting so letting my buddies do most the killing and me working the dog is how it goes. I still shot a case and a half of shells last year with concentrating on being the dog handler so still get plenty of shooting in.

 

[2ski]

I would get the 550 for your piece of mind. If you need to reinforce a command you have it. And you have the tracking if need be.

 

[17Hunter]

Its not just for wild, disobedient dogs. Maybe not waterfowl, but grouse/woodcock hunting in the mid-west early season, you loose sight of your dog at 40-50 yards and if its windy, that dog cannot hear or see you. Not many places I hunt do you not run across a road or timber trail in a half-mile. With all the quads and utv’s it is 1 advance in technology I will not hunt without.

 

[cq0302]

Garmin sport dog pro is very sufficient for waterfowl and quality is excellent. Mine is 5yo and going strong with piles of use

 

[JGood]

It’s WAY overkill for a duck dog.

The GPS system is a huge pain in the butt. The remote is huge, the antenna is unnecessary and the collar receiver is way bigger. It just sucks for duck hunting compared to the Delta

550 plus is the best system for running pointing dogs in the woods or a big running dog in hills.

 

[2ski]

It’s WAY overkill for a duck dog.

The GPS system is a huge pain in the butt. The remote is huge, the antenna is unnecessary and the collar receiver is way bigger. It just sucks for duck hunting compared to the Delta

550 plus is the best system for running pointing dogs in the woods or a big running dog in hills.

The 550 and the 550 plus remote are the same size. Yes the collar is bigger.

 

[Speaks]

I love my 550+ though I mainly grouse hunt in thick woods so its a different game. I generally like it better than other tracking collars I have used.

 

[JGood]

The 550 and the 550 plus remote are the same size. Yes the collar is bigger.

The remote is huge compared to the delta

Delta is simpler and better for a duck dog

 

[merkedmallard]

Garmin sport pro i would recommend for a duck dog. I also have the 550 which never sees a hunt.

 

[2ski]

The remote is huge compared to the delta

Delta is simpler and better for a duck dog

He was asking for GPS.