Shock Collar options for upland bird hunting.

[Adam Gibbs]

I just needed a simple tone and shock collar for my lab. She mostly duck hunts, occasionally upland hunts. I ended up with the sportdog 825. I've had them for 5 years now. Actually have 2 collars and keep the second on a house dog. They get used every day when the dogs go outside to roam. I've had to replace batteries once on both collars but that's expected in my eyes. My remote just stopped working too. I ended up ordering another 825X collar and remote. I'll keep the spare collar for parts. I've been extremely happy with them. Their customer service is always great when you call too. Very friendly and helpful.

 

[NEhunter]

Garmin pro 550 plus or the alpha. Great collars and I have had good customer service from Garmin.

 

[Zak406]

We run the alpha 100 with 2 dogs. It’s hard to use the training features that way but it does work well other wise. It would work great with one dog. Or one trained dog you just want to track and a new pup

 

[AK_Skeeter]

I run a Dogtra 2500T&B. It has a locate beeper which I can hear from hundreds of yards away
if a pointer goes on point, or for me if I need to locate my lab tracking a crippled rooster in dense cover.

The transmitter has a pager button which I use to silently stop my lab when she gets birdy and then
I move into a blocking position and use a hand signal to release her. Hunting silently and solo on
late season roosters can be effective.

 

[Dalen88]

i just big game hunt with my lab but have the garmin sport pro and it was worked great for me

 

[akrdkill]

Garmin sport pro, easy to use has tone & vibrate functions
i run garmin alpha in field hunting, really enjoy knowing my dogs location as we hunt grouse in more dense woods. not having those near death heart attacks from not knowing dogs location has been worth the money on the alpha

 

[bayoublaster7527]

Garmin pro 550 plus or the alpha. Great collars and I have had good customer service from Garmin.

Tried a sport dog and wasn’t happy with it. Been using a Garmin 550 for last 6 years. Very happy with performance and any customer service requests I had. Most serious fowl hunters I know use garmin 550/Alpha or Dogtra models.

 

[Wellsdw]

1-E-collar technology mini-educator, 2-dogtras, 3-sportdogs. In that order

 

[cuttiebrownbow]

Garmin 550 plus gets my vote. Easy to use, gps and good warranty if needed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Wassid82]

I had a friend lose his GSP for about a week.....it reminded me how valuable the Garmin was to be able to track it via gps.....ive had one for about 8 years. been good to me for sure

 

[MtnDunn]

I've ran a DT RAPT 1400 for 5 years now on my GSP. It is used daily and has worked well. Customer Service is good. If something breaks, you can get replacement parts easily.

​

 

[Mosby]

I have Garmin...mostly because its what the breeders and trainers I know buy and they seem to know a lot more than me about most things. That said, if I didn't have a Garmin I would buy a Dogtra. I don't think your giving up much if anything and the controller is smaller. Sportdog would be my third choice.

 

[Kleos]

I appreciate everyone's input. I compared the Sport dog 425 X and the Garmin Pro 550.

I ended up choosing the Garmin for a couple of reasons. The vibrate was louder and stronger (not painful more like a massage vibrate) which seems to be great right now at capturing my dog's attention. I am a believer in using the lowest setting possible and if the vibrate is enough that's the only setting I will ever use. But we shall see when birds come into play more.

I liked the layout of the remote better and it feels sturdier. I liked that there was a specific button for a tone so that I can give my boy a heads up that "hey listen or vibrate/stim is coming". The adjustment of the settings is quicker and each level has a low, med and, high.

I am not saying the other units are not quality. I am just saying that the Garmin fits my personal needs/wants better.

Thanks again for everyone's input. If anyone has questions feel free to reach out. I have only used the unit for a couple of days.

 

[samc]

I use the garmin pro 550 with my griff. It has a really good range, is incredibly reliable, and is incredibly tough. One downside is the controller is a little bit big, but it hasn't bothered me when hunting. Love the built in light as well. Recently picked up the new alpha to hunt with but am gonna keep the 550 for training purposes.

 

[johnnycake]

I appreciate everyone's input. I compared the Sport dog 425 X and the Garmin Pro 550.

I ended up choosing the Garmin for a couple of reasons. The vibrate was louder and stronger (not painful more like a massage vibrate) which seems to be great right now at capturing my dog's attention. I am a believer in using the lowest setting possible and if the vibrate is enough that's the only setting I will ever use. But we shall see when birds come into play more.

I liked the layout of the remote better and it feels sturdier. I liked that there was a specific button for a tone so that I can give my boy a heads up that "hey listen or vibrate/stim is coming". The adjustment of the settings is quicker and each level has a low, med and, high.

I am not saying the other units are not quality. I am just saying that the Garmin fits my personal needs/wants better.

Thanks again for everyone's input. If anyone has questions feel free to reach out. I have only used the unit for a couple of days.

I use the 550 pro, and I used to think the vibrate was a lesser pressure until a clinic I attended by Blaine and Jason Carter a few years ago. Do a side by side comparison on yourself of the vibrate vs e stim up to about a 4 high. The vibrate is way more sensation and distraction for the dog.

I pretty much never use vibrate any more.

 

[arock]

Dogtra for training 2700T&B. The neat thing is that even if you only have the one dog option you can send it back to Dogtra and they'll make it 2 dog (using the flippy switch for tone type) for like 50ish bucks last time i checked.

I also have a Garmin 200i for when were camping or hunting terrain where its easier to lose sight of him. The little on point notification i get on my watch and a general direction is super helpful for really hilly or denser cover areas.

 

[JGood]

I have a Dogtra Pathfinder Mini for sale with two collars if anyone is interested.

 

[Kleos]

I use the 550 pro, and I used to think the vibrate was a lesser pressure until a clinic I attended by Blaine and Jason Carter a few years ago. Do a side by side comparison on yourself of the vibrate vs e stim up to about a 4 high. The vibrate is way more sensation and distraction for the dog.

I pretty much never use vibrate any more.

Interesting. I am going to go give this a try now.

 

[TxLite]

Dog trainer put me onto the mini-educator, said they started recommending them to all their clients. Digital stim settings with a boost button, vibrate, collar light, high build quality, made (well, assembled) in the US. Not spamming, but been very satisfied and would recommend.

This is what I’ve used on 2 gsp’s and they’ve been fantastic. No experience with the other units listed (and I’m probably missing out without realizing it) but the mini educators haven’t left me wanting more.

 

[JD Jones]

I have a big running setter that in all honesty I should put gps on her in some areas we hunt. If I were gonna buy today I’d probably go garmin 200i but this post has some really good recommendations to consider