EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

i have no clue were to start about tracking collars.wat should i get a gps or wat.does any body have any suggestions

Garmin astro.with the D.C. 30 collar is the best I've have found, Use one and you will trow the 'old school' units in the creek! Use mine bout 4 times a week and love it. If you have any questions about gps fill free to ask. always happy to help.

What is the max range on that unit and how far out can it track in the heavy stuff.  Do overhead power lines cause problems.

Mad shark,The astro 220 reaches 7 miles depending on the terain, Tends to work better in open country,But in our part of the world, we have prarie, woods, thickets and gullys, and the only time I will lose comunication is when they get in a hole, creek , or river the garmin works off of line of sight, But, if a dog is in the river and you lose him.Thats the last place it will pick him up,Unless he crosses and gets back even with the line of sight , the unit will pick him up again .There are just so many things I can say about the garmin and they are all good. If you have anymore questions pm me and I will give you my number, I can talk better than I can typeLOL

big hog doggin   where you hunting  i hunt in town and the gps acts a little funny

i bought a used f&l ten dog system from valley creek with two collars for 315 dollars, it's worked fine for me so far

I have a QUICK TRACK, works very good. they have VERY GOOD customer service. Havn't lost a dog yet, always know where they are, sometimes in hilly area it can get confusing but if you get on a hill works fine. The GPS systems sound neat but the price was too high for me.

I've got several friends with them also... but there "old school" collars are still around the dog's neck for insurance. It comes in handy and is neat to watch, but it doesn't have the range for me to feel comfortable in turning out a dog with only the gps collar. 

One thing about the Garmin 220 DC 30 collars is if your hunting on a smaller place you know exactly where your dogs are and if there on one of those running hogs you can get ahead of them and turn the hog or catch the dogs before they are off your hunting area. It is really cool tracking system. Where we hunt in East TX its wooded,thickets, hills and lots of creeks and around three miles long and the gps works at that distance. Not saying the dogs have never lost communication from the gps but you can always start driving towards them and pick them right back up, or put the longer range antenna on remember you know exactly were they are at the time you lost communication. Another cool feature is when you catch a hog and the dogs role out on another hog you can mark that location where you left the hog and come back later. You can mark locations like roads and stands if its a place you hunt alot and know exactly the quickest way to the bay. As far as hunting in the city it did ok as long as there is not alot of power lines over you and the gps unit. When you are in the truck sometimes you have to step out of the truck to get a correct reading or hang the long range antenna out of the window. I feel you can do more hunting for hogs and less hunting for dogs with this system but I'am sure other guys are just as good finding there dogs with there radio collars its just way easier for me with the gps. You can also use the handheld for marking fishing spots you find on lakes. We have a DC 20 collar with a flexible antenna that is short range that we only run on one of the catchdog. If you decide to buy the Garmin only buy the DC 30 collars.