GPS Collars?

[dmoon]

Anyone on here using GPS collars on their bird dogs? I'm considering getting one for my new pup, as he's easy to lose sight of and I hate listening to beepers. I hunted with a buddy who has the dogtra pathfinder this year, and that one interests me, but I want to hear everyone's opinions about any/all of them.

Thanks

 

[cjuve]

I have run the Garmin Astro for about as long as they have been out, I recently upgraded to the 430 and have been happy with the upgrades vs the 220. So far I have no complaints and would purchase again.

 

[dmoon]

Thanks for the feedback, funny how rarely you hear anything bad about Garmin.

 

[jaeger19]

I have both the garmin alpha and the sportdog tek. Both are great units.
Alpha vs sportdog
Alpha has a touchscreen that doesnt always work in the cold.
Sportdog uses a wheel with a button that is more robust.
Alpha can accept chips like the on x maps. Sportdog cannot.
I found the garmin more intuitive to set up and use.
Sportdog was cheaper and came with coolar that vibrates. My initial garmin collar did not vibrate.
I like tbe sportdog alerts for dog on point better.
Garmin comes with 12 volt charger
Sportdog does not. Have to use an inverter to charge in car.

 

[dmoon]

Good information, thanks for the feedback!

 

[dmoon]

In case anyone cares, I ended up buying a Dogtra Pathfinder for a trip to New Mexico with my pup a couple weeks ago. It performed awesome, for the money I'm completely happy. I can't compare it to the Garmin (I'm a Garmin fan), but I wouldn't ask for more.

 

[ScottMc7]

Garmin is master at gps and even in other sports tech equipment. Have one alpha 100 for my lab.

 

[parshal]

I've had an Alpha for years. I love it. I found myself continually looking at the screen for the dogs which caused me to miss seeing things. I bought a refurbished Garmin Fenix 3 and it syncs with the Alpha allowing me to see the dogs' distance and direction by looking at my watch. It made it even better.

My buddy who's had an Astro for a long time recently got the Pathfinder. We played around with it on a recent hunt and we both like it. It's much less expensive than the Garmin.

 

[dmoon]

I was happy with the Pathfinder, I just wonder how well it will work towards the end of my cell phones battery life....I guess that is what power packs are for.

 

[parshal]

I guess that is what power packs are for.

You're right, my buddy does have a power pack.