Thread: Deer dog tracking collar

Hi all

What tracking collars do folks recommend for a heading dog deerdog?
Spent 3hrs looking for mine after a very intense thunderstorm spooked her just as we where heading into bush block, very disconcerting! Also have had occasions where we have become separated while mtn biking and a tracking collar would have saved alot of time.
Hunting she's only ranging 5m or so from me but really would like the insurance incase we become separated.

Seems like Garmin and Dogtra are main options. Don't need training functions, just tracking. What do folks recommend? Anyone e moving anything on?
Cheers

Garmin, would not be with out mine just for the piece of mind.
They are expensive but worth it for the piece of mind it gives.
I think there is only about $100 difference between the cost of the new model collars.
Will be replacing my Alpha100 with a Alpha 300 when it finally dies.

Yeap Garmin are pretty much the gold standard. Use tt15 on my dog while he's hunting just for piece of mind. Also made hime wear it quite a bit when he was younger as we had a dickhead neighbor who moved out from the city and thought he was a big time farmer on his 5ha block and kept accusing Bo (my dog) of chasing his sheep and that's why they were dying (they were dying with lambs sticking out of them etc because he had no fucking clue what he was doing) and I told him to make a note of all the times he "saw that dog chasing his sheep" and then I showed him all the collar data of exactly where Bo was at all those times...

Yep, make the investment in the Garmin Alpha series. I use the Alpha 200i and TT15. I introduced this at the end of the blueprint training, and provides peace of mind. It's a great GPS unit also. Buy a couple of spare batteries from Garmin NZ and carry with you. 200i will perform all day if used occassionally. But will drain quickly in very cold, wet conditions if exposed (worn on the outside). So, always have at least one spare battery. I always charge mine at night regardless. The TT15 collarif used on for 8 hour day with a few corrections will last upwards of 3 hunt days, but performance does reduce over time. I bought a generic charging cable from Amazon, so can top it up if needed, but takes a long time to charge. Latest series is the Alpha 300i and TT25 collar. TT25 according to Luke in his review in NZ Hunter mag has a much better battery life. Do the NZ Topo 40 install, much better topo map than the average Garmin one if you are bush hunting. The BirdsEye is a nice to have, probably more useful in the tops.

Another tip, if you can (and appreciate Ryan's unique use case above), only use it hunting, and in conjunction with your existing commands. The dog soon associates "work/hunting" as opposed to a recreational walk, so good to keep that split in their minds - well my view. This set up is great, particularly for silent range correction, but don't let it become the default tool for dog management. You want them keyed in to you!

If you are going to use an e-colllar for training and haven't got much experience I would highly recommend this book as well. Overall the training merges pretty well with what is covered in the Blue Print (although this starts with teaching your dog to be close first and then it gets more range, which hasn't been a problem for me as going straight to the Blue Print with an adopted older dog didn't work at first). Will be super useful when mountain biking and they also recommend a bunch of e-collars that aren't necessarily the Garmin ones, but will be great for comms. They key is patience with this and not abusing the tool which definitely won't get the job done.

https://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Art...BoC19oQAvD_BwE

Thanks all for the feedback, super useful, much appreciated. Garmin seems to be pretty universal recommendation!

Garmin 200i and tt15 here, using them for 4-5 years no issues. I also have spare batteries.

I also have a 30K amp hour battery that charges them in the field many times over. Mainly it is to make sure the collar is topped up. It has an emergency mode that means it can last for days as well, it just pings every hour instead of every 10 seconds.

I have never found a really good tutorial on how to use one (200i) on the internet yet.

Originally Posted by inglishill

Garmin 200i and tt15 here, using them for 4-5 years no issues. I also have spare batteries.

I also have a 30K amp hour battery that charges them in the field many times over. Mainly it is to make sure the collar is topped up. It has an emergency mode that means it can last for days as well, it just pings every hour instead of every 10 seconds.

I have never found a really good tutorial on how to use one (200i) on the internet yet.

@inglishill this guy has about 10 plus videos on how to use the Alpha 200i. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qGKiXQz8x4

Has anyone had experience with the Garmin Alpha 10 handheld unit? Seems like it would do what I want as an "insurance policy" for a wayward dog rather than a say a pig hunter who is regularly needing to locate remote dogs/bails. Reviews seem to criticise the need to use Garmin explore for mapping. Any NZ feedback?