need help in picking good traking system.

[savage]

I LOVE my garmin!! I very seldom have to use telemetry BUT I will not turn my dogs loose without the telemetry collars too.Its just an insurance plan.

As far as which box....I really like the wildlife 1000. Although I dont use it as much as I use my Icom. The Icom will track any frequency so you can get used collars from any one and track your buddys dogs too.Its fairly compact too so you can fit it in your pack better than a blue box. It is hard to program at first but easy to operate.If you get an icom get the booster for it too or the range wont be very good.

[savage]

Oh yeah another thing about the Icom, if you get some 150 collars and some 217 collars you will need 2 different antennas.The freq. are too far apart and the antennas are very different. just FYI

[Bearkiller]

I would buy a telemetry system. Try to find a good used one.....people are selling them all the time.

Yep and buying the garmin. If I could have only one it would be the garmin. I've had my garmin for 2 years and only had my beep beep out to make sure the collars still worked. Buy a good long range antenna and you'll be better off.

[houndnem]

I guess I would say that it all depends on accessability to the country your hunting. I'm with B-Plott and Trueblue...I wouldn't turn loose a dog with a Garmin system alone. If the dogs go into roadless country and your collar dies you are s.o.l. That is still where telemetry is better than Garmin. Don't get me wrong I own a Garmin system and love it, but have used my telemetry several times since owning my Garmin. So if I could only afford one system....I would buy a telemetry system. Try to find a good used one.....people are selling them all the time. You can buy a good used telemetry system pretty reasonable, and maybe afford a Garmin? Telemetry works and has worked to find hounds for years....its just not as sweet as looking at a screen and saying....hmmm.... my dog is 1/2 mile North of me But you won't beat the battery life or range of a telemetry system with a Garmin. Good luck on whatever you decide

I'm with these guys, evrytime I start gettin confident in my garmin system, it lets me down and tracker maxima gets my dogs back. don't have to break it out often, but I won't turn a good dog out without tel on.

[houndcrzy]

Theres a tonne of good info for ya here. I think you can see that turning loose in the big country with a garmin alone can really be trouble some. They are great at times but when there waay out and your garmin is showing nothing but question marks it actually feels pretty good to get a signal and go ahead! good luck to ya!

[ferjr]

MUST BE NICE USING A GARMIN!!!!!! We are not allowed to use gps only telemetry. So myself and most guys around here use the trx 1000 (blue box). And i really like the range of the marshal collars my buddy has em and that is my next investment i have a couple johsons and an older wildlife collar newer wildlife rats quick track, the older wildlife gets the best range by far. I think the collars make all the difference in the world in range and strenght of the signal. I would love to run garmin but i would also use a telemtry collar with it, like mentioned before the dogs can be 10 miles in 10 minutes it seems sometimes and i dont know how the garmin would hold up in the country i hunt at that range.. JMO. have a good one and good luck with whatever you decide.

10 miles in 10 minutes! what the hell are you feeding those dogs? that is 60mph. if you had a garmin you would know that was incorrect. besides that is the maximum range my blue box picks up, so if they did cover that much ground in that time telemetry wouldnt help you either.

[houndnem]

Easy now ferjy, I don't think he meant the 10 miles litteraly. although it seems that way sometimes when you try to keep up with them. we all know your puttin up game and your in the woods. if you say the garmin is all you need I belive it. but if you went to a different area like where I hunt you would find the garmin almost useless from time to time. so I guess it would come down to where and what game he is going to hunt???????? seems like the majority of credible guys on here like telemetry or a combo but not a solo garmin.

[ferjr]

if you read my posts there houndnem, you would see that i stated that i also use both, i use a garmin and i have a f&l electronics blue box, and run johnson collars on all my dogs. i just have never had to use the telemetry at all, allways had great luck with the garmin. the johnson collars i use are just for back up.

[Bplott]

my point is to a new houndsmen if your hunting in rough counrty (western states) and you can only afford to buy either telemetry or gps ...dont buy the gps get the tel. it will work for days and weeks, or months if you loose a dog. i have personally seen garmin loose signal after 500yrds...a good old telemetry box is a sure thing...gsp is just . nice to have...

[houndnem]

if you read my posts there houndnem, you would see that i stated that i also use both, i use a garmin and i have a f&l electronics blue box, and run johnson collars on all my dogs. i just have never had to use the telemetry at all, allways had great luck with the garmin. the johnson collars i use are just for back up.

I know, but if I were a newby reading your posts I would think it a total waist of time to bother with telemetry. The reason you haven't used the tel yet is that you always end up at a tree and pick your dogs from there. one day if one ever gets away and you lose dogs overnight you'll bust it out and be glad you had it. garmin is gettin closer and closer to perfecting this concept, but as for now new guy (depending on the game and topography) probably ought to go with some telemetry.

[ferjr]

i agree.

[bearcat]

I don't own a garmin but have hunted around several, they're really nice when they work. But I wouldn't turn a dog loose without a telemtry collar, the first time I hunted around a garmin system we turned loose on a running bear in some roadless country (we were already a half mile off the last road before we turned the dogs loose, not the brightest move I've ever made). The guy with me had a garmin , by the garmin we walked over 30 miles that day and it was after midnight by the time we hit the truck, with only half the dogs. He had only got signals on his gps collars a few times during the day while most of the time I could get a faint beep with my Yaesu box. And his gps collars were dead when we got to the truck, luckily the one dog he still had out had a telemetry collar also and the next morning we were able to get it and the rest of my dogs. That kind of soured me on the garmins, I have since seen them work good, but have never seen them work as far as a good telemetry system, and if your dog is in a hole you are going to get NO signal with the gps unless the dog backs out. Some garmin boxes seem to work better than others, and if you do get one you definitly want a long range antannea. Also, the collars seem to work better if they are set at the faster signal time, but the batteries don't last as long. I have a wildlife 1000 and a Yaesu, both are good boxes. The wildlife might have a little more range and definitly doesn't get the bleedover from other collars turned on close to you, but the Yaesu works better than most other boxes I have been around (except for Marshall) is a lot cheaper and not near as sensitive to moisture. Also it is a lot smaller and lighter to pack, and if the batteries die you just stick in 2 AA's and are ready to go. I run Marshall, Johnson, wildlife and West Coast collars. The Marshalls have by far the best range, and I will be switching to them as my others wear out, but Johnson and Wildlife are also good collars and will last for years, the quality has gone way down on the West Coast collars in the last few years and I wouldn't buy a new one.

[coyotecooper]

Guess these'll work a whole lot better than my ole' bells!
Just kiddin'

[ferjr]

i still say garmin! look at how many people are selling there telemetrys, you dont see any garmins for sale. of course the people that have telemetry and are trying to get rid of one are going to tell you how great they are, but technology has pretty much made them obsolete. of course it is good to have one just in case of garmin failure. but you read the post that people have put on here, most of the ones that are saying they have all these problems with garmins are saying they have hunted with someone that has one or they have been arround them, they dont actually have one. everyone that i know that has bought one has been thouroghly satisfied with them and are only using telemetry for a back up system. i have never had to use my beep beep system yet, but i do have one.

[ferjr]

Theres a tonne of good info for ya here. I think you can see that turning loose in the big country with a garmin alone can really be trouble some. They are great at times but when there waay out and your garmin is showing nothing but question marks it actually feels pretty good to get a signal and go ahead! good luck to ya!

yeah, just go to where the question mark is, that is where it last got signal, you will pick the signal back up, its not like as soon as you see the question mark, you have lost your dogs. if you get out of range just go to where your last communication was, if you get within a few miles of your dogs and you have the long range ant. it will pick back up and show there current location.