Garmin question again !!

[Roy Sparks]

Sorry guys , just got a new tool " toy ". Has anyone applied their Garmin astro in training of hounds ?

The very little I have used it ( only today ) , my common sense tells me it could be a valuable training tool with a bit of thought. Combine dependable proven hounds in conjunction with 1 or 2 youngsters you can get an idea of what your pups are doing in relation to what your proven hounds are up to.

Going on their own or holding the line with the older dogs.

Any other thought and practised info would be welcome.

Thanks - Roy.

[doghunter]

Mr. Sparks it works great for what you are talking about. Just make sure each collar is set for the 5 second update so you get as close to real time as possible. I have busted dogs for cutting corners and you can watch when a race is close to your and some dogs try to quite the track and break to the other dogs. you also learn some dogs just work of your trail dog and jump first but not because they were trailing but just flanking the trail dog.

[Roy Sparks]

Thank you dog hunter , good tips there and I will take note.

Today we had a short run on a not so clever jackal. I had collars on two pressure dogs , Doctor and Scout and one on a solid BGH x Fellhound . Scout ran the jackal as the lead dog in the chase with Doctor following closely then Simon. Scout had the longer haul all the way to the hole approximately 6.8 km and got there first while Doctor and Simon took the trail right on course and then cut in short when they heard Scout barking at the hole. They both did about 5.5 km to the hole. Anyway it was very interesting. I will add more collars as I can afford to. I had a total of 9 hounds out on this hunt including some really hot young pressure dogs. For now I"ll just have to alternate the collars and store info.

So far the Garmin seems to be a very good buy for a houndsman wanting to check on performence of his hounds. A lot to learn of it's applications yet but I'll sort through it.

Having fun - thanks Buddy for the help.

Roy Sparks.

[Buddyw]

No problem. Your welcome...

but I rerecomend 30 second. Updates...after spending 5 days looking for a beep beep collar after the garmin was dead the next morning on 5 second update.. that would have been a 4 hour hike if he had it on 30sec..

But yea they are awsome for training and busting young dogs..

[Roy Sparks]

Buddy thank's for the tip.

Something you may want to consider as an agent for this product :

Suggest to Garmin that they come up with a transmitter that can be given to people with an applicable means for attachment on their persons i.e. as a head band like these headlights or some or way of carrying it. That way guys who work in teams can coordinate and strategise their movements in relation to the hounds as well as other hunting or military and law enforcement exercises.

Maybe they have thought about it or have done it but I just missed out on the information.

Regards - Roy.

[tman308]

Roy,
Just my opinion but when I am trying to work with the young dogs and get an idea what they are doing I set mine to the 5 second update. I want to know what is going on with them at a much quicker return. Alot can happen in 30 seconds. When I am just hunting though I run the 10 second update and have gotten a good 28 hours out of a single charge. They save alot of time when it's time for the dogs to come back. you can look at the screen and see if they are listening or need a little electrical incentive. lol I run a backup tracking collars on all my dogs also.

[Bucunter1983]

The garmin system can be a very useful tool in seeing what dogs are doing what. My experience with the garmin was not a very good one, I always lost signal on the collars, the range sucked only getting about a .5 mile on a good day with the long range antenna, and to top it off 3 of the 5 collars I had shorted out when my dogs swam a tank after a hog. Plus I dont like the idea of turning off a collar with a button instead of a magnet, anyone can turn it off and steal the dog. I sold my Quick track 6000 and 12 collars to finance the garmin system and it was the worst mistake I ever made. My vote is to stay with the ole trusted beep beep systems. I live and hunt in the piney woods of east Texas and it gets very thick in these parts and that has alot to do with the performance of the garmin, when it becomes a true GPS sytem I will have another but until then Ill stick with my Q-track

[Roy Sparks]

I think we ought to give Garmin a break on the concept. With good input from us hopefully they can improve on their product.For me here being a bounty hunter I see invaluable use for the Garmin once its perfected. I can hold hounds back and intercept a chase and put in fresh hounds to put the heat on just by using the info from the garmin. That way I can shorten the chase time and and save hounds wear and tare. Also for talking guns into position the Garmins can be very useful.

Armed with all the knowlege we have between us , to be safe I'd suggest if it's affordable keep your old telemetry systems on the hounds as your first line of reference in case the Garmins fail. I've kept my WLM's kit and I'll use it in conjunction with the Garmin till I find out the merits and limitations of the Garmins. Hope this makes some sense.

Take care - Roy.