BigGameHoundsmen.com

I have had zero problems with my Garmin Astro. One of my collars wasn't charging very well but seems to be doing just fine now. I have not used a beep-beep collar at all in three seasons now, not even one time. They do loose reception but are by far the best tracking system on the market. All this negative talk of problems with the Astro convinced me to pick up a second for a backup. So I guess it has worked in Garmins favor. My hunting partner carries one and I carry the other, saves us tons of time and fuel. I don't necessarily love the battery life but I charge them every night. A better charger hookup would be nice.

I would like to see them combined the astro with the rhino so you could use the same rechargeable battery pack and not have to carry a second radio..and just for fun make it plug in to your lap top to view it in real time like halving a plasma for hound hunting..haha

Running with garmin only. Battery life is the main issue. It's such a simple issue if you build them with our purpose in mind.
Sean

Same gripes as everyone else but in two years I have only used beep beep twice and the battery life hasn't bit me in the ass yet. The system does save a huge amount of fuel and time which gets us there that much faster and hopefully save a hound from these F@#&!*#! wolves. My biggest complaint is the interference with other collars. Thanks Mike

i do use the garmin a lot but i dont trust it just because of the short range of the device i still perfer the blue box. in the big country i some times walk an hour or two before my garmin can even get a signal on the dogs treed. but in smaller country it works fine.

I use the GPS the most but still run Johnsons trackers on the dogs also. I absolutely love the Garmin. Nice for knowing exactly what going on.
Jerad

I still double collar and there still needs to be improvements made however I still think its the best hound hunting invention ever made. I figure in the last 3 years I've more than paid off my system with 9 collars in gas savings.

There are also no arguments anymore on whose dog is leading.

Love the garmin! I still double collar when I hunt in areas that dont have alot of roads, but havent needed the blue box since I started using the astro.
I like the 5 second update the best but wish they had at least 40 hour battery life.

I currently run two garmin handhelds because of the signal loss issues. I find most of the time if i loose them on one the other still has them.

Battery life is one of my major concerns.
Signal, why not have the handheld and the collar both going to satelite then to each other? The line of sight the collar needs to communicate clearly with the handheld is sometimes horrible (very mountanious where i hunt). So if the collars went to the satelites then to the handheld the line of sight issue would no longer be an issue.

When they are working, they are awsome, being able to cut off hounds or close the distance quickly is great

Happy hunting