do they work as good as a regular tracking system yes and no

short battery life- less range
tough to compare-i love mine . , i wish i had bought one sooner -
when you have a signal , they are so much better than a telemetry system- they show you exactly where the dog is -they show you much more than telemetry can -
i have always found my dog or collar with the beep beep- sometimes it was days later- --one time ,it was months later-
maybe i would have never lost a dog that bad with the astro
with stock antenna,on foot in the woods , i get 7 tenths of a mile most the time-
i have lost signal for a short time at very close range- 300- 400 yards- i lose signal everytime i get on snowmobile ? interference ?
longest so far was 1.75 --only owned one a month , just cat and rabbit hunting -
some of my buddies use them bear hunting-
they dont use beep beep anymore ,but run both collars
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if cant get a signal with astro--they act like its a huge chore to dig beep beep out -
i tried one out a few times in bear season,, i didnt like it at first-
range too short with stock antenna
then i used a rooftop with my buddies astro in bear season , 3 miles most the time, sometimes only half that sometimes better than that - very close to same range as beep beep if u can get to a high open spot
-id guess they get about 3/4 of the range of a beep beep on average -in the right place they can equal or maybe even beat the beep beep-
this is how it worked for me bear hunting
i always have to beep from many places to get a good guess where dogs are with telemetry -
with astro , get to a high spot and know exactly-
in the valley ,
whats it worth to know which side of river swamp or lake dogs are on -
in mountains-- theres usually an old skid road from landing very close to where dogs are treed-
look at astro- ok they are on that side of a brook ,so i know they hauled all the wood from that side of brook to such n such landing-
in ledges , rocks ,, where you get lots of bounce from telemetry , astro shows you exactly-
naaaaaa , they arent as good , but they are better ,as long as you can get collar back to recharge it before it goes dead
