BigGameHoundsmen.com

For years, I have spent a lot of time looking for and researching the available GPS solutions of all kinds in order to apply them to hunting with my dogs. Most products were not for dogs, and those that were did not meet the needs of a houndsman from a perspective of functionality, range or relaiability. Though functionally ideal for hunters and built to be hardy, the GPS solutions for wildlife were far too expensive. After a long search, I found an outfit in Scandinavia that offered a most incredible product for hunters. Unfortunately, it was not available to the US...until now.

Finally, hunters who need a real GPS system will not have to wait much longer; there will be an announcement coming in February that will introduce a new GPS system for hunting dogs in North America. If it is anything like its Scandinavian predecessor, this solution will be exactly what we need right from the start. Unlike Garmin, this will not be a first-generation product and thus, we will not suffer as guinea pigs while they improve the product through trial and error.

The following is a list of features the Scandinavian model offers...

*Unlike the very limited capability of the Garmin Astro, this system should provide a significantly broader coverage area. The Scandinavian model has a virtually limitless range due to the use of SMS texting and the GSM protocols. Instead of a mere four miles that the Astro offers, this product can be used to track dogs thousands of miles away.

*The software offered with the Scandinavian model is designed specifically for houndsmen. There are several displays that indicate the position, speed and direction of the dog as well as your own. These include an arrow indication, map indication, movement indication and position (grid) indication.

*The solution allows you to make a 45-second phone call to your dogs collar, thereby listening to what the dog is doing. The clarity is amazing.

*It offers a one-button position update request.

*The solution allows for a user-defined perimeter around the dog's location to trigger an alarm as necessary.

*The solution allows you to track up to 30 dogs at once, each identified by a user-programmable name.

*The solution allows you to give permission for hunting partners to simultaneously track some or all of your dogs.

*The solution allows you to determine speed, average speed, top speed, travel time and distance, altitude, distance between two points, the length of a route, distance to dog and times of dawn, dusk and twilight among many things.

*The unit allows for user-defined power consumption settings.

*To keep you out of trouble, the unit allows you to track your hunting partner or send him your position, relay routes and waypoints to your partner. The solution will make emergency phone calls to five phone numbers of your choice in sequential order with the push of a button. The phone will send your location information as well.


When asked about the feature-set of the North American solution, the company indicated to me that it would be an improvement to its predecessor in Scandinavia. It is intended to be waterproof/resistant, shockproof/resistant, and will incorporate behavior circuitry such as bark indicators and treeing switches.

The only drawback I can think of with the Scandinavian model is the fact that it is harness-worn on the dog. The total weight of the harness and transmitter for a medium sized dog will be about 6.95 ounces. I am not sure if the American model will be worn by collar.

I am not yet aware of any pricing for this product, but I am confident that it will certainly be worth it.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

THe way i read it...it looks like it is going to communicate using digital cell signal? correct me if i am wrong. If that is the case. It will be usless here. How are the coordinates or points relayed from dog to hunter?

If this system uses cell towers then in 90 percent of what I hunt it would be useless. If it is a sat phone system then it would be to expensive. Either solution I would think would require some type of subscription fee sort of like your cell phone plan. Any input on these concerns?

The idea is nice if it is feasable and cost effective.

Wow, Now if we could just get technology to do something about those hounds. Surely there must be something better and easier, I mean more reliable than using living hounds. I cant wait for the technology.

I'm sure it's not a cell signal. That wouldn't do anybody any good. The communication feature could just as easily utilize a satelite (the same as satelite phones). I'm interested in seeing this. I believe GPS in one form or another is the future of dog tracking, but like many others I am not buying a 1st generation system.

Jim

I really like my garmin as far as being able to locate your dogs and cut them off before they hit the next road, but I have to say that they should have made it like a actual gps"receiver to satelite then to collar and back to satelite and to the reciever, but instead they made it have a ''range'' which a gps shouldn't have. but if you can keep up with your dogs or stay within a mile of them you should be okay with the garmin. I hope this new system works how a gps should.

Can you hear me now? This is what is going to happen with this system. There are so many places that GSM cell service does not work. I hope they can fix this for the tracking

As long as this unit works as is presented, it sure sounds like the winning ticket to me!

RIFLEMAN wrote:*Unlike the very limited capability of the Garmin Astro, this system should provide a significantly broader coverage area. The Scandinavian model has a virtually limitless range due to the use of SMS texting and the GSM protocols. Instead of a mere four miles that the Astro offers, this product can be used to track dogs thousands of miles away.

*The solution allows you to make a 45-second phone call to your dogs collar, thereby listening to what the dog is doing. The clarity is amazing.

*To keep you out of trouble, the unit allows you to track your hunting partner or send him your position, relay routes and waypoints to your partner. The solution will make emergency phone calls to five phone numbers of your choice in sequential order with the push of a button. The phone will send your location information as well.

Sounds good to me except them talking about communicating with a cell phone.. If that is how these are used... Not going to work for most of us big game hunters... I sure can't receive phone calls in most places I hunt and rarely can I get a text message out...

You forgot to include the monthly user fee in your wonderful assessment of trackers new GPS unit and the 700 to 1200 dollar cost depending on features you want. Based on the info you already have from Tracker I'm thinking you already knew those costs and didn't want to share em.

Here's the problem as I see it: Our group of houndsman already have several astros. I've tried to have the guys wait so that we only use the ones we have while others (including tritronics) come out with thier version. To do that though I needed some ammunition to go back to the fellas and say hey this Astro works, but we know it's faults- here's what Tracker, or WLM or Tritronics will have out over the summer or early fall, etc. etc. Couldn't get the engineer from tritronics to call me back (go figure, but I wasn't askin for trade secrets just a thumbnail of what we can expect and he coulda called and just said he couldn't tell me). Tracker told me enough so that the monthly user fee and initial cost didn't compare to Garmin. Sooo now we have four Astros and collars that will not be compatable with any other system that comes out (at least that's what it appears) and too much invested to go backwards as we continue to add an astro or two every month to our group at less than 500 bucks for a unit and collar. Shame on Tracker for being a day late and dollar short in my opinion.

Paul Conway