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Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1841 Location: Central ND

I started hunting before the electronic collars became popular in the field. Never lost a dog and except for early on never used a bell.

IMHO, electronics are fantastic, but some folks choose to use them without really training a dog.

I can run and always have been able to run my dogs with or without electronics. I choose with electronics because with tone/vibrate and correction when needed, I don't have to speak to them keeping things a lot quieter.

I do not use a GPS simply because I don't let my dogs get out of sight. Why? Because I like to see the dog work. Once they get to 75 to 100 yards depending, I tap the tone/vibrate button.

End of issue.

Dogs can get lost and perhaps I have been lucky. However I believe proper training and the use of good judgment goes a long way to prevent a lost dog.

To a certain extent I have also resisted the GPS collars, because being tethered to phones, computers and iPads was a way of life when I was working, and remain a part of my life in retirement. I have decided as long as I am physically able to keep up with my GSP's I will not be looking at a piece of electronics while hunting. I don't want to miss the good stuff.

I lost a dog overnight...over a zero degree February night, if I recall correctly.
The fault?
My own....clearly.
I learned....several lessons.
The lessons tho had nothing to do with keeping a dog in sight.
I also lost, temporarily over a few hours, an older dog in the Yoop....terrain and his age factored strongly in the separation.
Technology drove his recovery.

Stuff happens to good dogs, stuff happens to even properly trained dogs, stuff just happens with the degree often based upon opportunities.
Fingers crossed that this thread does not dissolve to "mine are trained", "out there dogs are...fill-in-the-blank", "I will not spend a day looking at a screen" and so on.
The dogs deserve better than such..stuff.

Use what or what combination satisfies .....of any measure, be it electronic or sight lines, tradition or newest must-have, gauge or boot or cap.
Let the dogs win...first.
We and our wants are small taters, comparably.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1841 Location: Central ND

To Clarify.....I wouldn't want this to go down the wrong road either.

A lot of folks seem to think or have the idea or whatever, that years ago we all lost dogs when we didn't have tracking collars....I want to make it understood that, that idea isn't reality. I will not say that it won't ever happen to me, but in almost exactly 40 years of hunting with my own dogs it hasn't happened.....and I am not the guy that hits the nick button every 5 seconds. I give the dog it's head and let the dog hunt.

"if...have to have electronics on a dog to hunt...something ain't right" is indeed an off track comment and one not even implied by any post. imo

I will admit that entering my 56th season, w/o and blessed with birddogs....I tend to favor worst case relative to dogs and regardless of training, rep, et al.
Most of us so choosing some or a varying degree of electronics have experienced failures...battery or other.
I suspect most also make do, adjust and hunt away....I suspect few would feel at a profound loss afield when failures and stuff, happen.

Most folks experiencing a lost dog, especially one not befalling of a tragedy, recover the dog....electronics of today simply enable that to occur more easily and more quickly. With the odds of greater harm occurring to the dog lessened in any time frame as well as reducing the angst to both owner and dog.
All of which appear as positives, to me...and allowing for training and distance, luck and experience to play smaller roles during a bad time.

I first mentioned fit & try relative to use of a bell....to the OP.
It remains my thought and irregardless of any tracking(pun intended) or divergent opinion on the subject....from myself or whomever.

Tailoring decisions afield rather than parroting decisions afield may cost more in several fashions but it also will educate and wear better...odds on and over Time.
Fini.

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 1113

"if...have to have electronics on a dog to hunt...something ain't right" is indeed an off track comment and one not even implied by any post. imo"

I field trial my dogs occasionally in some of the local shoot to retrieve events. Mainly just to see friends and get my dogs some field time/bird work for $25. There is a group who run their dogs without electronic collars and actually get an extra 5 points for doing so. Some of those guys are hacking and yelling at their dogs so much, I've actually had my dogs stop hunting and look to see what all the commotion is about. My dogs wear collars, but most of the collar use is using the tone button to turn the dog to keep inbounds or have them come in a bit to work some different cover. Sometimes just saying their name will get the desired response. Very seldom is stimulation required. I've had many trials and hunts where only the tone button and the words "fetch" and "give" were used, and of course praising them for some extra-good bird work.

Bells and Astro 320. As for a dog always coming when called, one incident involving a dog trainer comes to mind. She was hunting with her dog and it disappeared. The gps collar led her to an abandoned barn and the dog was found wedged between an exterior and interior wall, head first. The story is the best endorsement I've seen for the use of a gps system. My hunting buddy extended the career of a great dog for two years after she became stone deaf. She could only locate us by sight or sense which was difficult in the habitat we hunted. We could easily find her and she'd often be on point out of our hearing distance of her bell. Gil

Joined: 25 Jan 2014 Posts: 229 Location: MN

I use a bell on our griffon for early season grouse and woodcock, when it is still green and thick. She is a close worker, but she is also camo colored and hard to see in low light. After the leaves come down I take the bell off. In bigger open country, I don't use a bell. I might put the bell on when hunting tall CRP, but I don't hunt in that often.

When my wife is along, our griffon nearly always wears a SportDog Tek original gps collar. Long story which I will share some other time. Our dog was lost for 17 hours in wolf country when I was out of town. My wife said she will never go through that anguish again, so we got a basic gps collar. Hopefully it will never be used to find a lost dog again.

When I am alone with the dog, I use the GPS less often, letting her run "naked".

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I ran beepers (point only) on my first three pointers. Seemed to work well in the grouse woods, especially with my dark colored dogs. They were out of sight most of the time, so the beepers were useful. Beepers can be of use on pheasants when in heavy switch grass, but I now get by with my Alpha GPS, and being quiet is a good thing around educated roosters. Problem is I can't hear my beepers very well anymore, so they just sit. I have a defective Lovett's Low Tone that didn't work out of the box. Thought it might be the ticket, but for some reason I can't get myself to send it in. I ordered it midseason one year and when it didn't work, thoroughly disgusted, I threw it in a box and forgot about it. Need to send it in one of these days. This 4th pointer of mine has not been beeper conditioned, and he's a little quirky at 4, so next time I take him ruffed grouse hunting I'll strap on a bell. A loud one.

Member Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 680 Location: MAINE

Setters in the grouse woods ranging to 150 yards .
Alpha , Garmin Fenix watch and a bell

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Member Joined: 16 Dec 2007 Posts: 592 Location: Minnesota

Alpha in the grouse woods. I'm a silent kind of hunter. That said a bell never bothered me and I even carry one in the truck as a backup if the Alpha has issues.

BWW,

Depending on where I am hunting I some times use a Bell. With the real spooky Grouse we have here in Pa I use my Dogtra T&B collar set in the master initiated mode and the new Garmin Mini GPS Tracking collar

If I am in the UP or NH or ME I like to use the bell, most times the Grouse are not as spooky and will set when they hear the dog with the bell. I also use the new Garmin Mini GPS tracking collar.

Most times the Dogtra collar is used because the dogs take different commands from the beeper that sets up just behind their ears. They understand the master has very long arms.

I do like to have a bell on my dogs around our log cabin home, where most times they only wear the Pet safe collar in the woods surrounding the log cabin.

Pine Creek/Dave
Pine Creek Grouse Dog Trainers

Member Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 680 Location: MAINE

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