# tracking systems ?



## Primos can man (Jan 6, 2011)

who lets there dogs run with out trackin system? cause i aint got the money to buy one, and iam scared to turn him out in big woods i dont want to loose him.


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## mlandrum (Jan 6, 2011)

Since you have only one dog , I would recommend you finding some of those SMALL briar head out around you town where it would be easy to contain him, and get permission  from the owner, and have yourself a time GOOD LUCK


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## Jeff Raines (Jan 6, 2011)

I run 3 beagles with no tracking system.You just have to be determined to retrieve them no matter what.

Although after this morning the thought crossed my mind to leave them


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## T.P. (Jan 6, 2011)

You don't need a tracking system, you need an E-collar. Rabbits don't run far enough for the dogs to get away from you. Now a deer or coyote can run your dog clear to the next county. 

The trick is to learn to identify a dog that is up to no good then solve the problem quickly with the E-collar.


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## Primos can man (Jan 6, 2011)

well its a squirrel dog.  hes pretty fast but he is getting better when i call him out.


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## daddy88 (Jan 6, 2011)

Just get him used to coming in when you call him, peaks and treats, he will get the idea, coon hunted for years ( hounds) with no tracking system, lot of walking,  lot of driving


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## Melvin4730 (Jan 6, 2011)

You can get by without one. Its just peace of mind. There will come a day when your dog gets out of pocket....runs a deer, trees too far for you to hear, gets out in a busy road that you didn't know was there...something where you can't find him and its getting dangerous for him. That day will make you go out and buy a tracking collar. Especially, once you have a year or two in working with the dog. A Garmin Tracking system cost a lot less then replacing a well started or finished dog.


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## Primos can man (Jan 6, 2011)

oh yeah i know, well that makes want to get one for sure.


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## ejs1980 (Jan 6, 2011)

I didn't put one on my feist when he was a pup. I chose to put a shock collar on instead. Really too heavy to have both on a feist so I chose the shock collar until he started hunting further on a regular basis. It's easier to tell when a squirrel dog is running off game than other types.


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## Primos can man (Jan 6, 2011)

if i put the shock collar on him, how would i use it? just shock him everytime he runs off or what?


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## T.P. (Jan 6, 2011)

Primos can man said:


> if i put the shock collar on him, how would i use it? just shock him everytime he runs off or what?





 I never shock a dog unless I see with my own eyes that he is doing wrong. As far as the running-off part, after he gets buzzed a few times he'll realize that when you say "lets go", you mean "lets go".

It doesn't take long for a dog to realize he can't outrun the long-arm of the collar.


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## Primos can man (Jan 6, 2011)

yeah i herd that. well iam going to try the E-collar my buddy has one.


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## Marshall R (Jan 7, 2011)

I run my dogs without either, but I am going to have to start with something.  When I get them into the woods other than my own woods, they dont want to come out when it is time to go.  I might try the treats reward for coming in when called and see how that goes.  Lucy is my older dog of the two and she doesn't want to listen to come here in the woods... she wants to hunt.  When I hunt the woods around my house, it is no big deal, I just go home and they follow me.  When at another place, I go to the truck and she wants to stay 50 yards away or more, still looking around.  That gets aggravating.  

I used a shock collar on a bird dog in training her to come to me and it was the exact opposite,  she ran to the county line.  Came back at about 2am that morning.  Made me leary of trying a shock collar after that.... but I have never really been taught how to properly use one.  

Marshall


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## jgragg (Jan 8, 2011)

I have a feist that is a pretty good tree dog and i road hunt him alot and he does tend to go a little deeper than i would like sometimes so I always put a shocking collar on him.


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## GA DAWG (Jan 8, 2011)

No way in the world mine get turned out without one..Safety for them is the number 1 reason. A feist is a little different than a hound though..Still I'd hate to lose one..Save your money and get a tracking system of somekind..You can get a older beep beep real cheap nowdays!


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## Primos can man (Jan 8, 2011)

well thats what iam going to do  is run him with a shock collar on him cause when you turn him loose he goes hunting


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## Branko (Jan 8, 2011)

If your dog is your companion and truely mans best friend you can trust him just as much as he can trust you


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## GA DAWG (Jan 8, 2011)

Primos can man said:


> well thats what iam going to do  is run him with a shock collar on him cause when you turn him loose he goes hunting


You can ruin one a lot faster than fix one with a shocker!  A Tracker is the best option imo..


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## Doug B. (Jan 9, 2011)

GA DAWG said:


> You can ruin one a lot faster than fix one with a shocker!  A Tracker is the best option imo..



That is definitely true if it is used in the wrong way. But if it is used correctly, the shocking collar is absolutely the best way to go. 

I have a young mountain cur that all I put on him is a shocking collar. All I ever need to do is just talk to him, because of how I have trained him with the collar. He hunts exactly how I want him to, he always comes when I tell him to, he loads in the box, don't run trash, etc.

All this don't start when you start hunting a young dog. It starts when you first get the pup. You need to build a relationship with the dog. Don't worry about it treeing squirrels right off the bat. You don't _train_ a dog to tree squirrels anyway. If they have got it in them, they will do it on their own if you keep them in the woods. You train them to come to you, load in the box, and other things that you want it to do.

Don't get a shocking collar and put it on the dog and then go squirrel hunting. Use the collar at home while you are spending time with your dog. Start with the basics.  Don't take it out the first time with the collar and expect it to know what you want when you melt it down for going too far.

A shocking collar can be a great tool if it is used right. It can make a good dog into a sorry dog if not used right. If it is used right it can eliminate the need for a tracking collar.


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## fireretriever (Jan 9, 2011)

I hunted a bunch of years with some real rangy hounds without a tracking system but there is no way in the world I would turn loose now without one. My dogs went over three miles the way the crow flies from where I turned them out last night and treed a coon at the end. There is no way that I could have heard them where they teed because of the wind and the terrain. If my garmin is down now I run my old beep beep on them just makes my hunt more relaxing. If you want to find one for cheep come down to the winter classic on the 28 and 29 jan there usually someone there with a few for sale pretty cheap. I also run an E-collar on them every time i turn them out.


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## ejs1980 (Jan 9, 2011)

You can ruin a dog with a shock collar as said above. The reason I run them on close range dogs is if they run a deer I can knock them off of it and they never get far. With a tracking collar you can find them after they run the deer but you can't stop them. Also when you give them their whippin for running the deer after you finally catch up to them they don't know why they are in trouble. That said the worst thing you can do is shock him because he's gone too far but unknown to you he's chasing a squirrel. Other than breaking them off of unintended quarry you can only use them to reinforce other training. You can't teach them to do anything with a shock collar. You can make them listen to commands they already know when they are being hardheaded. Like said above though you need to condition the dog to the collar at home not in the woods.


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## T.P. (Jan 9, 2011)

Doug B. said:


> That is definitely true if it is used in the wrong way. But if it is used correctly, the shocking collar is absolutely the best way to go.
> 
> I have a young mountain cur that all I put on him is a shocking collar. All I ever need to do is just talk to him, because of how I have trained him with the collar. He hunts exactly how I want him to, he always comes when I tell him to, he loads in the box, don't run trash, etc.
> 
> ...



Yep.


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## Prorain (Jan 9, 2011)

Tracker and shocker but usually don't need either,but it's good know you got them.


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## gemcgrew (Jan 9, 2011)

I rabbit hunt with beagles and use the Garmin. I have 3 collars and use them on the hounds I can't afford to lose.

On a long hunt, the Garmin tells me that my hounds have traveled a total of 10 to 13 miles sometimes. I'm not sure if that takes into account up and down the hills either.

Yesterday, while running rabbits in Paulding Forest, we came across 2 men trying to find their coondogs. They had a tracker that showed them the direction of the hounds only. I pulled out my Garmin and showed them that there were no roads in that direction.

This morning, those 2 hounds came to Jen while we were hunting over 3 miles away from yesterday. If they had the Garmin, those hounds would not have been lost in the woods for over 24 hrs.


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## Jeff Raines (Jan 9, 2011)

gemcgrew said:


> I rabbit hunt with beagles and use the Garmin. I have 3 collars and use them on the hounds I can't afford to lose.
> 
> On a long hunt, the Garmin tells me that my hounds have traveled a total of 10 to 13 miles sometimes. I'm not sure if that takes into account up and down the hills either.



I have seen this unit in action.....I want one very bad


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## Doug B. (Jan 9, 2011)

ejs1980 said:


> You can ruin a dog with a shock collar as said above. The reason I run them on close range dogs is if they run a deer I can knock them off of it and they never get far. With a tracking collar you can find them after they run the deer but you can't stop them. Also when you give them their whippin for running the deer after you finally catch up to them they don't know why they are in trouble. That said the worst thing you can do is shock him because he's gone too far but unknown to you he's chasing a squirrel. Other than breaking them off of unintended quarry you can only use them to reinforce other training. You can't teach them to do anything with a shock collar. You can make them listen to commands they already know when they are being hardheaded. Like said above though you need to condition the dog to the collar at home not in the woods.



Now keep in mind that this young man is hunting a fiest. I would never recommend not putting a tracking collar on a hound, and I never turn a hound loose without one. But, he is hunting a fiest and a fiest is not normally a long ranging dog.

 If you are a dog man, then you are naturally going to be paying attention to your dog. If you know your dog the way you should (this goes back to spending a lot of time with it from the time it was a pup) then you will know if it is getting squirrelly or just loafing off farther than you want it to. Actually if it is ranging too far, it should have been worked on before the dog started getting really interested in trying to find a squirrel.

You can, actually, teach a dog a lot of things with a shocking collar. That is how I *teach* my dogs to come to me. I also *teach* them to load in the truck with it. I *teach* them how far to hunt from me with it.

When my dog does hunt a little too far, I like to beep him with the collar instead of shocking. I have taught him to come when I use the tone button on my shocking system. It does the same thing without the stress that the shock gives.


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## Primos can man (Jan 10, 2011)

yeah hes not that far of a hunter he will go hunting then come check in


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## Melvin4730 (Jan 10, 2011)

The more you hunt and the older the dog gets the more likely he will start to range out deeper.


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