Sportdog vs garmin

CharBroiled

CharBroiled

Active member
Hey gang,
I would love your opinion on collars. I currently run the Sportdog TEK series but I'm just not convinced it is holding up after two seasons of hard hunting.
I've been looking into the Garmin series of e-collars with gps and training ability so I'm wondering if anyone out there has run either brand or what your guys' impression is of either system.

One thing is, Socks is a big running dog. I have no problem with him running out to 150 yards as long as he checks in, hence why GPS is a must. Last season on New Year's Day, he was 262 yards away when he locked up on a bird and held it until I could get there. Yes, I did shoot the bird to which we had a huge praise party because he had done so well. So 150 to maybe 200 isn't unheard of as I need something to track him.

Thoughts?
 
I have a Garmin Pro 550 with GPS that I'm looking at getting rid of if you're interested. I used it with my shorthair (big runner) for 3-4 years and then once I got my Brittany I haven't used it at all. Got one other guy that's interested in it but I haven't heard back from him. Take a look at them, let me know if you wanna chat about it. Thanks, Bryan
 
I am on my fifth season with my Garmin Pro 550+ and love it.
 
I'm on my 4th season of Garmin Alpha 10 and TT15 mini and I'm very happy with both. Added a new pup this year, so I got a TT25 and like it so far.
 
If I got an hour from the house and realized I forgot the Garmin gear I'd go back and get it. Don't know how I ever hunted without. I know I lost a lot of birds that the dogs had pointed and I never realized it. I have an Alpha 100. Had an Astro before but like the combo with e collar.
 
I've had the pro 500+, alpha 10 and now an alpha 300i. Not a fan of the alpha 10 at all, but the other 2 are amazing! Honestly can't go wrong with either. I wanted to add inreach is the main reason for the 300i or I would be back in a 550+. Pair a watch them and they are, in my opinion, the perfect setup. Garmin can be a little challenging sometimes navigating through their devices (the watch and 300i) but once you see all the data and other stuff it tracks it's definitely worth it in the end. As far as collars I have tt25s for both shorthairs, nice and light and battery life is phenomenal.
 
I bought 550+ for both my dogs last year. I doubt I never not have a gps collar to hunt with.

I went with the 550+ because it is very simple. It’s a training collar with gps capabilities. I can toggle between dogs and tone or stimulate them without looking at it.

Have it blue toothed to my phone/watch. That works well, except with my eyeglass prescription I have to look over/under/take my glasses off to see clearly screens. Time for zero power bifocals I guess.
 
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I run a SportDog 1875. My first one lasted 12 years. I am not a guy that is looking at a screen for my dog, I watch my dog when I can. Any more, I hunt almost exclusively in tall, dense cover, such that you can't see the dog 5 yards from you. I also have a bell on him. Between watching the grass (on calm days), listening for the bell, moving fast and very often using the locate feature of the collar to locate the dog, once on point. The "locate" is loud, which is good, as my hearing isn't great. The range is a quarter mile, if I remember right, for the simulation shock or tone (it might have vibration also) and location feature. I seldom use the "shock" feature. I usually charge the units every 2 weeks, I think they are supposed to last 60 hours, but that might depend on how much you are using the features. I have had excellent customer service from them also, I once lost the handheld remote and they sent me a replacement at no charge, true story! I purchase an underground fence containment system from them also.
I took a couple of fellas out last year, they had the fancy gps tracking to try to find their dog as they couldn't seem to keep track of him in my cover. With all their F ing around, I think they managed to shoot one bird. I like my trash SportDog system, it just does what it is supposed to do. If you are constantly out of contact with your dog, those GSP units will hopefully help you out.
Now if gim can expound on his comment please. That comment isn't very useful without laying out your dissatisfying experience it them.
 
Never used Sport Dog but have been very happy with my Garmin Pro 550. Run flushers so the GPS is mostly just ncase somehow we get separated and needed to locate them. Adds a lot of peace of mind.
 
gim said:
Sportdog is trash
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Realy ? Pretty bold statement with no specifics


Good statement below..... A good trainer with a versatile pointing hunting dog doesnt have time to be looking at a screen on a remote while training. Maybe Lab people use garmin with a screen to stare at
(y)
All the good pointing dog trainers in the west use Sportdog
(y)

remy3424
I run a SportDog 1875. My first one lasted 12 years. I am not a guy that is looking at a screen for my dog, I watch my dog when I can. ..............................
Click to expand...
(y):cool:
 
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I have an Alpha 100 and a 200. The screens and maps are nice, but for training I wish I had the 550+. I started with the old TriTronics tube style transmitters and am more familiar with them.
 
Like I mentioned above. I have the Alpha 100. I don't keep up with all their models as I've had the Alpha a long time. Rut posted about the 550 plus. I just looked at it and it sure looks like it would do everything anyone could want for the most part. I seldom use any functions on the 100 that the 550 plus doesn't have. Looks like the 550 will pair with some watches. I have the Instinct watch and it is nice to look at my wrist when the dogs are on point but I'm so used to looking at the handheld that sometimes I forget to even use the watch.
 

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Lab guy here.....
SportDog SportHunter 1225X....
No staring at a screen, simple, no issues, no complaints.....
 
Alpha 100 here. I've had it over 10 years now. As others have said, I can't imagine hunting without it, particularly with 2 dogs on the ground. My 2 main hunting buddies have gone to that unit too. The Pro 550+ and the Alpha 10 were not available when I bought mine. I might have gone that direction if they had been.

You hear a lot about the Alpha's shortcomings as a training device based on the screen touches needed to adjust stim levels. There's some truth to that. Adjusting stim level is not an on-the-fly thing. I can see it being a real problem for a pro trainer cycling through multiple dogs in a day, all needing different stim levels. But for one dog, you can easily program the three training buttons to three different stim levels. You can cover most situations with that.

I have three different sets of programing for the training buttons. The first screen has tone for the older dog, tone for the younger dog, and a mild stim for the younger dog. Then there's a screen for when only the older dog is running. It's programmed with tone and two mild levels of stim for her. Finally there's a screen for when only the younger dog is running. Again, tone and two levels of stim. Pick the appropriate screen when you leave the truck, lock it if you need to, and then you have no-look training functions based on how you have the buttons programmed.
 
Depends on the glove. It seems to be ok with my preferred gloves that have deer hide fingers. I very rarely touch the screen when in the field anyway. My system for carrying the unit does a pretty good job preventing incidental screen touches. Good enough that I rarely mess with locking the screen any more. Furthermore, I don't mess with pausing and restarting tracking when we move from one spot to another. I turn it on in the morning, start a new hunt, set it to the compass screen (my favorite), and go hunt. Once in a while I change from one compass screen to another if I don't have both dogs down.
 
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