Have a dog that is showing good promise as a blood trailing dog (has found deer and hogs) but unless the critter is alive when he finds it no bark at the end of the trail. Thinking about getting a Radio tracking collar any recomendations on good ones and ones to stay away from

If you're talking telemetry systems then Marshal and Quick Track are pretty much the top of the line. I've got an F&L that has done a good job for me as far as systems go. Wildlife also makes a good system. They all come with the huge three element Yagi antennas but you can buy the smaller Quick Track Quickshot antennas and they work really well too. Tracker makes a really small and portable system but they are prone to signal bouncing and harder to be accurate with. If I was going to spend the money I'd go with one of the bigger boxes like the quick track, wildlife or f&l and get the smaller antenna for it.

For collars I've got Wildlife, Johnson,and Rats collars and they have all done good for me. West Coast Telemetry rebuilt one of my collars a while ago and it's doing great. They also sell their own collars and I wouldn't hesitate to try one.

Don't know if you care about the GPS collars but if you are looking at them too Garmin is the way to go.

Thanks for the info. On my places not really worried about the dog. But if use him for tracking for others then it might be good investment.

I really like my Garmin Astro GPS collar. It's easy to use and you can also use it as a stand alone GPS when not using the dog.

Was looking at the Garmins tonight, look pretty good. Will start looking online and see if can beat Cabelas price

Did you find Any cheaper than cabelas?

I have a Tracker Classic two dog system with Supra lite collars. I used it about a year and 1/2 until Garmin brought out their Astro system.
The Astro system has always been much easier for me to locate dogs with, because not only does it indicate direction, but also distance to each dog, so the dog is pinpointed. The only downside might be the range. Never been a problem with my bird dogs.
If you are set on a direction finder system and would consider the Tracker system, PM me.

Think I am going to go with the Garmin Astro as well. this week is payday so planning on getting one next week

Here's a good supplier that is honest and reliable. The owner is a houndsmen himself and won't sell anything he wouldn't use himself. Also sells at a great price.
http://www.dusupply.com/dog-tracking-1/garmin-astro-dog-tracking.html