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Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations #6894833 09/21/17 10:16 PM
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pharmvet Offline OP
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Got a Garmin Alpha 100 a month or so back. Took my dogs to Nebraska earlier in the week and used it for the first time. This thing is AWESOME!!!! Talk about peace of mind. Really cool being able to see direction and distance. The thing that I think has impressed me most is that I'm finally able to say what distance I like my dogs to run. In watching the GPS hand piece, I can now say that I like my dogs to run from about 50-100 yds. These 400 yd dogs are just not my cup of tea.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6894887 09/21/17 11:20 PM
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bill oxner Offline
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Wait until you get a 400 yard one that finds all the coveys.


Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill


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Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: bill oxner] #6894890 09/21/17 11:25 PM
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pharmvet Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: bill oxner
Wait until you get a 400 yard one that finds all the coveys.


I'm sure there is merit to this statement, but I really like to watch the dogs put it all together. In addition, the birds I've hunted these past 2 years would be gone by the time I got to my dog 400 yds away.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: bill oxner] #6895154 09/22/17 04:47 AM
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Originally Posted By: bill oxner
Wait until you get a 400 yard one that finds all the coveys.


I hear you, but I am too old and fat to hotfoot it 400 yards, up and down gullies, to try to get there before the birds leave the county.


We all need to practice Whoa more.
Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895205 09/22/17 12:06 PM
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Originally Posted By: pharmvet
Originally Posted By: bill oxner
Wait until you get a 400 yard one that finds all the coveys.


I'm sure there is merit to this statement, but I really like to watch the dogs put it all together. In addition, the birds I've hunted these past 2 years would be gone by the time I got to my dog 400 yds away.


I like mine to stay in sight. I don't like to go more than a couple of minutes without putting my eyeballs on them. To me it's more fun hunting quail than hunting bird dogs.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895219 09/22/17 12:22 PM
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I like mine to goto where the birds are whatever the distance as long as the travel back through to make sure we are all going the same direction.


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Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895276 09/22/17 01:13 PM
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A must have with the alpha is the fenix watch. You never have to take the hand held out to see the dog movement. The watch face has all the dog info right on the face. Direction and distance that way the hand held stay safe and sound deep down in your vest Best Buy I ever made.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895294 09/22/17 01:27 PM
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You have to remember Bill hunts from a UTV so 400 yards is nothing. You drive to within a 100 yards and then walk up.


There is time, and you must take it, to lay your hand on your dog's head as you walk past him lying on the floor or on his settle, time to talk with him, to remember with him, time to please him, time you can't buy back once he's gone" GBE
Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895306 09/22/17 01:35 PM
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Oh no I've been looking at these. Thinking about upgrading my collar. I may have one soon.

My dog has a problem where she likes to range. When I'm in sight she holds her point well. Really well.
When I'm not around she holds a while and then runs through them. It started after putting quail on my property. We have 10 acres. My family would let her outside and I think she was finding birds by herself and learned to chase. At the end of the season she pushed a few coveys when I would lose sight of her and didn't know she was on point. Then I'd call her back and see quail fly by...
So this summer I worked her on a few wild birds. When she went on point I make her hold a really long time. Then walked in to flush and praised her. While dove hunting she did really well accidentally finding quail and holding well but I haven't tested her when she is out of sight....that why I want one of these.

Do y'all think it's worth it for me for this reason. The frugal side of me says just work hard to keep her in sight. It's not easy to do though she ranges really fast.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895403 09/22/17 03:05 PM
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pharmvet Offline OP
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I'm just fed up with dogs that don't stay with me. Time off work, lease price etc are just too precious to have a dog that runs off over the hill while I'm standing in front of 200 yds of prime habitat wishing I had a dog with me.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895406 09/22/17 03:09 PM
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That's a good point but then why do you need it ? If you keep your dogs in sight

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: Wacm] #6895423 09/22/17 03:31 PM
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Originally Posted By: Wacm
That's a good point but then why do you need it ? If you keep your dogs in sight



Thick cover and peace of mind

I once lost a dog for 3 days that had fallen into an old cistern. Got within 100 yds of her several times on day 1 but she did not start barking until day 3.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895742 09/22/17 08:24 PM
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I have the alpha system and the fenix 5S sapphire watch to go with it. Don't know how I ever hunted without them. Unless you're hunting very flat and pretty wide open land, keeping a dog in sight the whole time is pretty tough. I don't have to always keep my eye on them to see where they are, if they're on point out of sight, it takes forever to find them, I can let them roll and do their job without hacking them back in just because I don't know if they're 50 yards in front of me but behind a tree or 1000 yards away headed in the wrong direction. There is no downside to them. Peace of mind is a great thing. If I'm hunting from an ATV they'll typically range from 200-400 yards, on foot, 200-300. I'd recommend them to anyone.


Say When.....
Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895749 09/22/17 08:39 PM
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Yes I can see that. I'm going to get one.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: Wacm] #6895832 09/22/17 10:26 PM
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Originally Posted By: Wacm
Oh no I've been looking at these. Thinking about upgrading my collar. I may have one soon.

My dog has a problem where she likes to range. When I'm in sight she holds her point well. Really well.
When I'm not around she holds a while and then runs through them. It started after putting quail on my property. We have 10 acres. My family would let her outside and I think she was finding birds by herself and learned to chase. At the end of the season she pushed a few coveys when I would lose sight of her and didn't know she was on point. Then I'd call her back and see quail fly by...
So this summer I worked her on a few wild birds. When she went on point I make her hold a really long time. Then walked in to flush and praised her. While dove hunting she did really well accidentally finding quail and holding well but I haven't tested her when she is out of sight....that why I want one of these.

Do y'all think it's worth it for me for this reason. The frugal side of me says just work hard to keep her in sight. It's not easy to do though she ranges really fast.
Surely you would not correct her with a collar if you couldn't see her right? If you could tell she was pointed and then broke without seeing her how would you correct her? She might have been peeing or dumping. Hard to correct one you can't see. I've had some real smart ones that it took 2 people to break that habit. One to sit in sight hidden from where the birds were planted and me horseback. My buddy would have the collar control and my smart arse dog wouldn't know that. Sure enough he looked around and made sure the coast was clear and took them out only to get lit up like a Christmas tree by my hidden buddy. up Not sure if he ever did it again but I did ride up on him pointed a bunch after that when I couldn't see him for a while.


Bobby Barnett

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895914 09/22/17 11:50 PM
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I got my first one in 07 after a trip to my lease south of Archer City. I had just gotten a Tracker. It was frustrating. A guy brought a new Garmin. We finally got together and put it on my HTA pointer named Cookie. The birds were scarce. Cookie was the fastest bird dog most people had ever seen. She boogied. The Astro beeped. It showed her on point at 420 yards. We drove up on my Gator and saw Her tail sticking up out of a ditch. Birds got up all around her when we flushed. I went home and ordered one from LCS.


Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill


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Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6895993 09/23/17 01:25 AM
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The Alpha 100 is a great system. Mucho improvement over the old Astro system. I appreciate not having to carry two handhelds. The track and train collars did away with that. I still have an instant correction because I set the Alpha up to bump one collar when I push the left button, and another collar when I push the right button.

BTW: Generally, each to his own, but you don't ever need to be correcting your dog when it is out of sight. That is just a bad deal.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: Pointer] #6896043 09/23/17 02:09 AM
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Originally Posted By: Pointer
BTW: Generally, each to his own, but you don't ever need to be correcting your dog when it is out of sight. That is just a bad deal.
Exactly. That is why my buddy hid where he could see where the birds were planted and could see him clear as a bell. Worked to perfection. He corrected him. He is a pro trainer and I am not. We worked dogs together a lot.


Bobby Barnett

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6896180 09/23/17 05:37 AM
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I have shocked her. I guess I didn't know better. She is a lot of dog for me but I'm not complaining. It can be tough cause she covers ground fast and your almost stressed out to lose sight of her. There were times I knew birds were ahead and she blazed over a hill to one side so I'd vibrate her collar and hit the whistle. Then after no sight of her I'd shock her on low. Usually she would come blazing back but sometimes you would hear the birds get up. Long story short I'm getting one of those collars. I definitely haven't ruined her even though I was messing up. I'm thinking if I see on the gps that she's on point I can say whoa just confirm I'm headed to her and we are still hunting together.

Hey Pharmvet, thanks for this post and sorry if I hyjacked it a bit. I've been on the fence about this since January

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6896219 09/23/17 12:11 PM
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Originally Posted By: pharmvet
I'm just fed up with dogs that don't stay with me. Time off work, lease price etc are just too precious to have a dog that runs off over the hill while I'm standing in front of 200 yds of prime habitat wishing I had a dog with me.

Amen to all of that Pharmvet! I train mine to check in when they hear the beep or else but I never shock a dog I can't see unless I know they are fooling with off game. If my dogs get put out on accident without an active collar on them it usually means they hunt where they want to and not where I want to go. I like to make decisions about where we hunt.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: arandy] #6896369 09/23/17 03:35 PM
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A birddog should be trained to go and stay to the front, collar or no collar. Dog needs to pay attention to you, your voice, and/or your whistle and make the turn with you. Like mentioned before, dog should hunt for me, not me hunt for him, regardless of the distance.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6897071 09/24/17 01:59 PM
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Big runners don't run big all the time. Depends on the habitat and bird numbers. Once the dog gets into birds he starts tightening up his range while hunting scattered singles.

If birds are gone befor you get to them your not hunting heavy enough cover

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Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: blanked] #6897123 09/24/17 02:46 PM
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Originally Posted By: blanked
Big runners don't run big all the time. Depends on the habitat and bird numbers. Once the dog gets into birds he starts tightening up his range while hunting scattered singles.

If birds are gone befor you get to them your not hunting heavy enough cover


No offense, but I don't get that last statement. I don't always have the luxury of picking the ideal amount of cover to hunt. I feel that if birds are present, the cover is at least "adequate" or they would not be present.

Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6897125 09/24/17 02:47 PM
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Seven hundred yards is the most I remember for Cracker. We were hunting three more dogs. We took our time getting there. We found no more birds on the way. She was like this pointing into a rosé hedge when we got there.



Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill


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Re: Got a Garmin Alpha 100 - observations [Re: pharmvet] #6897140 09/24/17 03:13 PM
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No offense. To give you an idea. I pass up miles and miles of habitat loaded with birds. Why? Cause the cover is too thin to hold them . I am very selective about the cover I hunt so I can get the dog work. This is all public land and blue quail I am referring to

I wouldn't buy a lease that is overgrazed

Last edited by blanked; 09/24/17 03:17 PM.
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