The American Beagler Forum

I am getting ready to sell my snowmobile and use some of the money to get either a shock collar or a tracking collar. If you could only have one which would you choose???

first thing to ask yourself is are your dogs deer broke?and if they are i would buy the garmin astro gps system,they are real nice.and you can find pretty good deals on them has well.and you know where your dogs are all the time.good luck

I would choose a tracking collar over a shock collar. Then when you do get a shock collar the tracking collar ensures you get it back. You might be able to borrow a shock collar for a couple days from a friend to break your dogs on trash, but a tracker is needed every time out.

I would also consider the area you hunt. If you hunt small little woodlots a shocker might be more important. If your hunting in big hare territory the tracker is priceless. A tracker is a pretty solid investment if you take care of it. I know several guys that have owned their tracking units for over 30 years and they still work great. Shock collars are not nearly as dependable, and seem to cause trouble when you need them the most. There are many makes and models out there, some much better than others.

I would take the shocker over the tracker. If your hound takes off on a deer the Tracker will let you know where it is but wont correct his trash running and when you get him back he wont know that he has done something wrong. I have just seen too many "BROKE" hounds run a deer after years of being trash free. Some of those broke hounds were my own. I am in the south and only run cottontails and swampers so I dont have to deal with big running hare although some swampers will stretch out. JMO

I lost a good hound today and the shock collar she was went with her. Hope she will turn up but you never know these days I found out today I don't think I can live with out either so I'm in the market for a good tracking outfit myself

If I could only have one or the other I would buy the shock collar. If you can swing the extra it might be a good investment to get the beeper accessory if you but a Tritronic or Sportdog collar set. I have both so I didn't bother with the beeper but I just hunted with a guy that had the beeper on his Sportdog and it really helped him pinpoint his dog quickly, obviously it doesn't have the range that a tracking collar does but if you have decent hearing it has quite a bit of range. I could hear the beeper from 200+ yards away.

I will have  three DC-30 combo units available in a week and a half. If your interesed send me a pm.

I have both but if I had to choose one it would definitely be a shock collar. the shock collar is a wonderfull tool for training if used right. The tracking collar is nice to get your dog back if you lose it but if the dog is chasing deer and don't listen when you want him to come I would rather leave the dog in the woods because a dog that is like that will ruin a day of hunting for you. I would look for used ones and get both if you could.

problem with that is he has ur shock collar on lol. u just gota have both makes life alot easier. folks need less dogs more eqipment the buy all the dogs u want!i got 2 dogs that dont need trackers or shaockers but if i go out of town they have them on ,, or if i hutn near a raod ////

I don't put a hound on the ground without a tracker on. It doesn't matter where I'm running.

Thanks for the responses. So far three for the shock collar and three for the tracker!

As far as the type of cover I will be hunting, I have both! Broken woodlots with cottontails to the south and big open hare country to the north!

I would look for used ones and get both. If I could'nt find both I would buy a E-collar and a tracking collar,but no box. If I lost my dog I could find someone who has a box to help me. I find the the tracking collar is more of a good feeling giver than a needed item. Most of the time I don't need one because I will not keep a hound that cost me a of time because he don't savvy how the hunt works. I feel the tracking collars have cause a lot of hounds that would not be bred to used to get pups because the hunter can always round them up,not thinking that the dog is a laying out hound.

reddog1 wrote:I don't put a hound on the ground without a tracker on. It doesn't matter where I'm running.

same here and I all so have shock collars on they also

Jack wrote:I would look for used ones and get both. If I could'nt find both I would buy a E-collar and a tracking collar,but no box. If I lost my dog I could find someone who has a box to help me. I find the the tracking collar is more of a good feeling giver than a needed item. Most of the time I don't need one because I will not keep a hound that cost me a of time because he don't savvy how the hunt works. I feel the tracking collars have cause a lot of hounds that would not be bred to used to get pups because the hunter can always round them up,not thinking that the dog is a laying out hound.

Well said, the just buying the tracking collars and using someone elses box if you need to is a good idea

i would never go again without both got friends shock theres to see where ther at thats useless. just an opinion