Keep Your Hunting Dogs Safe With Tracking Collars (2)

Keep track, keep safe

Not only can he keep up with his pack when they are in full chase, Stout said, the collars provide an extra level of safety for the dogs.

“Population is increasing and there are more roads and more traffic close to places we have to hunt. If the dogs get close to a road, I can see exactly where they are and run out and get them away from the road.”

Other dangers are inherent in hunting and the collars have helped save his and other hunters’ dogs, he said.

A friend was hunting when the signal from one of his hounds disappeared. A question mark on the monitor showed the spot where the signal was lost,” Stout said.

“He went to that spot and found his dog had fallen into an abandoned well. Without that GPS collar there would have been no way for him to have ever found his dog.”

Stout recalled another hunt where one of his older dogs suddenly left the pack and took off.

“I had just seen some coyotes when I noticed my dog had dropped out of the pack and was moving in the opposite direction. I think he saw those coyotes and got spooked,” Stout said. “Using the GPS, I found him hiding under a creek bank more than half a mile from where we had been hunting. If not for the GPS I would never have found him.”

Stout has been using the tracking collars for about eight hunting seasons. His beagles don’t leave the truck without wearing them.