Beep, beep, beep, beep... The sound permeated from a thick clump of wild grape tangles on the far side of the wood lot. “Damn that dog, I wish he would hunt closer in the thick cover,” I grumbled. I approached carefully, still not seeing the dog, as the loud report of the beeper collar told me hew was on-point in the middle of the tangle. Not liking a lot of noise while I'm hunting, I had turned the run signal off on the beeper before starting. The unit was set to trigger only when the dog stops moving. The young setter had plenty of energy and tended to range out, resulting in my not knowing where he was at times.

This scenario is played out thousands of times each fall as upland bird hunters with pointing dogs take to the field. Anyone who owns a pointing dog has felt the frustration of keeping track of their dog in the thick cover or in early season. The practice of placing bells on the dogs in order to keep track of them in thick cover started in this country. I have talked with bird hunters and pointing dog owners from England and Scotland who considered this practice odd. That is, until we went grouse hunting in one of Michigan's aspen thickets in mid-September.

I know very few pointing dog owners who do not use some type of noise-maker on their dog. The pointing dogs were not bred to hunt within shotgun range all the time, like the flushing breeds. In fact, that is one of the things I like about the pointers. They cover the ground as I relax and watch. When I am hunting with one of my flushers, I have to stay alert to the dog's reaction to bird scent and I have to keep him withing shotgun range at all times. A well-trained pointer should reach out and cover ground while periodically checking in. And, of course, hold his point until the gunner arrives.

I spend over three hundred days a year running hunt dogs. The constant jingle of the bell is annoying to me. Before I purchased my first beeper collar, the old Tracker model, I would lay in bed at night and still hear the bell. The other problem I have with bells is that when the dog goes on point, the bell falls silent. In the situation described  earlier, a bell would be of little assistance in locating the dog on point. Please don't write to tell me of the one or two instances where the bell was superior to a beeper. I have been there, done that, seen it. Day in and day out, a beeper is far superior and if you keep reading, you will find out why.

As some of you may know, I own a small shooting preserve outside of Ann Arbor. We are open seven days a week from September 15th until April 15th, except for Christmas Day. I am an avid grouse and woodcock hunter and spend most of my vacation time hunting over dogs. I am also a professional gun dog trainer. I say this for the sake of you opinionated weekend warriors who feel a need to write me about your limited field experiences and opinions that dispute my findings. Save your stamps. I won't be printing your letters in my column.

For those of you who find the electronic sound of the better annoying and the sound of the bell comforting, God bless and good luck. At least you know what you like. Keep forcing your dog to hunt within gun range and keep searching for it when on point.

Now, for those who may use a beeper collar or might be receptive to one, here are the results of a comparison study I have conducted. I tested seven collars from five manufacturers over the course of sixty days of hunting, using five different dogs.

The manufacturers were: Tri-Tronics, Innotek, T.E. Scott, Lovett, and Michigan's own ATS-Sonic. Four of the models used a design where a speaker is mounted on the top of the collar, facing up. They were the Tri-Tronic, Innotek, Lovett, and the ATS-Sonic Pro XT. The rest had speakers mounted below the dog's neck (both T.E. Scott models and the ATS-Sonic Pro XL). Two of the collars had rechargeable batteries; The Tri-Tronics and the Innotek beeper-only collar. The breeds of dog used were English Pointer, English Setter, Brittany Spaniel, German Wire-haired Pointer, and German Short-haired Pointer.

The top-mounted speakers are designed for open country. The speaker is pointed up, making it easier to hear over long distances. The bottom-mounted speaker's beep does not carry as far, but I've found it easier to locate the dog in thicker cover or wooded areas. I have found both styles work well for me in any type of cover.

I didn't like the rechargeable units simply because recharging required taking the collar off the dog and out of commission until the charging process was complete. Also, the recharger added considerable cost to the purchase price. I found the battery life of all the non-rechargeable units to be satisfactory and of no real expense as far as batteries were concerned. If I am in the field when the rechargeable unit needs charging, I lose that unit for the day. The rechargeable units' battery lives were satisfactory.

In today's world, we have many rechargeable electronic things. Cell phones, electronic training collars, beeper collars, and so on. This is where the ‘oops factor' comes in. I mistakenly plugged one of the rechargeable beeper collars into the wrong charger. This resulted in damage to the collar that was beyond my ability to repair, and it was sent back to the manufacturer.

I tested two T.E. Scott models, their old model and the newest. Both were satisfactory. The older was one of my favorites going in to the test. I have used it for several years without much difficulty. It has a post on-off switch that rotates to adjust setting. I usually place the collar on the dog with the post facing its neck. If the post was facing out, the heavy cover would, at times, shut it off. The newest unit is redesigned to prevent this from happening. I didn't feel that the new unit was a well-built as the older one. These units are adjustable.

The Lovett model is the one I have used quite a bit and do like. It has the hawk-scream feature that I find amusing. I have never heard a hawk sound anything like the sound this beeper makes when in hawk mode. This unit has several tone and mode adjustments.

The Tri-Tronics was the most expensive beeper-only unit. It is a good, solid unit, as I have found all of Tri-Tronic's products to be. Tri-Tronics is the Cadillac os dog training equipment. My problem with that is, a Chevy at half the price suits me fine. I am not concerned with impressing anyone with how much money I have paid for equipment. If I can find the same quality for half the price, I will use that instead. Lovett, Innotek, and ATS-Sonic had good quality for much less money and with many more adjustable features.

The Innotek Command Series Model 1600 has the most feature and was the most expensive unit tested because it included an electronic training collar on the beeper collar. This unit is not rechargeable. They do sell a rechargeable beeper-only collar that I have used and found to be very reliable. For those of you who have dogs which require electronic collars when in the field, the Innotek Track and Train collar is worth looking at. It beats having two collar-units on a dog, and the Command Series 1600 has a locater button that, when touched, gives off a single beep to help locate a running dog with out having a constant beeping tone. I hunt several dogs at a time and it is nice to have different tones on different dogs. Because of this, I own several different makes of beeper collars. The Command series will also operate launchers, two different training collars and backing devises off of the same transmitter. The only problem I had with the Innotek unit was the sound of the beeper. I call it a chirp, rather then a beep. After a few days of hunting, I did become accustomed to the chirping instead of a beep.

For a straight beeper-only collar, the ATS-Sonic, made here in Michigan, was my favorite. I own one of the older model Pro units. I liked the tone but little else about the older unit. The new design is far superior, both in the ease of changing batteries and in customizing the frequency and volume of the tone. ATS-Sonic offers a wide array of models and prices that fit into anyone budget. The battery life of both the Pro/XL bottom-mounted speaker, and the Pro/XT top-mounted speaker was excellent. The units are well-built with screw-off caps for battery replacement and magnetic on/off switches. My Pro/XL unit is a vital part of my hunting equipment. The lower tone of these units is easier to hear if, like me, you have suffered any hearing lose over the years. I also was able to mount my Pro/XL on one of my training collars, thus eliminating the need for two collars on the dog.

If you have never hunted with a beeper collar, it is worth a try. Once you are accustomed to using one, going without one will be like trying to hunt with your eyes closed. If the sound bothers you, buy an adjustable one that can be set on point only. If you prefer a bell, use one with the point only signal and you will never have to search for a dog on point again.

Innotek 1-800-826-5527

Tri-Tronics 1-800-456-4343

ATS Sonic 1-800-247-7453

Lovett 1-800-446-1093

T.E. Scott 1-800-966-3647

Charlie Linblade

Mighigan Wing Shooters Hunt Club

Michigan Pheasant Hunting

Michigan Bird Dog Training