Garmin’s Alpha Track and Train System for Sporting Dogs Goes To Montana

I wonder how far we  walked, I said to no one in
particular.  See, for the uninitiated, a
bird hunter is never sure how far they travel on any given hunt.  During the best walks, you're continually
distracted by dogs, birds, conversations, and of course, the rugged 360-degree
panorama of rolling hills and rugged mountains. 
Of course, I would soon know precisely how far I had traveled this
morning.

Using the Alpha's bright touchscreen display, I quickly
called up my trip computer.  We had
slogged nearly six miles in just under two hours – a pretty quick pace for bird
hunting.  That's nothing compared to the
fleet-footed distance runners at Garmin, I reminded myself.  Of course, they're not packing 20-pound
packs and seven-pound shotguns over rocky, sandy, uneven ground.

It was then that I called up the "dog info" page
for my three-year-old English pointer, LuLu. 
Her stats would put us all to shame. 
In an hour and 45 minutes, she had covered nearly 21 miles of ground!

Of course, this sort of canine technology is relatively new
stuff, and an area that both Garmin and Tri-Tronics have pioneered.  During my lifetime, electronic training
collars have become standard equipment for professionals and amateurs alike,
allowing trainers and hunters to control their dogs much further than any
leash.  And of course, keeping an eye on
your dog via GPS satellites is even newer technology, only five or six years
old.

The Alpha ups the ante, combining both technologies into one
elegant device.  You can track and train
up to 20 dogs up to nine miles away, and receive alerts when your canine
companion has found game.  The unit is
pre-loaded with topo maps, so you know if you're nearing a busy road.  You can even track your two-legged hunting
buddies who have an Alpha.  All of that
is cool, but it wouldn't be worth a whit if it was difficult to use.  Thanks to the touchscreen (who doesn't have a
smartphone these days?) and the geniuses in engineering, everything is laid out
so that important information is literally at your fingertips, while everything
else is in the background until you need it.

You'd think all this high-tech wizardry might detract from
the simple pleasure of bird hunting.  Not
really.  There's no longer incessant
hollering for a dog, and there's no sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach
when your prized pointing dog hasn't checked in for a couple of minutes.

For the fellow upland (and hound) hunters out there, the
Alpha and Astro tracking systems are definitely worth a look.  And if you don't hunt?  That's ok. 
The Alpha should serve as a reminder that whatever your passion —
running, cycling, golfing, geocaching, hiking, hunting, boating, or flying —
you can count on Garmin to help lead the way.

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