In the current tech controlled world that we find ourselves in, there is always some new, big product coming out on the market to make our lives easier, stay on top of our health or just more connected to other devices and people. Smartwatches have taken over the spectrum of wearable tech fashion. I have always liked the idea of having a watch that would alert me of texts and phone calls, but was never sold on it due to me just being old school and preferred an analog watch over a space aged Jetson style that is more phone than watch.
Enter the Garmin Instinct. The dog hunter’s best friend.
I could care less about fashion, but I am a complete and total gear junkie when it comes to hunting gear and my gun dogs.
When we, hunters with hounds, venture off into the wilderness, it is often a time served as a disconnect, to get away with the hustle and bustle of everyday life and reconnect with the outdoors, hunting, and a simple way of life. But we never want to be disconnected from our dogs.
Thankfully, for years now, the folks over at Garmin have helped us keep track of our dogs off the leash and out on the hunt by use of their tracking systems.
As an upland hunter, being quiet in the field is essential as to not give a wily rooster any reason to run out of the field or a covey to flush before I am within range. I pride myself in having the smallest amounts of verbal communication between myself and my dogs and I only want to hear the crunch between the ground and my boot leather and my dogs covering ground intensely. With that being said, I do not like ruining the peacefulness of the outdoors with bells or beeper collars.
With my big running pointing dogs, they are often times out of eyesight, depending on the type of terrain we are in, so staying on top of their location and actions is essential.
I find myself putting my Alpha into my pack and I never reach for it unless I am in need to give my dog stimulation for correction.
When my Garmin handheld vibrates to alert me of my dog on point, it can be quite cumbersome to get it in front of my eyes and to the right screen to see where my dog is and how far away they are. Utilizing the “DogTrack” feature on the Garmin Instinct is an absolute game changer. The watch connects to your handheld (Alpha, Alpha 200i, Pro 550+, Astro 320 and 430) via Bluetooth. When your dogs go on point, or treed, you get simultaneous alerts from both the handheld and your watch to let you know about it.
Once you get the alert it’s as simple as lifting your wrist to see which dog is on point and how far away they are. With a push of a button you will then be guided straight to them with pin point accuracy.
When you are in a field of thick cover, such as cattails, hunting late season pheasant, you are able to keep your gun at the ready and eyes peeled for a close flushing rooster and guide yourself straight to your dog on point to execute the flush and shot perfectly using only your watch. All without having to look down or pick up your handheld whatsoever.
I find myself putting my Alpha into my pack and I never reach for it unless I am in need to give my dog stimulation for correction.
Garmin also offers the Fenix line of watches that has offered the same capabilities with “DogTrack” for several hundred dollars more and a few more features. Such as topography style maps. As a hunter and gun dog owner, I don’t suffer the burden of having any extra money lying around so spending much more money on a watch is out of the question. The Instinct comes in quite a bit cheaper, is more rugged in appearance and functionality and has the most important bells and whistles that I can ask for in a smartwatch (keeping time, phone notifications and heart rate monitor).
If I am needing to view my location or look at the surrounding topography to get an idea of where I am or where my dogs are going, I’d opt to go to my Garmin handheld rather than look at a small screen on my watch anyways. The Instinct does offer track back features and can guide you to waypoints you have created on your watch but still, it is much easier to use your handheld if you are needing to find your way back to the truck in the dark or you are in big country.
With two years in with my Instinct watch strap I can easily say that it has made my life as a houndsman much more convenient and easier to get myself into a successful position for an effective shot on a flushing covey or rooster utilizing this watch with my handheld tucked away in my pack. As far as the heart rate monitor goes on the watch, it’s easy to correlate the “on point” alerts with a spike in my heart rate. It also allows me to know when work is calling so I don't even waste my time getting my phone out of my pocket to see who is calling.
Garmin has made big moves in the GPS and dog tracking world with the current Alpha 200i. I currently own the Alpha and will possibly switch to the Alpha 200i solely for the InReach communication features. I’m hoping their next move will be a watch just like the Instinct but with stimulation control over the TT15 collars to allow me to stay on top of my dogs movements while hunting as well as give me the ability to correct them upon making mistakes, all while keeping my handheld tucked away in my pack until critically needed.