Radios to Communicate with Hunting Party

[Hunterrev]

Hey All,

I'm looking for information for what other gangs have done for communicating during a party moose hunt. We have a group of guys heading north and will not have cell phone range. What is the best way to go? 2-way Radio, Spot X messanger, IN-Reach GPS, carrier pigeon?

Please let me know what your gang uses for northern ontario trips.

I'm leaning towards a good set of 2-way radios ... they say a range of 51 km ... but I'm guessing across water, not in the bush, or logging roads and cuts.

Cheers,

[Fisherman]

Hey All,

I'm looking for information for what other gangs have done for communicating during a party moose hunt. We have a group of guys heading north and will not have cell phone range. What is the best way to go? 2-way Radio, Spot X messanger, IN-Reach GPS, carrier pigeon?

Please let me know what your gang uses for northern ontario trips.

I'm leaning towards a good set of 2-way radios ... they say a range of 51 km ... but I'm guessing across water, not in the bush, or logging roads and cuts.

Cheers,

You're right about the 51km range, that would be if both of you were standing on mountain tops with absolutely no obstructions, (line of sight). Most of the GMRS versions might(and that's hoping a lot) you might get 3-4 kms. Some of the other higher power versions, (Baofeng 8 series) have up to 8 watts output and you might go 8km or so.

[JUDGE]

I use a pair of Cobra's they have some other letter on them GMRS may be a model, not sure.
I find they have a range of approx. 4-5 km in the area we hunt, hills and woods, may have more range but have not tried further..
They hold a charge for 4-5 days without recharge. Light and sound clear. No complaints.
Got them at the Source, but do not remember the cost.

[LiveBates]

We still carry radios, but ever since they put a tower in Folyet, we mostly txt on our phones now. Nothing worse than a deer coming in to range...and shhppsshhbhh "I'm heading to camp for a crap....over " sphhhhphhb

[FISH-ON]

Creating a group chat via text/WhatsApp is useful and helps pass the time over a long post, rather then sending individually messages

[SongDog]

5watt marine radios from the US. We've had them for about 10 years, works better than ones you get in Canada, Just like everything else!

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[rick_iles]

5watt marine radios from the US. We've had them for about 10 years, works better than ones you get in Canada, Just like everything else!

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

We looked into using them, but we abandoned that idea when we found out they were illegal to use on land without a licence.....

[TroutSlayer]

Just wondering what the max distance between party hunters usually is? Let's say if I was hunting Caramat, and my brother was hunting Newfoundland, and we had good Sat Radios, Is that party hunting?
Let's be real, most cheap GMRS radios are good for a couple of kilometers. Are you farther apart than that?

[rick_iles]

There are too many variables with GMRS radios. They are pretty much line of sight. We have checked our comms and they work perfectly, only to have them fail another day. Our group set up signal shots as well to back up the radios. It’s worked so far !!

[Snowwalker]

We looked into using them, but we abandoned that idea when we found out they were illegal to use on land without a licence.....

There are VHF radios you can buy that will allow you to use public frequencies.
But the two main problems are.
1) They are mobile unit for vehicles, I have not yet found any hand held ones.

2) You must only use the frequency that is allowed in the area you are in. Because the others can cause interfere or have been licensed ( sold to someone) to private companies or assigned to government departments like Highway Maintenance, MNRF, Ontario Hydro in the area you are in.

When a frequency is ok or not ok for you to use can change as simply as being on the North or South side of the French river.

So FRS/GMRS radio would be far better in 99% of cases.