I have hunted with Van for the last 15 years and he always has top dogs. However those "top dogs" bring a top dollar. The dogs Van sells are Okay but I would look else where for a dog in the 1000 dollar range. If van sells one for a thousand it would be one you could buy else where for 500 Van uses his reputation to sell marginal dogs at a premium price. Van breeds some of the best dogs I have ever hunted with but there are alot of guys with his bloodlines out there.
I have used radio collars for years and have been very satisfied with the performance.
I was the guy selling the 2 Johnson breed dogs a couple of weeks ago. I sold the pair for 1500, Van would have gotten at least double for the same 2 dogs.
Good luck buying your dogs. You are in for a ton of fun and frustration, but it will be worth it.
