Is the area mostly open? If so, then CB is your best bet.
Handheld CBs these days come with rubber duck antennas, which are not very good. The center-loaded telescopic ones we had in the 80s were much, much better, though unwieldy under trees.
Go on eBay or Craigslist and find a pair of 4W, synthesized CB handheld radios with undamaged, center-loaded, telescopic antennas. You can do this for $50 easily.
The lower frequency (27 MHz) carries much further in open or semi open areas than VHF or UHF.
They're more battery hungry though: they take 8-10 AAs. Good NiMH are a must, with alkaline back up. Try low power first.
To set up a base station, get a proper car-mounted antenna and power supply for one of them. Having a better antenna on one of them will extend the range between them.
If the area is not so open or the radios have to be small, then MURS MIGHT work. But 2-3 miles is really pushing it. MURS with telescopic antennas fitted would be your best bet. Amazon has one model of MURS radio for cheap. But I don't know if it'll take BNC aftermarket antennas.
-Jeremy
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