09/10/2026
These are not my words, but words that explain all the emotions we trackers encounter in a season.
Copied and pasted:
đž TRACKING TRUTHS: WHY DO WE DO THIS đž
People see the picture at the end.
The dog standing over the deer.
The hunter smiling.
The handshake.
The thank-you.
They see the victory.
They donât see what it costs to get there.
Tracking isnât a moneymaker.
If youâre serious about it, youâll spend money faster than you can make it.
Dog food.
Vet bills.
Tracking gear.
Leads.
Collars.
Boots.
Gas.
Food on the road.
Training.
Repairs.
And then thereâs the cost nobody can calculate.
YOUR TIME.
Time away from your kids.
Time away from your spouse.
Time away from your family.
Time away from birthdays, dinners, weekends, holidays, sleep.
And if you really want to be a hard tracker?
You give up hunting.
While everyone else is sitting in a tree waiting for their opportunity, youâre out helping someone find their harvest instead of pursuing your own.
While theyâre celebrating opening morning, youâre wondering when somebody is going to call because they think they just lost the deer of a lifetime.
And eventually, you learn another hard truth.
Not everyone you meet on this journey is going to stay.
Some people you looked up to will let you down.
Some people you thought would be beside you for the rest of your tracking life wonât be.
And that hurts.
Because trackers arenât just people you share a hobby with.
You spend long nights together.
You share failures, recoveries, you trust them, respect them.
You call each other when you donât know what to do.
And then youâll turn around and do the same thing for someone else.
Youâll mentor them, teach them everything you know.
Youâll answer the late-night phone calls.
Youâll invest your time, your knowledge and your heart into them.
Youâll look at them and think, âThis is someone I want beside me for the next 20 years.â
And then one dayâŚ
Theyâre gone....They quit.
Not because theyâre bad people.
Not because they failed.
Because they finally realize what you already knew.
TRACKING ISN'T FOR EVERYONE
But the part nobody can prepare you for is the mental battle.
Thatâs where tracking will eat you alive.
Youâll recover three or four deer in a row and feel like you and your dog can conquer the world.
Your confidence is sky high.
You trust your dog...You feel unstoppable.
Then suddenlyâŚ
0 FOR 12.
Shoulder hit after shoulder hit.
Track after track.
Nothing.
You walk miles.
You crawl through briars.
You fight through rain/snow/heat/cold.
You give hunters everything youâve got.
And sometimes all you can give them is closure.
Then you load your dog into the truck.
Drive home.
Shut the door.
And sit there in silence.
And you start wonderingâŚ
âIs my dog broken?â
âAm I the problem?â
âDid I screw this up?â
âDid we leave that deer in the woods?â
You start questioning your dog.
You start questioning yourself.
You call your tracking friends because you need somebody to tell you that youâre not crazy.
âMaybe itâs me.â
âMaybe I missed something.â
âMaybe we should quit.â
And then morning comes.
You feed the dog.
Put on your boots.
Grab the lead.
And you go again.
Because thatâs what trackers do.
Maybe the next one is a recovery.
You breathe again.
You smile again.
You remember why you do this.
Because tomorrow, somebody else is going to need you.
And their deer doesnât care about the one you couldnât find yesterday.
So you put your boots back on.
You grab the lead.
You look at your dog.
And you go.
Thatâs tracking.
Itâs not the pictures.
Itâs not the recognition.
Itâs not the money.
Itâs not the glory.
Itâs sacrifice.
Itâs doubt.
Itâs disappointment.
Itâs sleepless nights.
Itâs money spent.
Itâs family time given away.
Itâs giving everything you have to a track and sometimes walking away without an answer.
And somehowâŚ
WE KEEP COMING BACK.
Not because itâs easy.
Not because it pays.
Not because every track ends with a deer.
We do it because sometimes the reason for the track is bigger than the tracker.
We do it for the kid who finally gets to put his hands on his FIRST BUCK.
For the grandpa who may be sitting in his stand for his LAST HUNT.
For the veteran who pulled the trigger for the FIRST TIME SINCE COMING HOME.
For the hunter who has spent years waiting for this one moment.
And sometimesâŚ
we do it for our own family.
For the person who taught us how to hunt.
The one who took us into the woods when we were young.
We do it for the DOGS! They love us through all of this âŹď¸. Wow what a friend we have!
WE GET TO BE THE ONE HOLDING THE LEAD BEHIND THAT PRICELESS FRIEND
We get to be the highlight of their day
We get to repay a debt to our dogs for their loyalty to us every đ single đ track đ we đ take đ
THATâS WHY WE DO IT.
Thatâs why we sacrifice.
Thatâs why we keep going after the zeroes.
Thatâs why we take the failures on the chin.
Thatâs why we get up the next morning and put the lead back in our hand.
Because at the end of the dayâŚ
IT WAS NEVER REALLY ABOUT FINDING DEER.
It was about finding a way to give someone a moment theyâll remember for the rest of their life.
It was about giving our dogs all the glory possible
And for thatâŚ
WEâLL ANSWER THE PHONE EVERY DAMN TIME. đž
Share a photo/story of a track that reminded you of your WHY!
*** "Reposted for sharing purposes. I am not the original writer***
