Gracie Tracking Service

04/15/2026

04/10/2026

It is that time of year again. If anyone is interested in becoming a tracker give Tim a call.

02/10/2026

I love this picture. Taken by a hunter while I was talking with the group going over rules and expectations. Such an earnest look on his face - he knows what is about to happen.
Moments like this are memories I will get to hold onto forever as a handler - I couldn't care less if I ever harvest an animal for myself again - this is what my hunting success looks like: partnered with a dog who knows his job and is ready to go. We were successful that day.

12/15/2025

The end of our 6th season as a Leashed Tracking Team is here!

I'd like to start by thanking everyone who called looking for either help or advice. Secondly I'd like to thank the other tracking teams in VT who took the calls Trap and I were unable to - there were alot of other teams getting after the tracking calls this year which helped to midigate some of the stress that comes with the busy season.

This year Trap and I took 40 calls and ended up with 14 recoveries! 4 doe, 6 buck, and 4 moose.

We had an excellent year, there honestly were not many of our non-recovery tracks where we did not either locate the animal in question (which was still alive and healthy enough to evade us) or we were able to locate a wound bed with no blood afterwards. Trap truely has been on point this year - showing off his skill and ability to figure out the puzzles ahead of us. I dare say that not a single client was displeased with our efforts - we had alot of fun and as always made a few new friends along the way.

I love working with this Elkhound, watching him hit the track and go from happy-go-lucky goofball to serious hunter always is the highlight of my day. There is nothing quite like following behind such a well behaved and talented boy.

With our 6th season in the books Trap and I have officially taken 241 tracks and he has recovered 82 big game animals since we started as a tracking team.

We already can not wait to go again next year!

Untill then tell your friends of the tracking Elkhound from Lincoln and remember You Whack'em, We Track'em!

12/10/2025

Recovery #14 for the season is a beauty of a doe. It was a very enjoyable night with a good friend and a dog who was confident from the start. I really enjoy watching Trap work when he is pulling strong. Happy to see him get his prize after a long string on non-recoveries.

Nights like this are why we do it.

11/17/2025

We got a call up north tonight. This buck had been gut shot, tracked a long way on snow, and finally bumped from a bed just passed the end of shooting light. With the predicted snow storm blowing in the hunter was nervous about losing this buck to both snowed in tracks and coyotes so he decided to make the call.
I cautioned going too early knowing that the snow storm would not be a hinderance to Trap and we choose to go in at the 10 hour mark with the hope of giving the buck long enough to expire but not long enough to be found by coyotes.
We met at 11pm and started Trap at the bed the buck was jumped from. Trap took off like a rocket and in only a minute or two we were looking at him.
The buck had gone all of 80yds after being bumped and was still alive - although he was in the process of taking his last breaths and completely unable to stand or raise his head.

This was a track on which Trap did not get to show off his skill, honestly we proved to be unnessary as the buck could have been found without a dog. However we still had a satisfied hunter even though there was no great effort put forth on our part - beyond assisting with advice in wait times and providing the confidence of being able to track efficiently in the storm.

It was a good way to end the day for Trap, once again he got to do what he loves.

Home again at 2:30am.

11/10/2025

#12 for the season is a big doe. A good easy track, Trap walked right to her even with the wind blowing in every direction.

11/03/2025

Little hometown tracking last night and this morning. Got a call from my good buddy Ed to track a 4pt buck. We put Trap on the track and he took off through a big frosted field, he zig-zagged back and forth but maintained confidence in the direction. A couple hundred yards through the field we crossed a road and headed into the woods, there I caught a glimpse of eyes uphill of us then they dissapeared.
We went to the bed and upon inspection decided to wait half an hour before pursuing. The buck led us in a giant circle only to hop onto his own blood trail and repeat the exact same circle - he did this to us twice and after some confusion trap found his exit lane that just happed to be 10ft down hill of the trail he took into the woodlot. Fresh blood smears across the road and back into the field he went. Here we saw no blood on the ground at all (circling in the woods the buck was bleeding very consistantly from both sides) but Trap just kept his nose in the air for another couple of hundred yards and pulled with excitement.
Of all the places we ended up 20ft from where we parked the truck and sure enough there was a significant amount of fresh blood across the pavement.
Given Trap's enthusiasm for the track and the bucks choice to turn down hill when he had every opportunity to run up onto the mountain I knew we needed to back out and give the buck some more time. 10:30 and we called it.

We met back at 4am and Trap jumped right back onto the track. We skirtted down hill and came to the big bank that sloped to the river. Trap stopped at the top and I could see his nose bobbing as high as he could get it in the air. I shined the river bottom in the direction he was looking and sure enough we could see a single eye and antlers sticking up.

"I told you he was a good 4ptr!" - Ed

Congrats man on a wicked VT 4, thanks for sticking with us even when we wern't seeing blood.

Good times had, memories made, tracking with friends. These are the nights we're going to remember when we are old and crippled.

11/02/2025

After a long week of non-recoveries, on everything from brisket hits to back-whacks, Trap found this nice doe up in Calis. It was a quick recovery - good straight forward nose work, very little blood at all along the trail, then after a few twists and turns there she was: dead in her bed.
Congratulations to to hunter and thanks for calling! Its nice to walk away with a win. Gratefull to have been able to help and to spend some time with some great people.

Recovery number 10 for the season.

10/24/2025

Here she is! The last moose recovery of 2025 for Trap the moose dog.
This cow was shot yesterday on the final day of the season. After calling me right at the shot the hunter decided the best course of action was to back out and give her time. We left her overnight and made the mile and a half hike back in this morning.
When we approached the hit sight Trap's nose immediately went into the air and he was after it. Just a few twists through the trees and before we knew it there she was dead in her bed. A big congradulations to the hunter who hunted hard the whole week and at the very end made it count.

Thanks for calling and giving Trap a great end to moose season.