08/09/2026
We can't say enough good things about Stern Game Recovery! Stern and his skills made us believers. No more tracking a bear in the dark with a flashlight duct taped to the end of the barrel. In less than 20 minutes Stern had my bear found. Save her number now for the upcoming MN Bear Hunting season! Congratulations Stern Game Recovery and team!! What an amazing accomplishment!!!
UBT-III ACCOMPLISHED! ✅️
You should have heard my battle cry when we got to the finish line. This is the most difficult tracking test that United Blood Trackers has to offer. We are now one of only 3 tracking teams in the state of Minnesota who have passed - and to hear it told, Stern may be the only German Shepherd in the country to have gotten it done.
In 45~ minutes, Stern and I worked through....
- a group of 20 people standing directly on top of the hit site (some of them were Stern's best friends.. hard to ignore!)
- a pair of "hunters" disrupting the line and trying to distract Stern.
- No less than 3 carcass distractions, including an entire dead deer laid directly on top of the line.
- Multiple road and trail crossings
- a combo surface and directional challenge where the track layer waded through the middle of a river trying to lose Stern, while a second person sprayed blood on their shoes and walked the opposite direction down the riverbank trying to fool us.
1200+ yards of unadulterated headache, concocted by a few exceptional trackers who were deliberately trying to challenge us. Most of it hardly fazed Stern. (I said a lot of bad words though.)
I am just so proud. Stern has taught me more patience, trust, and resilience in my short life than anyone else ever could, and this test is an excellent chance to prove it. My younger self would have quit halfway through, if I had the balls to try it at all.. but I ain't my younger self anymore.
We did it.
A million thanks to our judges Dave Dainton, Marlee Malmborg and Lisa Gargulak, as well as all of the folks in the gallery who came to cheer us on. A community like this is what makes tracking so worthwhile.