BUCKHANNON — A local tracking company best known for helping hunters across the country recently put its skills to work closer to home, successfully recovering a missing dog in the Buckhannon area after an intensive, community-supported effort.
Longspur Tracking and Outfitting, founded in 2020, has built a nationwide reputation in the hunting world and is now expanding its focus into pet recovery.
“We started Longspur Tracking and Outfitting in 2020,” the owner, Shon Butler, said. “Being deemed ‘non-essential’ at the job I had at the time motivated me to never work for someone other than myself ever again. So we started Longspur. Six years later, here we are.”
What began as a leap of faith has grown into a thriving business.
“We built a name known nationwide in helping hunters, and now we are working on creating a name in pet recovery,” Butler said.
For the Longspur team, no two days look the same.
“Our favorite part is that you never know what each day will bring,” Butler said.
That unpredictability was evident during the search for Nyx, who had been missing across a wide stretch of the Buckhannon area. Reports placed her from Stoney Run to Tennerton and even up the mountain behind St. Joseph’s Hospital. With sightings coming in from multiple directions, tracking her movements required both technology and field experience.
The team relied on mapping apps to plot Nyx’s route while using their on-the-ground expertise to read animal signs, including dog tracks.
“Our day-in and day-out work with dogs helps us know what a dog will do,” Butler explained. “We are able to read topography and think through the next step a dog is likely to make.”
Finding Nyx was not the hardest part.
“Finding her was easy,” Butler said. “Catching her was very difficult, as she was very trap-shy.”
Like many lost pets, Nyx had become wary after days on her own. Persistence paid off.
“In the long run, we won her over as she fell prey to her empty stomach,” Butler said. “She was a sweetheart once we got her trapped.”
“Community support and involvement are very important,” Butler said. “We were getting intel from people spotting her. Having up-to-date intelligence from community members is key in bringing dogs home quickly.”
With Nyx now safely home, Longspur Tracking Group hopes the story will highlight both the importance of community involvement and the growing role of professional tracking services in pet recovery.
Those needing assistance with a lost animal can find out more and contact the business through its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574813669253#.
