Martin Truex Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. standing in front of their hunting lodge on property they purchased together for deer hunting.
On a television spot for NBC’s NASCAR America, Martin Truex Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. talk deer hunting, and Earnhardt does an eloquent job explaining why he loves deer hunting.
The recently-retired NASCAR driver says in the round-table discussion that he doesn’t get to hang out with other drivers as often as he once did, but he still gets in some quality time with NASCAR driver Truex during the hunting season. He and Truex own hunting land together.
“I love the hunting land we have together,” Earnhardt said. “(We’re) looking at our cameras and talking about where we’re going to put stands and how we’re going to manage the land.”
When Earnhardt followed that thought with a remark about how managing the land was the best part, the show’s host voiced some doubt. She assumed working the land was not the most appealing part of a deer hunt.
“You know, we talk about this and say this all the time, but the best part about hunting is all the work up to … all the managing the land, getting everything ready,” he said. “That’s where the fun is and spending time with some of your favorite people.”
Grand View Outdoors’ Mike Schoblaska wrote about this very thing in a post earlier this summer. Schoblaska makes the case that many hunters are chasing a little taste of farm life, yearning to feel the thunder of the tractor.
“There are few activities you can participate in nowadays that allow the mind to wander back to times before smartphones, before computers, before automobiles,” he wrote. “Sitting around a campfire is one, staring at the flames as they dance among the logs to the beat of the crackling embers. Hiking through an uninhabited wilderness surrounded by flora and fauna that reside unchanged for centuries is another. I would add planting a food plot to that list.”
The slow moving vehicle sign on this stuck Ford 9N tractor makes a mockery of one hunter's futile attempts to dislodge the rear tires from the muck. But that's OK. Many hunters have some farmer in them that makes mishaps well worth the reward. Photo: Mike Schoblaska
Truex talked about the trail cameras and the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of your labor by way of whitetails showing up on the property after improving the habitat and putting in the food plots. “To see the surprises,” he said. “You see something pop up and it’s just cool man.”
Earnhardt explained the two were on a group text with another hunter who shares ownership of the hunting property, his brother-in-law L.W. “We’re all sharing pictures and stuff,” he said, before gesturing across the table to Truex. “He’s always the first one to say, 'hey check him out! Here he is, walking by the stand.'”
Earnhardt accused Truex of looking "at the thing" every day. He also revealed that Truex not only builds his own arrows, but he’s often building arrows on race weekends in his motorhome.
Both NASCAR drivers bowhunt their property. Of bowhunting, Earnhardt touted the appeal of it. “Bow’s fun,” he said. “You can take the bow out and practice and stand around in the yard and shoot and talk and work on your bow a little bit, tune it up.”
You can watch the full interview at NBC Sports by clicking here.
Featured photo: NASCAR America (NBC Sports)
