If you go trail riding enough, you will eventually get stuck. It's all part of the adventure and is no big deal, especially if you are prepared. When you get stuck, the first step is to find out why. Did you drive over something too tall? Or does the ground offer so little traction that your tires are spinning? Once you've figured out why you are stuck, determine the easiest and safest way to get unstuck. If you are barely resting on an obstacle, sometimes backing up slowly will work. If that works, back up far enough to where you can see the trail again to plan a different path or turnaround. Or simply stacking a few rocks under the tires may be enough to get you free. If that doesn't work, you may decide to winch yourself off the obstacle in a slow-controlled manner. When you use a winch, you can pull slowly and stop when needed. If you are badly stuck on an obstacle and you think that dragging your truck with a winch could do damage, you probably need to lift the vehicle straight up. You can use a high lift jack and lift mate to raise each tire on one side of your vehicle off the ground. Then stack rocks under the tires to increase your ground clearance and drive off the obstacle. If the tires start spinning due to a lack of traction, you will usually get stuck. The very first thing to do is stop, spinning the tires faster seldom works. Drive backing up in your own tire tracks, which will sometimes get you back to safe ground. Use your lockers if you have them. See if you can creak forward or backward. If you get any movement, try to keep a nice steady speed. Once you get going, keep going until you reach firm ground and can safely stop. Be sure the driver behind you leaves plenty of room. Backing up usually works pretty well, especially in sand because you're driving in your own compressed tracks. If this fails, take a break and determine where you need to go and plan how you will get there. An exception may be to keep spinning the tires in mud if you have aggressive tires and already have some momentum. But if you have stopped moving forward, spinning the tires will only dig you in deeper. The same is true in sand. Another tip is to air down the tires, if you haven't already. Letting some air out of the tires increases the tires footprint and may provide enough grip to get you out. Remember, you may need to drive on paved roads after you exit the trail, so don't go too low unless you have an air source. 12-15 psi may work. If all else fails, maybe all you need is a gentle tug from your buddy with a recovery strap. Gentle is the key word here, unless you have really buried your truck, a gentle tug usually works. Be sure to use a recovery strap rather than a toe strap. A recovery strap is elastic and has a bungee effect. A toe strap doesn't stretch and can break or cause damage to your vehicle if pulled too hard. Never use a strap with metal hooks on the ends since the strap can break causing the metal hook to become a projectile. Only hook up to sturdy toe points, such as those from the factory. All toe hooks must be attached to the frame or a designated point. Never pull in a trailer hitch ball. They can snap off and come flying back at you. Instead you can remove the draw bar from the hitch and start the looped end of the strap and secure it with a hitch pin. Armed with knowledge and a few basic tools, you can ride confidently. Knowing that when you get stuck, you know how to get out.