Thanks very much for your offer, its a shame that I've only just spotted it.
Since my first post I've put in a lot of work with the dog and it does seem to be paying off slowly. He's still very flighty and immature but he does seem to be picking it up, a combination of half-rations and a pocketful of cheap turkey ham makes a big difference!
About a week ago he found his first genuinely lost deer, a friend livered a roe buck which then disappeared 150 yds into thick plantation.
It wasn't tidy and we wouldn't have won any prizes, but we found it.