Dcg ....I was WRONG....after i replied to your post i was talking to a mate of mine who stalks & shoots & we decided to try his dogs on deer ,lab & a cocker.The lab is 5 the cocker 3.the lab is used just for picking up& peg dog,the cocker for rough shooting & a little beating.We started with the useual sent trail & reward,but also took them stalking (only one of us carried a rifle ) ,my dog was left in the vehicle much to her disgust.The lab showed no real intrest in any part of the job other than what edible rewards were on offer,the cocker on the other hand was keen as could be ,so much so we gave up on the lab to concentrate on the cocker.Given its only been 6 or 7 weeks ,abeit fairly intensive the cocker is stunning ...i have let her "find" every deer.taking her to the point of impact to follow a very short trail to the dead animal ,always on a long lead ,the first few she found with our help obviously ,but after only 5 weeks she had that nose down arse up attitude........This morning i shot a pricket ,it took off,i could see the front leg out of sync & and blood pumping , it made the fairly deep ditch before the wood but never came out the other side.From the point of impact to the ditch is only about 25 m but it had done a semi circle leaving a very clear blood trail.This was a perfect chance to try the cocker on a good trail with the deer out of sight .I waited 15 min ,then went to check that the deer was were i thought it was,i approached the deer from a totally different angle to the one the dog would take if it was actually following the scent,the deer was in the ditch.
We started out to the strike ,the dog quartering the ground in front,it has to be said this little dog quarters the ground non stop indoors outdoors anywhere it goes its back & forth ,as we got up close to the strike it stopped,then went nose down & away , we could see the blood trail & it never ventured from it ,straight to the deer.
My earlier reply was based on two other dogs that we tried on deer neither one could be relied on to follow sent ,both would come of trail to follow ground game.Hence the reason i went the deer /shooting route with the dog i know use.Although this dog wont be able to come out stalking of lead we will keep up its training .My mate is made up with the fact that he has a good tracking dog in the making.Its only taken me 6 or 7 weeks to realise the old saying is correct ....there is no fool like an old fool......My reply now would be its down to the dog ,give it a try.