An interesting question.
Id like to see some dogs work out tracks where there has been multiple dogs tried and failed with no sign at all at the shot site or surrounding area,within areas with immense sign of animals and that dog must find a wounded animal that has travelled a fair distance because it has been pushed on by a few different dogs.
Any dog will find a freshly shot animal,has that dog got the experience to deal with a wounded animal?
What would your springer/cocker do when faced with a wounded boar for example,or a wounded red hind?
Wounded,still alive and very mobile.
Everyone loves their dog,no problem with that at all,be very realistic what they can do as if you are not,you can cause more suffering.
Steve,a very good and correct post.
A deer dog should do all the work required of it,those 3 things you have mentioned is a small part of the picture.
So the morale of the story is check the shot site and see if the dog can cope with the animal that has been shot,from the evidence available at the shot site,otherwise the deer dog can actually cause more suffering.
The importance of the shot site can't be understated
ATB
George
PS-my dogs aren't trained to anything else but deer/boar......they'd be useless on anything else.A springer will excel in everything that my dogs do not do eg birds,rabbit etc