I know that in VA it is legal to hunt deer with the aid of dogs in most counties east of the Blue Ridge Mtn.s only. I will check on the specifics and let you know. I heard that one of the guys I guysI know had a few buddies hunting with them, and one shot a deer with a ML. They could not find it, so they used a dog to find the deer. I have also used a dog to track down a turkey I shot near dark. I think you should be able to use dogs for tracking legally shot game animals, if you don't find the game another animal will.