As for the dog idea yes it does work well if it is legal in your area. Keep the dog on a leash though so it does not trample all over the blood trail aimlessly and also if the elk is not dead the dog will chase it further. I have arrowed several elk in the liver and it is always not what you expect. Sometimes the blood is really dark like it should be but i have had cases where the blood was brighter also. All the elk i ever liver shot had one thing in common they all would hunch up every few steps. Sometimes they would just stand there, shake and drop and other times go for an hour or so. It is really difficult to tell until the animal is found. The most important thing at the moment is that you get it, csi can take place later.