Understood. My Dog is a hunting dog by breeding...He is rescue that I imported from Spain. I have never used him for hunting but his instinct is strong and his nose is fantastic. I have also used a beagle mix and a yorkie mix to track deer. The beagle/australian shepard mix was phenomenal. The yorkie was surprisingly impressive at following a wounded deer. I learned not to doubt him. The Podenco that I took out is one of two that I have. The other will chase a deer or any other animal but freaks out at the scent of blood.
gotcha
but I was just pointing out that just cause a dog is of SO called hunting lines or breeds, doesn't mean they can track
SADLY< IMO< far too many hunting breeds have been SO far out of the hunting game , there breeding them instincts right out of the breed
far too many bird dog breed owner DON"T hunt anymore, never mind hunt birds??
I was a big time upland game guy, traveled across the USA hunting birds
My last lab was world class bird dog, and a pet-agree to match his skills
but he couldn't find a deer if I wanted him to,
he was trained to ignore deer and deer scent
wasted energy in a bird dog , and can lead to a lost dog
lots of mutts I have seen over the yrs with incredible noses, and some great bred pure bred dogs too
but tracking deer is honestly a skill, they some have some don';t and to get it to its best, takes training
(sure flukes happen)
but a GREAT tracking dog is a well trained one!
some are just amazing
as are some of the working dogs in law enforcement,
known a few K 9 workers and WOW< what some of these dogs can do!
even some incredible blood hounds in search and rescue, track week old scent trails, just amazing!
Dogs are just cool when they get to do what they were bred to be!