Somehow my dog Otis is able to determine whether or not a deer is fatally hit within just a few minutes of checking things out. If its not a good hit then he doesn't want to track it. He didn't do that as a young dog....its something he's developed as he's gotten older. This is not too uncommon for tracking dogs that get a lot of work as I've heard of numerous other dogs that did this as they got older as well. Its awesome that he's able to do such but it doesn't work to well when we go out on a track and he gives me the look after assessing the hit site. Of course the hunter feels like theres a dead deer out there to be found and my dog won't track it because he just must not be a good tracking dog or whatever.....I've had it happen a number of times. It sucks when it happens for someone like Cam Lanier or Enon the fist time they call you out. Those are cool places to get to go to. Happened to me last year at Sehoy for Cam's son or grandson....I forget now…..Pretty sure the deer was just clipped really low...crossbow shot from a ground blind. I took my younger dog and spent several hours looking anyways....even came back the next morning and tried again. Haven't heard back from them yet though.....It is what it is........Just part of it......One minute your a hero and 30 minutes later a zero.....The vast majority of it hinges on the hunter's shot and actions afterwards...long before I ever get there.