Hey Rod,

Till 2006 I was in the group that monitored tracking of wounded game with dogs on the state level from 1992-2006 and we gathered quite some data for our country. Data was based on 142 trackers with dogs that registered 16935 follow ups in the mentioned period.

Among other things it became evident that app. 20% of all quota of big game animals (roe deer, red deer, boar, mouflon, fallow deer, bear and wolf) that are shot required a tracking dog. This percentage is constant every year and I can easily quote it anytime and stand behind it (applies for our country – and I bet for central Europe as well).

Further monitoring of the examination on presumably missed shots (no findings on the spot and animals pronounced missed by shooters) revealed even more interesting thing, that 15% - 20% of the animals presumably missed was not only hit, but actually retrieved at the end!