I am the only remaining hunter in my extended, and mostly disconnected family.
You are quite the lucky man. Enjoy, and your 3yr old dog should be coming into his/her prime. That should be a joy, but they are not perfect until they are 5.
The other day I wasn’t hunting, but a deer stepped out in the yard before the sun crested the ridge. I drew and locked on her with the compound, I aimed so that both the 20 and 35 yard pins would score lethal hits. She only ran about 40 yards into the woods. For once I eyeball ranged it perfectly, double lung and heart hit.
This is the part that you will like. I took the new family designer-hypoallergenic pup out to track down the kill. She sniffed the arrow and licked it. Except for 9 month old puppy lack of attention, she had no trouble following the blood trail right to the deer. If she takes to tracking wounded deer, she is going to become my best buddy!
This was one of those lucky watershed moments in dog training that you simply can’t stage.