a year and a half ago we lost our Black lab Gunner (10 years old) he was trained on SAR and wounded deer tracking.

took us this long not to replace him, but to invest the time and love into another family member.  we got him the 1st of the year and he is now 15 weeks and 28 pounds. his temperament is outstanding and he is a very quick learner. I need to give him a mission in life that he enjoys that would benefit us and others. I'm open to suggestions at this point. I am retired and spend every day with him so training time is available.

meet Jack.... Male Golden Retriever

That there is a Tier 1 dog.  

We are actively looking for a rescue Golden if we can find one, but all the ones on Petfinder look suspiciously like pit bulls.  

Get started immediately with basic obedience and basic field retriever training. Expect rapid advancement. I found a local obedience oriented group was the easiest way to get you both off to a good start

Grab any one of the books written by Richard A. Wolters,  I trained my first Lab for field trials over 40 years ago and still use the knowledge from Wolters' books as the basis for all my training still to this day.

we actually drove from Spartanburg to just outside Florence to get him...5 hrs round trip... we have been looking for a while. and yes even here the rescues are almost always pit mixed. we do have one rescue, and one save also... I have a carolina dog(dixie dingo) that my daughter found at 3 months old all dirty and beat up... two years later she still has a slight feral side but is a great dog.

Wounded deer tracking is always good.   Too few around here, probably everywhere.

I agree, I moved from WNY to SC 7 years ago... up north there is a shortage. I was a Bow hunter and back in the day had to call the deer trackers a few times.. cost me so much that when I got my lab and saw his nose led him... it was easy to train him. I would only let him track for friends and family...