I have a lab/golden retriever mix. He is 2 years old. Very smart. Is it too late to train him to track deer? How do I get started?
After training coon dogs for years I've seen the theory "you can't teach old dogs new tricks" proven wrong many times. Either they have the desire to learn and please or they don't. If your dog is intelligent, uses his nose alot and is always looking to please, it should be relatively easy to train with the right methods. 2 years old is actually a good starting age and will be easier than trying to train a younger dog. That's not me saying training a dog is easy. It will most definitely test your patience and take alot of time.
I trained an 11 year old and an 8 year lab how to shed hunt. It's just the same as training a puppy. If they already know how to hunt, the tracking commands need to be unique enough that they know what they are hunting. For example, our pheasant hunting commands are different from our shed hunting commands. When pheasant hunting we'll say hunt em up and when shed hunting we'll say find the bone. All other general commands like sit and come should remain the same. Many great trainers will teach a dog to learn when they are a pup, this allows them to be trained throughout their life.
I had started training my 9 year old Lab for blood trails. He was doing fine following a blood trail of a bear I took a bad shot at, but then he got on the fresh scent of a grouse and started tracking the grouse instead.... (he'd been tracking and flushing grouses all his life so that was more natural than following a bear blood trail) So yes they can be trained at all ages, but as they get older, you might have to work on some habits. Two years old is a young dog, you should have no problem training him, (or have someone train him). Good luck !
