I see alot of cd's make it, seems to be 50/50. A trusty pack of curs helps. In my opinion if you never cut one loose until you see the bay you will rarely loose one. I herd many stories of Kenny Allgood, a pit breeder who hunted like this and most of my friends took his advice- they rarely lost dogs.
I am not personally that diciplined I may get in close but still cut-em without a visual mostly...