I have never wounded an animal or missed one..
So you're talking to the wrong guy here...But I can tell yathis much..I do practice and I know of my shot before it gets taken.....
If I ever did missan animal I'd Make certain that I'd take ahuge effort in making sure thats what I did because Iknow that my shot was onthe mark..The next step would belooking..I Always Shoot WithA Spotter 2 sets of eyes are better than one...So as I'm dealing with the ringing of the ears and recoil etc..The other set of eyes is on the target watching closley with bino's untilthat animalhas exhausted..
I'm not saying the animal drop in their tracks but they certainly don't go far either...
As far as misses go...there is no such thing as a clean miss.Anything is possible.. eg Ricochet...Any shot taken, should be taken seriosly,,
efforts should be made make sure it did miss.
As far as "unsure misses go"I define If you have a good line of site but the animal takes off and there is no evidence of a hit....Be positive that is the case..More often than not it is hit....
The shooter has that responsibility. Everybody knows animals don't bleed right away..
Everybody knows that animals certaily aren't going to let you catch them they will run..
Everbody knows they will be elusive..eg.crawling away in tall grass bedding down in thickets etc....
Use those skills to find it...
And for the Record...To answer your questin...."Wouldyou cancelyour tag......".Ya if it was an" unsure miss" I'd cancel my tag......I take my hunting and shooting skills very seriously
and I do put high standards on myself...I know I'm not the only that does that either..........
But your comparing apples to oranges.....This hunter/writerWounded this elk.....And he admiitedly did that.....
And reason that are already explained above I don't think that was right that he harvested another.
Legal or not...Ethics have to be practiced..