What you did seems to me to illustrate why hunting is a sport, and not a game. In a game, there are judges, referees and umpires watching to rule on what is in compliance with the rules, and what is not. In a sport, in almost every case the decision between right and wrong, that is to comply with the rules or not is up to the sportsman. These decisions are most often made alone and unobserved, and with little or no chance to be caught.

In some cases, there are no rules except the ethical standards held by the hunter. That is why "gamesmanship" has a very negative connotation, and "sportsmanship" is just the opposite.

You could have walked away and saved your tag, along with the rest of the last day of hunting. You chose to do what I think is the right thing. Most ethical hunters who earn the title sportsman would have done the same.

Gerry