ORIGINAL: DougE
Sylvan,if someone gut shoots a deer and finds it day's later,they should tag the deer if they want any part of it whether they're 16 years old or 60 years old.If i made a bad hit on a deer and failed to recover it,I certainly wouldn't be proud of the rack,especially if I went out and tried to kill another one.
DougeE, we don't all see things the same way. You certainly have a right to your opinion as do I. Personally,should I make a bad hit on a deer that results in my failure to recover it I feel absolutelyhorrible. Not for my loss (it's not a pride thing)but because of the idea that I caused the animal to suffer a slow death. Fortunately, it's only happened a couple of times in my 40+ years of hunting.I've never found the deer days later though but should it happen, as I said before,if I wanted the antlers I wouldn't hesitate to take them. I wouldn't tag the carcass either. I see no benefit to anybody or anythingin punishing myself for the unfortunate and certainly unintentional bad hit. But if you feel a need to assuage your concience by wasting your tag I won't tellsay you are being foolish. Like I said, we don't all see things the same way.
Take care!