I think its just being a sportsman. You have a tag to kill one deer. The fact that it was eaten by coyotes does not change the fact that you killed that deer, especially since it was a bad shot on the deer that caused you to have to return the next day.

Someone asked where do you draw the line, I' ll tell you where my line is. One year I shot a deer and it was obviously hit. We tracked it for a half mile where we lost sign. My party looked for that deer for nearly a day and it was gone. I don' t know for sure where I hit the deer (thought it was a good hit but who knows) and if it ever expired but I put my tag away for the rest of the hunt. I helped my friends but did no more hunting on that trip. In my eyes I filled the tag but due to a poor shot I had nothing to show for it. I have never not recovered an animal since.