My nephew got a $120 ticket for finishing off a deer after dark with a gun. The ticket was for shooting after dark not killing a deer after dark. Someone called the game warden and reported it and the game warden was waiting at my nephews truck when he got there with the deer. He was going to get more tickets but the deer did have two bullet holes and only one shot was heard after dark.
My nephew made a bad first shot and then went after the deer before he should have and that resulted in pushing the deer. Twice he tried to get close enough to cut it' s throat but both times the deer bolted. Finally, he shot the deer from about 20 yards to finish it.
The boy learned his lesson. In his defense, the buck was his first really nice buck and it was in an area heavy with coyotes and wild dogs and he didn' t want to lose it or have it eaten by the night critters. He said next time he makes a bad shot at dark that he would wait till the next morning to find it, regardless. I told him alot more practice would have eliminated the whole problem