That's a hard question as to what I would have done. On one had the young man flat out broke the law and wasted a bird to boot. Whether he was sorry or not, he did wrong and he knew what he was doing was illegal and wrong.

Lets look at it a different way. What if he just shot the head off the bird and did not waste any meat. So what happens next time he is out in the middle of no where and feels he had not got HIS proper bag limit of meat and sees another bird? Break the law again because it worked last time?

I guess I would have stress to him how disappointed I was in his behavior, told him next time you pull that kind of stunt I will personally turn you in. And then never hunt with him again.