It should be made clear that he did indeed identify the target, and it was not possible for him to see the deer standing directly behind the other. This was in the thick Maine woods, in a cedar/spruce thicket to be exact. It is often not possible to see more than 20-30 yards in this kind of hunting situation.

As far as turning the deer over to wildlife officials afterwards, yes that would maybe be the " right" thing to do, but it would be a gamble as to whether the warden(s) would be understanding or not. He may have been lucky and had a down-to-earth warden just take the illegal deer and give it to a needy family or homeless shelter and tell him to be on his way. On the other hand, he may have had one who goes strictly by the book take both deer and his hunting license and his gun. They could even take his vehicle by state law if they wanted to. These are the things he had to consider when deciding his course of action. Of course, if he had gotten caught trying to hide the illegal animal it would have made the consequences that much worse.

Would any of you have done what the law says you should do and leave the animal there to suffer while you left and tried to find a game warden? I think it' s really tough to say if anything would have been the " right" thing to do in this situation, but I' d love to hear some more opinions.