Seriously? He shot the deer. He killed the deer. He found the deer. It has to be tagged or he's no better than a poacher.

If he were to do this every year then I could see everyone's point. But mistakes are part of hunting. He did not intentionally shoot the deer and leave it. He made a mistake, so now he's a poacher. Wow!

not if he tags the deer.

What is the bag limit where you are hunting? I have been reading posts where some people are shooting unbelievable numbers of deer.
If you are in one of those states, heck, I wouldn't worry about it, learn for it!!!! but I wouldn't tag it, it was a mistake, unfortunate, but a mistake, Good Luck, (and get some slugs) Doc

I am not aware of ANY state that has a regulation that says if you shoot a deer and you don't find it until the next day, don't worry about it, you are not required to tag the deer. That is absurd. If you shoot it, and you find it, you have to tag it. That is the law. Everywhere. If you don't tag it, you are violating the law.

If you were a poacher because you hit a deer and lost it, 50% of the bowhunters out there would be guilty. If you find that deer and it is junk, you did not get that deer. I don't care if it is a 20 pointer. In Pa. if you kill a deer and it is not fit for consumption, the Game Warden will give you another tag. (arrow hit in early season usually) Sounds like most of the people here are rack hunting, not deer hunting.
On the side, buckshot is 15 .32 caliber balls.

Does that law apply when the deer isn't fit for consumption because the hunter didn't find it until the next day? The way I read the rule, it says unfit for human consumption "at the time of killing," not unfit for human consumption "at the time of finding."

If so, I stand corrected. We don't have such a rule in Texas. If you kill it, and find it a day later or a week later, you've burned one of your tags...

I am really confused. So, did you end up actually finding it and putting your hands on it?

Shooting a deer and losing it is not a crime,
Not tagging a deer because you want to save the tag for a better deer is poaching

Terasec I could not agree more! But this is not what this thread is about. It is about a new hunter who made a mistake.

IPCShooter, that is the PA law, if you tag a deer regardless if you just shot it or found it a week later and it is unfit for consumption, you can turn in the whole deer (rack and all) and they will issue you a new tag.