Congrats on a fine bull reminds me of two wounded mule deer that i have burned my AT tag on. One 3x3 had maggots in the wound it sure smelled bad. We boned it inthe field and made sure we had enough meat to meet a wardens ciriosity. Both bucks were leg hit and suffering but what does that say about the shooters. The 3x3 was hot in the rear ham and the femur was severed. Most likely it was recoverable at the time it was shot.in WI & MN in the past 50 years I've also taken a couple of nice whitetails that were shot & not found by others. 2 of which I killed in their beds.one with snow on the ground. Recovery certainly should have been made if an effort was made.