Who has the deer now? The truth is the truth is any case, but possession is nice as well.
Situations can get awkward even when the facts and hits aren't under dispute, and in many cases its the opposite as in each hunter would rather the other tag it. Sometimes its better to keep the peace, and sometimes its nicer to keep your tag. The first time it happened to me, the guy I was hunting with took a long shot at a big mulie, and while we both thought it lurched a bit when it left there wasn't really much to go on. It was in the sandhills, with no snow. We both looked for it, separately and together and as it happened were together when I saw the distant limping buck walking away. Harris bipods were a bit of a novelty back then, and I got on my belly and shot it twice at 450.Longest shots of my life at that point. As it turned out he was hit through the ankle a few inches above the hoof. Both of us were willing to let the other have it, both could see that a case could be made either way, and honestly both would just as soon take it home. Ultimately I told him to keep it, and he didn't argue long. It scored 183 and change. It was years before I felt great about it. Sometimes doing the right thing is hard.