Wounding animal

This is a very good question! If a wounded animal is located while hunting and it is still alive nothing would prohibit you from taking the animal and tagging it as your own, as long as you have a valid license, tag and or permit for the same animal and area where you are hunting. The hunter who kills the animal and takes it into possession is the hunter who should legally tag the animal. However, this becomes a question of ethics and sportsmanship at times. Idaho Law requires hunters who wound or kill animals to make a "reasonable effort to retrieve" the animal and reduce it to possession. In addition all hunters are required to remove and care for the edible meat of big game animals, except bear, mountain lion and gray wolves. (See Pg 97 "Wounding and Retrieving" of the 2014 Big Game seasons and Rules).  If you know someone else is tracking the animal you may want to let the hunter who wounded the animal have their opportunity to retrieve the animal they wounded, especially if the animal is unable to move and you know the hunter is actively tracking the animal. If the animal is already dead but fresh and salvageable I would suggest reporting it immediately to a Conservation officer as the dead animal may be part of a violation. You cannot legally tag or possess an animal killed by another hunter.