Wonton Waste is not to be allowed if you are a honorable hunter. It did keep me out of real trouble 40 years ago. I was duck hunting just below the Delaware state line in Maryland. Shot a Black duck which hit the water and dived. Up it came about 30 yards away and dove again. Once it got into the tide current it was on a high speed highway moving away from me and across the state line. So I get into my boat with my retriever to collect it. Ended up a mile across the line by the time we got close enough for the dog to get him. That Black duck dove several times trying to get away. Black ducks are tricky to retrieve sometimes. But in the end we got him just in time to see the Delaware DNR coming.

Duck season was closed in Delaware but open in MD. They stopped me and asked me what the blank I was doing. Showed them the duck. Explained I shot it in MD but the tide carried it across state lines. They were not happy. Considered charging me with hunting out of season. I had my shotgun in the boat. Sometimes you need to swat cripples to recover them. I did have hunting licenses for both states so I was legal in that reguard but duck season was closed in one. They still did not think it gave me the right to cross state lines. My position was it was a a federal offense to not attempt recovery so under wonton waste I was required to get my bird. They agreed after much debate it was reasonable but I should not make a habit of coming into their state like this. They did escort me back to my blind to see that I had been hunting in MD. By then ducks were done moving for the morning and I had to call it a day.