One thing about being legal . I hope he filled out the harvest report before they moved it
That would be pretty poor if he got a ticket for that. Surely if a game warden was there he would overlook that in unusual circumstances. Technically, the deer died in the lake and no sense reporting it if he didn't find the deer and finding it would involve snagging it and getting to a safe place to report the the harvest ie: on land.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it"