Let’s say you shoot a deer and it runs 50 yards thru the trees onto the neighbors property. Are you going to call the neighbor and ask to go retrieve it or are just going to drag it back onto your side and not say anything to the neighbor. Myself I always prefer to talk to the neighbors first.
When I hunted that piece there was 3 other camps in there and each camp had 3-4 guys in it. And I think I seen one antelope in 5 days of hunting that piece.
The only time I have tried hunting that piece I kept running into people from Gillette out there walk/hiking their dog. It was frustrating for me but I am glad people are out using their public land!
Since there is zero chance of the gun being off or the chance that you whiffed the shot it is time you learn how to track a wounded animal. By the sounds of it you are an above average marksman and have never needed the skill of being able to find a wounded animal. Now is the time to put the gun...
You could always get an AR with an adjustable stock. 6.5 Grendel would do the trick. Then when the kids grow up and move out you still have a useable gun. This is the route I went.
I run the kuiu harness and I have really like it. I do have to agree with the slop when you run smaller binos. But I like how the harness doesn’t hang low or bounce around if you jog.