Well this one went off the rails from counting a lost bird to a full blown argument about 28 gauge shotguns.
My opinion on the lost bird, as others have stated, is that you need to make a reasonable attempt to recover that bird. Who cares if it fell in a sea of cattails that appears impossible to get to. Try. Or don't hunt there. I don't lose many birds, less than one/season. I lost one bird last year and that was the first one in years. When I lose one, I do not count it in my bag limit.
A buck/deer is a different story. Quite often the bag limit on a deer is only one, especially a buck. I've never lost a wounded deer. Honestly I don't know what I'd do. That would bother me a lot more than losing a rooster.