Correct, your friend has zero title to it.
Here in South Dakota the guy who found it doesn't have title to it, it's property of the state. People can and have been fined heavily for keeping dead heads they have found. I think it's meant to discourage poaching but it doesn't, and people still keep them when they find them. A big one like that though would get a lot of attention


Beware of any old man in a profession where one usually dies young.

Calm seas don't make sailors.