Who puts pots in 8 feet of water? I have never run into a situation where a pot was high and dry. I've seen floaters, but wouldn't touch them. I've run around and found my floaters before. How do you know the owner isn't going to go searching for them the next day? Besides, they aren't yours. I mind my own business and tend to MY pots. This is a pet peave of mine because I've caught countless people pulling and screwing with my pots over the years and it drives me nuts.
I'll use another analogy. I scuba dive and see tons of pots on the seafloor. I don't take them because I know they aren't mine. I think I have every right in the world to take them, but I wouldn't feel right if I did.
I'll use another analogy...last year I left my bugle call on the side of a logging road where driving wasn't allowed in. I knew where I left it and came back to get it the next day. Someone had taken it. Sorry, but that pisses me off. I wouldn't pick it up if I found one on the side of the road knowing another hunter forgot it there. Even if they never came back, how would you know? Don't touch what isn't yours. That's my opinion.