southpaw,
whether the DEC officer was being too strict or not is irrelevant; the fact is something happened, you admitted it and took care of it like a true hunter should. Well done, and a lesson learned for all of us. Its hard to see things from an officers side sometimes and what his past experiences have conditioned him to think in these situation (right or wrong) but it sounds like you handled it very well and came out of it relatively well all things concidered. Just try not to let this spoil something you enjoy doing; we all make mistakes, we just need to try and make them a positive learing experience and move on.
Thanks for sharing.