Plain and simple, he was poaching and you were a willing a party to it. If you guys would have just told the truth from the get go I bet things would have turned out better.

I would pay the fine and keep your mouth shut, unless you want to hire a lawyer. If you fight it there is a good chance they can take your hunting privilages away for a while and possibly confiscate your weapons.

Your buddy should have just copped to it as soon he was asked and said he borrowed someones tag and not got you involved. If one of my friends had done this they would have made it very clear to the warden I had no knowledge of it just keep me from getting in trouble.

Hunting on someone elses tag is pretty common around here though, but not out of state. I know quite a few people that have thier wives and relatives get tags and they use them. I'm not going to debate the ethics of it, just saying it happens. Being out of state and doing it is a bit scary though, sort of lucky he didn't spend some time in the county jail. Unless you had to pay bail to keep that from happening.

Good luck when you go to court. If you are really worried about it talk to a lawyer in your area.

Paul