I fully understand why "outdoor writer" plead guilty to trespassing. In some cases, it is a ton easier and much cheaper to just pay the fine than hire a lawyer and fight it. It's the nature of the court system. I found myself in a similar situation a few months ago when i was coyote hunting with a guy I work with. We were suppose to meet his buddies that had hounds, while we were waiting for them, a coyote crossed the road in front of the truck and he grabbed his gun and shot it from the truck.(he was driving) Somebody called and turned "us" in. 10 minutes later a game warden was there, long story short, even though my gun was cased and unloaded, I still got the same tickets as the guy who shot the coyote. Could I have hired a lawyer and fought it? Sure if I wanted to shell out $1500. However I have a wife and 4 children and can't quite afford that, so I plead no contest and paid the $420 fine while grinding my teeth. I will no longer go hunting with this guy, as he obviously doesn't share the same values in hunting as I do. It would of been nice to know that ahead of time. The real kick in the mouth was when I got home, my dad called and said that we lost a 2 week old calf to coyotes the previous night.