Thanks, I am still in the process of cooling down a bit. Its harder when I went in there expecting to pay somewhere between 50 and 100.
I would have felt much better getting the fine from a DNR officer that actually understands what I was charged with.
You are right though, it was my mistake. Unfortunately, on top of learning that I need to be stricter about my tagging practices, I also learned that I am better off lying to a DNR officer. I figured being honest and explaining myself would have gotten me a little leniency for a first offense but I was wrong.