The law is the law. It's the kid's responsibilty to make sure he has a tag for what he is pulling the trigger on.
I was wondering when the "holyer than thou, i've never made a mistake, the kid should've known better" crowd would rear its head. [:@]
There is such a thing as a warning for a 1st offense and in this case it sounds obvious that it was simple misunderstanding of the combo liscence and tags. If it was an attempt to poach, they would have never tried to check the bear in the 1st place. The fact that other members of the party were willing to sacrifce their tags to ensure that only the correct number of bears would be taken, (thats what the tags are for right? only 'x' amount of tags issued so only 'y' amount of bears are taken) should have squared things up. To fine a 12 year old $500 and take his ability to get a Bear for 3 years on a 1st offense is obscence! I dont care what you all say. Another future hunter lost.
I have an Idea, lets really teach him a lesson! Ask killer where this all took place. I'll go out and buy a couple of 4X4's and some nails. Then we can all head on down and crucify the kid. If we let all the PETA members in the area know, I'm sure we'll get a good turn out!
Come on guys! Lets support young hunters and give the kid a break!