My husband and I hunt the D7 zone (CA Sierras), and had an unfortunate incident take place. I shot what was believed to be a legal buck (undeniably a forkie, even hung my ring on it). I did everything right--hubby checked with his binocs, I scoped him, all seemed fine, so when I was told, "Honey, he's legal, SHOOT", I did. Tagged, field dressed, etc. After 2 days of "curing", we took him to the butcher, and upon return to our cabin, found a game warden, who announced that I'd taken an ILLEGAL BUCK (by now, the meat was in a locker 30 miles south of our camp). I explained my reasoning behind the kill, and was told that the fork needs to be in the upper 2/3 of the antlers. Supposedly, my buck had guard horns (I know guard horns, these were too long). My meat and gun were not confiscated because I was told that I made an honest mistake, etc. "You're an honest hunter--you just goofed". Trouble is, I just found out in my "arraignment" that the punishment for this crime is jail time and a hefty fine! Pretty scary for someone who hasn't even gotten a speeding ticket in her life..Has anyone had this happen? How did you handle it?? Helllllp?

I doubt you would do jail time for what you stated happened . Is there anyway you could post a picture of the horns they would be interesting to see .

Sure wish I could post the picture, but the game warden DID take the horns. It was a Pacific Black Tail, and a forkie, with (if they were &quot;guard horns&quot exceptionally long guard horns--at least<u></u> 3 inches (no less).
At any rate, I have learned my lesson: When a spouse says, &quot;Honey, Trust ME (most recently used in the phrase, &quot;Honey, trust me, he's a legal buck&quot&quot;, don't listen.