dirtyman I've been the victim of exactly the same brain fart that caused your problem. Luckily, for me, I discovered my error before it was too late and pinched down the barb.
Regarding the treatment you received from the officer, I thought I'd share an experience I had quite a few years ago. A friend and I were returning from the Peace River Country after a week long goose hunting trip. We had two full possession limits of Canadas with us- all nicely plucked, gutted and frozen in freezer bags WITH BOTH WINGS CUT OFF. We had cleaned them ourselves and had overlooked the requirement to leave one wing attached until the birds have been transported to the hunters' permanent residences. I think this was the result of another brain fart possibly brought on by having consumed one or two too many beers during the cleaning process.
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We got checked by a wildlife officer who informed us that we had violated the regulations and that we were subject to being charged with an offence. He stated that his real concern was that we could not prove that some of the birds were were not whitefronts (speckle bellies) and therefore we could be over our possession limit. I pointed out to him that our birds had enough black leg skin stiil on them to identify them as something other than speckle bellies which have orange leg skin.
He must have been somewhat impressed by this because he gave us written warnings instead of charging us. I've always appreciated the common sense approach the officer took with us in dealing with the matter. I do think we were very lucky, however, and I wouldn't count on the next guy being so lenient.
Just thought you might be interested in hearing what happened to me.