It looked to be a busy day, with my first vehicle of hunters stopping by while I was still setting up my check station signs. A young family, just heading into the hunt area, from across the state. I didn't ask what hour of dark they had had to start out.

Probably unprofessional of me, but should I mention she looked good in camo?

Hunter in the second vehicle had forgotten to bring any hunter orange to wear. Sent him back to town (saving him the cost of a citation), from whence he later returned wearing his brand new orange jacket.

Third vehicle had three men, two of which were hunting.

Passenger hunter forgot his conservation stamp.

Back to town for them, too.

First day of hunting seasons, and people tend to forget stuff. I did. Forgot the raincoat, left my knife and steel on the dresser, had hot water but no mocha mix, and I left the Li'l Smokies in the fridge.

Had numerous tagging errors (technically, violations) as well. Partly because of the new licenses, and partly because people just forget after 10-11 months.

A couple locals pulled off the highway right after the evening rainstorm had passed. I thank them for waiting until I wouldn't get wet before arriving.

The passenger admits they were driving as fast as they could, but the storm just left before they got here.

Each has an antelope in the back.

The buck is perfectly tagged. Tag detached from the license, signed, the wedges for '7' and 'September' neatly cut out, and tied to the buck's horns.

Not until later do I notice the material holding the tag on. I have seen people use just about anything to tie their tags to their kill. Many seem to forget to pack along a short piece of rope or string, so end up using boot laces, laces from sweatshirt hoods, old baling wire, electrical wire stripped from vehicles, barb wire, duct tape (of course), strips of cloth ripped from their clothes (including elastic from underwear), strips of hide or raw sinew from their animal, and yes, dental floss.

This fellow used sagebrush.

The basal stems of old sagebrush plants are fibrous, and he stripped this coarse hemp off a large sage plant to fashion a crude rope.

Worked.

Now, the other antelope, a doe, is not tagged. That's okay, when you're transporting the animal, you're allowed to remove the tag so it doesn't get blown off.

But when the hunter hands me his tag, it is still attached to the license.

A no-no.

And the wedges are simply inked in, not cut out. Technically another no-no (some inks wipe off, theoretically allowing a poacher to go back out and use it another day).

So I look at the license, noting he has been a resident here for 12 years. And ask him how many of those he has been hunting.

"Eleven."

And actually killed something?

"About half."

And you still don't know our tagging laws?

So I take out my pen and highlight the first three words in the fine print instructions on the tag:

And ask him to read.

"Detach from license."

Then I highlight the next sentence, which specifically tells how to cut out the wedges.

By this time, his buddy is having a hard time restraining a snickering fit. Seems he had warned his guilty friend to rip the tag off and cut the wedges. But his friend was certain that these new tags didn't need that.

Never thought to read the instructions.

And this guy's a fireman in our community.

By now the seriousness of this whole thing has sunk in, and there is a slight tremor to his hands. So I ask him if he wants to fix his tag while I write down my data.

I sign off his corrected tag, and then he starts a frantic search through the back of his vehicle. Through toolboxes and backpacks. And then of the cab. And back to the bed. Only when he comes back and starts trying to cut the leather lanyard off his knife do I realize what he is doing.

Trying to find something, anything, to tie the tag to his doe.

I ask him if he's read the rest of the fine print on the tag.

The part that says he can carry the tag in his pocket if he's transporting his animal.

His buddy was laughing out loud by the time they loaded back up and hit the highway.

But I bet his tags are always perfect from here on out.