Luckily you ran into a sensible game warden!
A friend ran into another one many years ago, after he'd shot a spike mule deer by mistake, thinking it was a doe. The antlers were about 6" long, above the 4" limit for an "antlerless" tag, so he turned himself in. The warden fined him minimally and confiscated the deer. Back then, however, they could auction off confiscated game animals in the field, and "sold" the deer back to my friend for $10!
