COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A northern Idaho man says he will take his chances with a jury rather than pay a $200 fine for shooting a wolf without a hunting tag.

Fifty-three-year-old Forrest Mize told The Coeur d'Alene Press that he thinks a jury will agree he was just trying to protect his three dogs. Mize was hiking with his pets last month when they came upon the wolf. Mize said he feared the animal was about to attack, so he shot it with the gun he was carrying for protection.

He then decided he wanted to keep the pelt, and so bought a hunting tag and took the carcass to a taxidermist. Wildlife officials confiscated the pelt. Mize turned down Kootenai County prosecutors' plea deal offer for the misdemeanor on Tuesday.

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