I agree with what you've said about KNOWINGLY cheating. I've taught thousands of kids in hunter ed. I know of one who shot a small elk, thinking it was a large deer. He was young, he was looking into the sun and got excited. That's a violation; it's not knowingly cheating. They did not "throw the book" at him. I was glad for that, because he was a decent kid who screwed up. (Besides whatever his folks said, I repeated the lecture about being perfect when one has a rifle, because a mistake is very costly (not meaning the fine).
I've been hunting big game for 40+ years. Approximately 20 years ago, Idaho changed the format of the hunting regs. That was done because of something I did. I shot a good-sized deer out of season...actually it would have been in season almost any place. Except, the regs were changed so that a small area wholly contained within a larger area was closed 2 weeks earlier. LOTS of people were hunting inside the area that closed earlier than the surrounding areas.
The F&G realized it was such a potential problem, they had lots of (daily) visits to the three access points to "chase" hunters away. Anyone who didn't have a deer was simply told about the change and allowed to leave. I didn't realize the change either...my responsibility, but an honest mistake. I came off the mountain, looked up the warden and showed off my large deer. He apologized all the while he wrote me a ticket. He even went to court with me and asked for the minimum sentence.
I goofed, but paid the price. I was not allowed to hunt for a year and had to pay a fine. The warden suggested the state print the new changes in YELLOW, because it help reduce the number of similar mistakes.
I'm not saying I should not have gotten a fine. I am saying it would not have been justice to not allow the judge, or the F&G, some discretion depending for what was an honest mistake....not knowingly done.
That being said, I turn in people I see shooting from roads, shooting more than one animal or people I know hunt without tags. I think knowing violations should carry real stiff fines, if they are performed on "trophy" animals. I think the guy actually trying to fee a hungry family is very rare, but I would differentiate between a doe for groceries and a large buck for the antlers. The COs I know are pretty decent guys who appreciate such differences, too.