Poaching Gets Montana Men Fines and Loss of Hunting Rights

Two Montana men won't have to worry about whether their rifles are sighted in or packing for a hunting camp this coming fall after an investigation led to the dismissal of their hunting privileges and a few thousand dollars in fines.

via GIPHY

The Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) Region 3 say the two men, Jeremy Michael Hill and Ryan Francis McGuire of Harrison, Montana killed multiple deer over a several year period illegally.  The incidents took place in Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin counties.

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Poaching Gets Montana Men Fines and Loss of Hunting Rights

After an initial tip to game wardens by a concerned citizen regarding a "wasted whitetail buck found in Hill’s possession", MFWP conducted a yearlong investigation into the two men and found multiple infractions against wildlife had happened.

shallow focus photo of white paper sheet mounted on cork board

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As the investigation unfolded, game wardens were able to show evidence that Hill "over a three-year period, killed multiple antlered deer each year. Hill also used hunting licenses issued to family members to tag illegally harvested deer."  Evidence also showed that "McGuire aided and abetted Hill as they hunted deer from a vehicle after legal shooting hours."

Montana Men Face Thousand's in Fines and Loss of Hunting Privileges

Once the dust had settled on the initial investigation, authorities had a laundry list of charges for the two Montana men:

• unlawful possession of a game animal, hunting or killing overlimit on deer, unlawful hunting from a public highway, unlawful hunting from a vehicle, unlawful use of equipment while hunting (spotlighting), waste of a game animal, failure to obtain landowner permission for hunting, and failing to validate a general deer license

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (Region 3) via Facebook

After being convicted, Hill was sentenced to a 36-month hunting and fishing privilege suspension and fines totaling $2,980; McGuire was sentenced to a 24-month privilege suspension and fines totaling $670.

person holding silver ring on 100 us dollar bill

I can't speak for everyone on this, but those fines and loss of privilege seem a little lenient in my opinion.  But there is a small caveat to the loss of hunting rights in regard to Hill and McGuire; Montana is part of the "interstate wildlife violator compact" meaning "violators who lose privileges in one state lose them in all 50 states".