October 2000, Red Lodge Warden Kevin Nichols received a call from a Roberts area rancher that he had found a mule deer buck on his property that had been shot and abandoned near Cottonwood Road the night before. When Nichols investigated, he found where the deer had been shot from the road, and located tire tracks and two spent .270 Winchester cartridge cases. He photographed the carcass and collected the bullet casings for evidence.
Nichols’ experience told him this impulsive shooting was most likely the work of juveniles. When a TIP-MONT call the next day reported two teenagers shooting into a herd of deer from the county road just over the hill from the earlier shooting, Nichols had a hunch.
The witness said the two young men shot into the herd, wounding at least one deer, then sped away in a dark blue Toyota pickup with fat tires. The witness was unable to get a license plate number but he did get a description of the passengers.
“The shooters had luckily killed just one animal, a mule deer fawn with three .22 cal. bullet holes in it, two in the body and one in the rump and no exit wounds,” Nicols said. Nichols recovered two lead rimfire-type bullets from the carcass, but didn’t find any rifle brass on the road where the witness had seen the shooting occur. He photographed the carcass and the rest of the scene and went looking for a dark blue, early 80’s Toyota pickup with fat tires.
A young Carbon County dispatcher who lived in the area recognized the vehicle and suggested Nichols talk to a 15-year old living near Cooney Dam who matched the witness’s description. When Nichols reached the boy’s home, a dark blue Toyota pickup with fat tires was parked in the drive. The suspect wasn’t home but his mother was, and she was willing to cooperate with the warden.
With the mother’s permission, Nichols searched the pickup and found a Ruger .22 rifle, dozens of spent .22 long rifle cases, several .270 Winchester cases and a Remington .270 rifle behind the seat.
When the young man arrived home he quickly implicated a friend, another 15-year old, as the shooter of the fawn. He admitted that he had been the driver when his partner had shot the buck with the .270. Apparently, the two frequently drove around after school shooting at game and non-game animals.
“I cited this young man for hunting deer out of season,” said Nichols. “I knew I’d most likely be back to talk to him again after questioning his friend.”
The young man’s friend eventually admitted to shooting the buck on Cottonwood Road and to taking some of the shots at the fawn. All the shooting was done from inside the vehicle, explaining why no empty bullet casings were found at the scene.
The second shooter was cited for two counts of hunting deer out of season.
“When I revisited the first youth, his suddenly improved memory recalled shooting several times at the fawn. He was cited for a second count of hunting deer out of season and the rifles, which were his fathers, were seized for evidence,” Nichols said.
The young men were fined $320 for each count against them. The court allowed them to pay part of the fine in community service. Their hunting and fishing privileges were revoked for 24 months each.
That ended weeks of drive-by wildlife shootings.
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