November 1999, warden Jeff Scott investigated a set of suspicious circumstances at an old cow camp cabin on upper Work Creek. A convicted felon was using the cabin. A search of nearby buildings turned up several deer carcasses, one of which was wasted. The cabin dweller was charged with possession of a wasted game animal.
According to him, two Washington State hunters he had personal information on had illegally taken a large six-point bull elk and a five-point mule deer buck on the neighboring Bue Ranch, as well as two additional deer. The two had since returned to their home in Belfair Washington.
“After five days of scouring the area for evidence and witnesses, my persistence paid off,” Scott said “Working with the landowner’s help I was able to find faint OHV tracks left in high grass leading to a marker left behind by the poacher.” The marker revealed a covered cache from which Scott recovered elk hair and a piece of broken plastic from the OHV. A thorough search turned up the covered carcass of a caped and quartered bull elk and the remains of a mule deer buck gut pile about one mile from the elk. The crime scene was carefully processed and photographs taken. Scott collected samples of the elk for possible D.N.A. comparisons and the locked gate leading into the ranch was also processed as evidence, as it had been dismantled by the criminals to gain access and then put back together again.
“With evidence in hand, I contacted U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Doug Goessman of Bozeman,” Scott said. Together they conducted follow up interviews and taped a telephone conversation between the convicted felon and one of the Washington suspects. The interviews made it clear the felon was acting as an outfitter without a license.
Agent Goessman and FWP warden Scott located the convicted felon already charged with wasting meat on Otter Creek north of Big Timber and conducted another two-hour interview.
“With over 45 years of combined experience we both agreed this was one of our toughest interviews,” Scott said. “The fellow was polished, experienced and ready to walk on us.” But, the suspect eventually confessed to illegal outfitting.
In the end, all three defendants pled guilty.
The illegal outfitter was charged with possession of wasted game animals and fined $320, charged with outfitting without a license and fined $1,020, and his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges were revoked for 24 months.
One of the Washington men was fined $520 for unlawful possession of bull elk, $520 for unlawful possession of a mule deer buck, $130 for criminal mischief, $130 for criminal trespass, $120 for operating a vehicle off established roads, and $120 for unlawful use of two-way communication.
The other man from Washington was fined $520 for unlawful possession of a bull elk, $520 for unlawful possession of a whitetail deer, fined $520 for solicitation to aid and abet a criminal, $120 for unlawful use of two-way communication, and 120 for criminal trespass. Both Washington men’s hunting privileges were revoked for 36 months.
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