About this series The vast majority of the Montana’s hunters operate within regulations designed to ensure the health of one of the state’s most coveted and protected resources: its wildlife. But not all. As stories of headless elk, shot wolves and illegally taken bears, antelope and mule deer keep popping up, Lee Enterprises took aim at answering some of the deeper questions about poaching across Big Sky Country. This series examines the costs, challenges and trends that law enforcement, lawmakers and prosecutors face as they attempt the daunting job of stopping poachers.
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Lou Royce, a game warden sergeant based in the Bitterroot Valley, patrols the Poker Joe fishing access site on the Bitterroot River near Florence last month. Royce has investigated all kinds of wildlife crimes and poaching cases in his nearly two decades working for the state.
BEN ALLAN SMITH, Missoulian
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Lee Enterprises sought poaching data and information about the number and nature of unsolved poaching cases. FWP indicated that it does not keep such data or keeps incomplete data.
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A spike elk found shot and left to waste near Georgetown lake.
Photo courtesy Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
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A cow elk found shot and left to waste near Georgetown lake.
Photo courtesy Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
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"People aren't bragging about the drugs that they're moving across the state, but they're bragging about animals that they just have killed.”
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A screenshot of a Facebook post referenced in the charging documents for Cameron Wyant and Dylan Boyer. Authorities allege the two men killed the pictured bull elk in Hunting District 380 without the necessary licensing or permissions.
Facebook/Meta
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A detective testifies during the trial of Philip Mark Payton in 2007 in Missoula.
Missoulian file photo
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There are big poaching busts in Montana every year. Here's a list of some of the most heinous cases in the state's recent history.
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Hunting is a time-honored Montana tradition, but poachers are costing Montanans money and our natural resources.
David Erickson is the business reporter for the Missoulian.
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Feb 25, 2026
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