How does the saying go? The couple that poaches together, gets a plea deal together . . .

As News Talk KGVO reports, a Trout Creek couple is facing stiff fines and hunting restrictions after Montana wardens began an investigation into accusations of improper purchase of resident licenses. According to FWP spokesman Dillon Tabish, the case got much larger.

‘It evolved into a much larger case that included illegally hunting game animals over bait and using a very significant amount of supplemental feeding to attract game animals,” said Tabish. “Our investigator Brian Summers discovered and said this was one of the most severe cases of providing supplemental feed to wildlife that he has encountered in his 32 year career.”

Tabish says multiple species were killed illegally.

Maybe it was the couple’s fetish to break hunting laws together?

“There was a bull elk that was shot on a resident license that was confiscated, a mule deer buck that was shot on a residence license that was confiscated, a white tail buck and a black bear that was shot,” Tabish said. “The animals were killed anywhere between 2012 up through 2015. Mr. Ricks was charged with 56 citations in both Sanders and Gallatin County.”

Dylan Ricks entered a plea agreement with fines totaling over 10,000 dollars, his wife, Cheryl Ricks entered a plea agreement with fines over $3,000, she faced 11 citations.

Single or married, regardless of the “why” they do it, poachers are sick individuals that steal from us all. Agreed?

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16 COMMENTS

  1. No argument there. It’s for good reason the anti-poaching program in Texas is called Operation Game Thief.
    Call 1-800-792-4263 to rat a game thief out.
    🤠

      • Just read that article on the Ruths in Montana. Talk about giving a new ‘flavor’ to the term “trailer park trash”! Except the didn’t even live in a trailer park! But you all get the idea.
        IMHO, neither of the parents should be allowed to have any contact with the children, much less raise them. The adults have clearly displayed a blatant disregard for laws and it surely has to have been passed on to their offspring.

    • Public property, throw the book at them. If its private property, I couldn’t care any less. Good neighbors mind their own business.

        • +1…you purchased land, so therefore you may do as you please no matter how it effects enjoyment of surrounding lands. ” I got mine – suckers”. If we all behaved that way, would be back to the days when game was scarce.

  3. Killing animals for fun is wrong, unless you pay some money to the government, then it’s suddenly OK. Makes sense.

  5. Ah, Trout Creek. Where the riff raff in Sanders County go to party. Joke with the wife about moving down there. Or, I tell the joke, and she doesn’t laugh. She is the one with > 30 years as a part time county resident. I just look at the better property values.

  6. “Montana Couple Fined over Hunting Violations”

    Why? Were violations out of season or something? And who would want to hunt violations in the first place? They’re hard to field dress and they taste like sh!t.

  7. To me their are two kinds of poachers, ones who do it to eat, and ones that do it for the ” horns” the latter are deplorable, the former are hunters whom cannot afford to pay the price to hunt. My family was as poor as poor could be, we couldn’t afford a to pay the price for 70 lbs of deer meat so as a child I poached, on private land and public, was taught how to hide our trot lines underwater, walk backwards when going in a hunting area to throw off the game wardens. Learned to shoot once and only once to keep from being marked, no big guns .22 and get close. Leave no footprints and many other tricks. Not only was I the hunter, but I was also the hunted. Ironically, my oldest son is a game warden now, and the stuff I taught him about poaching has really helped him in catching poachers. Lol.. BE IT KNOWN, I hunt for food, there’s noway in hell I’m paying $750 to shoot a turkey. These Big Money hunting clubs can kiss my ass, THE KINGS GAME, indeed. The closest I’ve ever been to getting caught was guys on horses, they just about had me, I swum a river, I ll be damned they did too. They couldn’t make it up the clay bank though, and once I got in the heavy timber they didn’t have a chance. Damn that was fun. I’m to old for that shit now, but it sure was fun

    • There needs to be a special license one can get at no fee if it can be proven that the hunter is indeed taking it for food only and can’t afford the ridiculous costs many states charge. Call it a subsistence license. I think Alaska has something like it for the native population.

  8. The article in question is light on details.

    So, what I can gather from what limited information presented, the case was built around the couple hunting over bait. It seems that the couple didn’t take any more game than what they had tags for, even if the tags were obtained in an otherwise legal manner, fines were assessed ( too high IMO ) and everyone got on with their day.

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