Id be willing to bet they didnt set out that night to shoot cows,OR antelope,they were after rabbits and yotes and then their stupid surfaced.In the antelope case they had killed some varmits before they found the antelope,ill ty to find the story..
By EVE BYRON - Independent Record - 02/15/08
Eliza Wiley IR Photo Editor - Fish, Wildlife and Parks game warden Dave Loewen shows items seized during the arrest of two suspects in the killing of 10 antelope east of Canyon Ferry Reservoir. Two teenagers out looking for coyotes and small animals to shoot allegedly ended up illegally killing 10 antelope they ran into east of Canyon Ferry Reservoir last week.
On Thursday, Ryon Bullock, 19, and Chase Parker, 18, were arrested at their Helena apartment on one felony offense of unlawful possession, shipping or transporting game animals, and four misdemeanor counts associated with the crime.
Mike Ottman and Dave Loewen, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks game wardens, are clearly disgusted by the carnage allegedly done by the young men armed with an AR-15 and a Ruger Mini-14.
Ottman, who has been a warden for decades, said he has never seen such a malicious type of free-for-all that involved so many dead animals.
“Those are not hunters; they’re thieves, criminals stealing wildlife from the state of Montana. This is a criminal act,” Ottman said. “They did it outside of the season, during the darkness. It’s atrocious and doesn’t represent the sportspeople of Montana.”
Loewen said he started on the case last Thursday, when he got a call from a fisheries biologist asking if Loewen had heard anything about some freshly killed antelope in district 390, where the hunting season ended in November.
“I drove down to lower Confederate Gulch Road, came around a corner and saw dozens and dozens of ravens and magpies. I immediately knew something here wasn’t right,” Loewen recalled.
What he found were two dead bucks and eight does lying dead in the snow. Blood trails gave evidence of the animals’ struggle to survive after they were shot, some multiple times.
“I’ve seen people shoot one or two out of their truck and leave it by the road, but this was the first time I saw 10 animals lying together like that,” Loewen said. “It looked like someone mowed ’em down.”
With few leads to go on, he turned to the Independent Record, hoping that someone might read about the shooting and help out. That effort proved fruitful, with a person — the wardens don’t want to identify at this point — calling 1-800-TIP-MONT with information that led to a search warrant on Tuesday and the arrest of the young men Thursday.
Loewen said Bullock and Parker, who moved to Helena from Three Forks, cooperated. In statements to the officer, the two said they were driving around Confederate Gulch at night, looking for “varmints” like rabbits and coyote — something legal to shoot in the dark — when they came around a corner and saw the herd of hundreds of antelope.
“The driver, Ryon Bullock, pointed his AR-15 rifle out the window and shot into the herd several times, hitting several antelope,” Loewen said. “Chase Parker, the passenger, exited the vehicle, and using the Mini-14 with a high-capacity magazine, fired several rounds into the herd.
“After they were done shooting, the herd ran off and the antelope were either on the ground or walking around bleeding. Then they walked up to the individual antelope and shot each one in the head. Then they went back to the vehicle and drove off.”
The two were taken into custody in lieu of a $25,000 bond, and are slated to appear in District Court in Broadwater County this morning.
Along with the felony count, the two men are charged with hunting during a closed season, waste of game, and hunting with the use of artificial light. Parker also is charged with shooting from the roadway, and Bullock is charged with hunting from a vehicle.