Poaching Board Approves Nearly $50,000 In Fines
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has quantified some of the impacts of poaching in the state from 2025 with an uptick in reported poaching cases and fines leveraged against defendants compared to 2024.
In a report by TIPMONT, the state’s program that encourages the public to report poaching crimes by offering reward payouts to informants who help lead to convictions, the state authorized $28,100 in reward money to members of the public in 2025.
The TIPMONT board at its April meeting also approved $48,553 in fines levied against defendants in poaching cases presented to the board; 66 total years of lost hunting, fishing and trapping privileges for the defendants; 153 total charges and $71,010 in restitution paid by defendants.
Poaching crimes include illegal shed hunting, vandalism, littering, cultural resource theft and other resource crimes. TIPMONT offers potential cash rewards of up to $1,000 for individuals who report poaching crimes.
“By reporting poaching, individuals contribute to the conservation of endangered species and the overall health of natural habitats,” FWP Operation Sgt. and TIPMONT coordinator Brooke Shelley said in a statement.
The 2025 numbers are higher than the previous year, which saw 83 charges and $37,250 in restitution, but the agency notes that the increase is partly due to the timing of the TIPMONT board meeting — which occurred after the 2025 hunting season this time, as opposed to in mid-summer in 2024.
However, Shelley said that breaking down the number by year still shows “more and bigger cases” submitted for the 2025 season.
To report information about possible poaching incidents, visit tipmont.mt.gov Across the state’s seven hunting regions, game wardens reported similar hunting seasons compared to previous years, but a few noted an uptick in violations.
In western Montana, Warden Capt. Kyle Miller said he saw more hunters who hadn’t thoroughly read hunting regulations and “because of that mistakes were made,” including some hunters being in areas without the required permits.
“We also saw hunters not reading the ‘Opportunity Specific Details and/or Restrictions’ box in the regulations, which restricts who may harvest an animal or where that animal may be harvested,” Miller added, resulting in some animals being harvested on public land when opportunities were restricted to only private property. “It was mostly resident hunters.”
Increases in mistakes were also noted in southwest Montana, where game wardens said hunters called in their own mistakes including accidentally exceeding limits or recognizing they’d shot an animal in the wrong district.
“The TIPMONT reports were also top-notch in my opinion,” Game Warden Capt. Josh Leonard said.“I can honestly say some of the eyewitness details we received on some cases were exceptional — exceptional enough that all we had to do was arrive and the case was made.”
Over in the eastern portion of the state, a game warden captain said a busier hunting season overall led to increased violations.
“Word began to spread about specific areas of the Region where hunters were seeing better deer numbers,” Justin Feddes said. “Subsequent groups of hunters then focused on these areas, especially later in the season, resulting in an uptick in violations and reports.”
Feddes added that citations and warnings were up significantly from the 2023 and 2024 seasons, with many related to recent changes made by the state legislature and Fish and Wildlife Commission.
“Game wardens primarily focus on educating hunters when these changes occur, but it is the ultimate responsibility of the hunter to know the rules and regulations before they head into the field, he said.
