5 Washington men stripped of Montana hunting privileges after poaching

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Five Washington state men have been stripped of hunting privileges in Montana for five years and ordered to pay $41,000 in fines and restitution for illegally shooting elk.

The case stemmed from a yearlong, two-state poaching investigation by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks into six bull elk shot on private land in a closed hunting district on the Rocky Mountain Front. Five of the elk were trophy size.

Washington Fish and Wildlife Department police assisted in the investigation.

The Great Falls Tribune reports that the elk shootings occurred in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

Montana game officials described it as a scheme to shoot trophy elk and get them out of the state secretly.