Culbertson Man Charged With Hunting Crimes
A Culbertson man is facing a district court charge after alleged incidents in Eastern Montana during January 2020.
Trevor Levi Crain has been charged with unlawful possession or shipping or transportation of a game animal.
He is scheduled to appear in district court on Wednesday, Nov. 10.
If convicted of the charge, maximum penalties are five years in prison, a $50,000 fine or both. Crain would also forfeit any current hunting, fishing or trapping licenses and have a minimum revocation of three years for his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges.
According to court documents, game wardens responded to a complaint on Jan. 9, 2020, from a Richland County landowner regarding a man hunting a trophy mule deer on the landowner’s property. Wardens followed a blood trail to a severely wounded mule deer buck bedded down. The game warden determined the trophy mule deer was mortally wounded and dispatched the animal. Charges were filed in Richland County.
Search warrants were obtained for separate violations in Roosevelt County. On Jan. 15, the defendant’s truck was seized in Culbertson. In the bed of the pickup, under a tarp, a frozen mule deer doe was discovered. The animal was not tagged. On Jan. 18, 2020, a warrant was executed for the defendant’s residence in Culbertson. In the back bedroom closet, officials found a 4x4 mule deer buck skull. There wasn’t a tag attached to this rack. Crain claimed his friend in Idaho killed the mule deer back in 2018.
A 4x4 whitetail buck was found in the defendant’s other vehicle. No tag was attached to this rack either.
