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Four Kalispell Men Charged With Felony Poaching

By Beacon Staff

Four Kalispell men face felony poaching charges for allegedly killing six big-game animals, including a bull moose, near Helmville.

Benjamin Bolt, 21; his brother, Nicholas Bolt, 20; Benjamin Woodson, 24; and Brandon Mitchell, 22, were charged with possession of unlawfully taken wildlife, tampering with physical evidence and burglary, according to records from Powell County Justice Court.

Court records state that in January a game warden for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks followed a bloody drag mark from a road to a cabin where the men were staying.

The carcasses of a bull moose, an antlerless elk, three doe mule deer and a buck mule deer were found near the cabin. The animals had been shot.

Woodson and Mitchell were arrested May 1 in Kalispell. The Bolt brothers were arrested over the weekend in Alaska.

The men also face misdemeanor charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, hunting big game during a closed season, and waste of a game animal.