BILLINGS – A Montana man has been cited for illegally taking a gray wolf after he shot one of the animals two days after the hunting season for the predators was shut down.
State officials say the man, whose name was not immediately available, killed the animal near Lewis and Clark Pass east of Lincoln on Oct. 18.
Game warden captain Mike Martin says the man had started hunting three days earlier — and apparently did not know he’d done anything illegal until he called into the state’s wolf hotline to report his kill. He then turned himself in.
Martin says the man should have gone to greater lengths to track the wolf season since the state had been nearing the season’s quota on the animals.
The citation carries a $135 fine and potential restitution charges of up to $1,000.