Montana Poaching Case Concludes with Surprising Ending
By Dan Pickar
In early 2019 Earl Benes of Roundup, Montana had his hunting privileges suspended for four years after running antelope over with his truck then killing them with a gun. Later that year he emptied a handgun into a herd of elk crossing the highway at night, killing two bulls. He was also caught shooting another bull from the road with his rifle. All these animals were left to rot. He reportedly was charged with 24 criminal counts and 8 felonies in 2020.
Fast forward to December of 2023 when he was sentenced to $8,200 in fines, 28 days in jail and lost his hunting and fishing privileges for 10 years. All felonies were dropped. He admitted to killing three bull elk, two were trophy animals and one was not. He was formally charged and sentenced on one of those kills which was the small bull that didn’t have the trophy size classification on it. Fines are much less on the animals that don’t score high enough to be considered a trophy animal. On top of that, if you poach a “trophy” animal you can easily be charged with a felony.
It seems that our wildlife gets the back seat once again and ruthless poachers get off with what I consider a slap on the wrist.
In a day and age where tags and hunting opportunities are harder and harder to come by, don’t you think people that abuse and waste our wildlife should be handled with a bit stricter punishment? We will keep you updated as this story develops but in the meantime I’d love to hear your thoughts.
6 comments
Should get charged with all of the animals and a Felony so he won’t be shooting other animals later.
Accidents happen, this was clearly criminal intent. Why was there any leniency shown? Based on the assertions, the individual should have the book thrown at him.
Hey Dan, thanks for sharing this update. It’s hard to believe in this day and age wildlife again was out attorney’d by a POS poacher. As you know, my wife Amy and I live in the Bull Mountains and are residents of Musselshell county (county seat Roundup, Montana). Located 50 miles north of Billings, the county covers 1871 sq miles w/ a population of 4,896 so less than 3 people per sq mi. So this case hits very close to home for us. Outside of the immediate media attention back in 2019 how does a case of this magnitude go beyond dark for almost 4 years since the verdict for sentencing?! Here’s the timeline on this guys’ poaching cases:
1. Apr 2019 runs over antelope with truck purposely and shoots them. Btw this case was still pending when he killed the 3 bulls in Aug 2019
2. Aug 18, 2019 kills 2 bulls leaves them to rot
3. Aug 21, 2019 kills 3rd bull also left to rot
4. Mar 15, 2020 found guilty of only killing the smallest bull #3 that was not classified as a “trophy” which has significantly lower penalties, fines
5. Dec 4, 2023 when he was finally sentenced!
The answer is the county attorney at the time did an absolute piss poor job not only prosecuting a “slam dunk” case but also not following up on sentencing period. Side note: the county attorney at the time and I have the same name “Kevin Peterson” so guess who received several calls from people irate with the outcome. The calls were other concerned locals who were really surprised to hear I am the owner of Matrix Targets and not the county attorney lol.
Anyhow, as I recall the jury had more women than men on it. My wife was in the pool of potential jurors and was interviewed by both attorneys and not chosen. No surprise that the defense attorney for the poacher scratched anyone off the list that hunts, understood wildlife crimes, wanton waste of over 500 lbs of elk meat, hunting out of season, hunting without licenses, and on and on.
Thanks to the new county attorney Adam Larsen for completing sentencing or it would still not be done. Since he could not go back and re-try the case he had to base penalties on the verdict handed down in 2020. Questions I have are where was Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Fish Wildlife and Parks Montana, local media during the prosecution/ and sentencing of this case. If the county attorney at the time needed assistance putting this case together I think FWP would have been there in force to make sure the prosecuting attorney understood the severity of the crimes. This poacher should have at minimum lost hunting privileges forever in the United States, spent more time in jail and higher fines. He should be the poster child for letting other potential poachers know if you follow this path you are done hunting and fishing forever and it’s going to cost you a lot of $$. Instead this guy is probably driving around in the same truck he ran the antelope over with/ shot the elk from and his rifle is behind the seat with shells in the mag. Shame on all of us. We expect better from the people who are in position to protect our wildlife and need to let them know this can’t happen again. Kevin
ps I do have a copy of the Sentence and Judgement, which is public record, should anyone want a copy.
Kevin Peterson
President/ Founder
Matrix Targets, LLC
cell 406-698-8235
Thanks for the details Kevin. Pretty crazy this day and age where reason and logic and science doesn’t prevail. Politics always win!
Seriously? Throwing shade on RMEF for this clown’s behavior and the DA’s ineptitude you mention?
Hey Brice, I apologize I don’t mean to be throwing shade on RMEF at all. They are a fantastic organization! These high profile poaching cases just never seem to get the exposure after the case is first reported and then go dark until final sentencing. These poachers are able to hire good attorneys and usually come out with penalties far less than they deserve. RMEF has the resources to get the message out quickly in mass and let DA’s in these small rural counties know how important this case is to not only Montanans but all sportsmen/women. Again apologize for the misunderstanding. K