Nemont
Well-known member
02/23/2007
Associated Press
A Texas couple has pleaded no contest to illegally killing deer and elk in Montana over the past six years.
William and Faye Hudson of Early, Texas, had come to the Ruby Valley to hunt on the old Seidensticker Ranch since 1982, court records said.
An anonymous caller alerted game wardens that the Hudsons didn't always have the required licenses, and an investigation later found that William Hudson had drawn tags only occasionally.
"He had not received a Montana license since 2000, but kept hunting," said Chad Murphy, an investigator with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
The Hudsons were fined $22,530 on a series of state charges that included hunting deer and elk without valid licenses, transfer of licenses, killing more than the legal limit of elk, and unlawful possession and transportation of big game animals.
William Hudson, 66, also lost hunting privileges for 10 years in two dozen states that are part of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. Faye Hudson, 63, lost her hunting privileges for four years.
In addition, wardens confiscated 12 elk racks, 13 racks from deer William Hudson had killed in Montana, and a bighorn skull that he had found while hunting, Murphy said. The animal parts were seized in Texas when Murphy and Sheridan game warden Shane Brozovich flew there last month to further investigate the crimes.
"He forfeited all of the antlers from animals he killed in Montana in the '90s because he could not prove which ones were killed legally and which weren't," Murphy said.
The Hudsons entered their pleas this month.
Wardens also have charged Sylvester Seidensticker with transferring his license to William Hudson.
