MT: outfitter fined for trying to make hunter look bad

Aug 12, 2009

Montana Disciplines Outfitter In Hunting Dispute

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) ― The Montana Board of Outfitters has fined a Wyoming outfitter $400 for harassing a Montana hunter on state land.

Cole Benton, owner of Grizzly Outfitters in Buffalo, Wyo., was disciplined despite findings by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Big Horn County Attorney's office that no charges were warranted.

Benton says the board was trying to make him look bad.

It all stems from a 2007 incident where hunters near Hanging Woman Creek shot a mule deer buck on state land, only to be confronted by Benton, who has leased hunting rights on surrounding private land for years.

He told them they'd trespassed, something the outfitter board determined amounted to interfering with a lawful hunt.

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