Moose found poached near Bigfork

State wildlife officials are investigating a moose poaching incident that occurred over the weekend on Crane Mountain, located south of Bigfork.

Chuck Bartos, a game warden for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said a hunter reported finding the moose carcass alongside Crane Mountain Road on Sunday. The dead animal had been left with only its head cut off and its hind quarters removed.

Under Montana’s game wasting laws, moose hunters are at a minimum required to harvest all four quarters, along with the animal’s backstraps and tenderloins, Bartos said. He added that he couldn’t remember any other moose-poaching incidents in the last 10 years as Bigfork game warden, covering the Swan Valley and the Swan Mountain Range.

“We’ve got very few moose, and the ones we’ve got don’t need to be poached,” he said. “It’s fairly rare. Moose are hard to see to begin with, and we just don’t have very many.”

The state agency issued a press release Monday asking anyone with information on the poaching incident to contact Bartos at 406-233-2934 or the state’s anonymous tip hotline at 1-800-TIP-MONT. Callers with information leading to a conviction may be eligible for a reward.