It takes more than a single bad decision to lose your hunting and fishing privileges for life. For Tennessee resident Jerry “Trey” Truitt III, it came after years of poaching violations across western Montana.
Truitt was sentenced to a lifetime hunting and fishing ban in early April in Ravalli County after pleading no contest to five wildlife charges tied to incidents in 2024 and 2025, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.
Those charges included two counts of unlawful possession of wildlife (a turkey and a sandhill crane), hunting without a license, criminal trespass, and hunting during a closed season. Investigators say Truitt killed a wild turkey without a license and illegally shot a sandhill crane in Ravalli County, where there is no season for the species.
Truitt’s most recent case is part of a broader pattern. He was originally convicted in Ravalli County in 2025 for poaching crimes committed in 2024, including killing a cow elk and a whitetail doe in the West Fork of the Bitterroot without a license.
Truitt also pleaded guilty in a Lake County court last year for obstruction of justice, using someone else’s hunting license, and poaching waterfowl in the Ninepipe Wildlife Management Area in 2024.
“We would like to thank both county attorney’s offices for all of their work through the years on these cases,” said Kyle Miller, the Region 2 warden captain for MFWP.
Earlier penalties included fines, restitution, and temporary license suspensions. Truitt’s most recent sentencing bumped his previous penalties to a lifetime ban.
Lifetime bans like this are rare. Wildlife agencies across the country handle thousands of violations each year. However, only a tiny fraction ever rises to the level of a lifetime loss of privileges. That penalty is usually reserved for repeat offenders or cases involving multiple serious offenses. In Montana, Truitt’s ban means he can no longer legally hunt, fish, or trap in the state for the rest of his life. In some cases, a lifetime ban can also come with forfeiture of equipment used in the crimes.
While Truitt’s offenses occurred in Montana, his ban will also spread to Tennessee, as both states are members of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. The compact states that it “includes a reciprocal recognition of license privilege suspension by member states, thus any person whose license privileges are suspended in a member state would also be suspended in their home state.” So even though his ban initiated out West, it stretches far beyond Montana’s state lines.
Officials say the investigation was led by game wardens in Ravalli and Lake Counties, with assistance from local prosecutors who handled multiple cases over several years.
It’s usually other hunters who get the ball rolling in cases like this. Game wardens say tips from the public play a major role in catching repeat violators. In Montana, anyone with information can report suspected natural resources crimes like poaching, vandalism, and littering through the state’s Tip-Mont system.
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