2 fined nearly $31,000 for poaching elk on TV hunting show

DOUGLAS, Wyo. (AP) — Two Kentucky men who appeared on a cable television hunting show have been fined nearly $31,000 and have lost their hunting privileges for 15 years after poaching two bull elk in southeastern Wyoming in 2014.

The case emerged when a Wyoming resident watching "Hunting in the Sticks" on the Pursuit Channel reported that the men appeared to have killed elk in the wrong hunting district during an episode titled "Western Redemption."

"I believe the two defendants were driven to get kill-shot footage for the television show and that resulted in their making bad decisions," said Mike Ehlebracht, an investigator with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Ricky J. Mills and Jimmy G. Duncan, both of Bedford, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to several poaching violations Monday. The websites and Facebook page for the TV show were offline Tuesday.

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