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Two people charged with poaching elk and deer

Jeff Minchow and Kasey McClane charged
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A Belfry couple was charged recently with illegally killing three elk and two deer in a series of incidents starting in 2016.

Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks said in a press release on Tuesday that game wardens filed four charges against Jeff Minchow and three against his wife Kasey McClane.

The charges arose from a series of incidents, including one in which Minchow and McClane are accused of killing two cow elk in August and tagging them with licenses not valid during the early season. Minchow also is accused of later killing a bull elk during the archery-only season without holding valid licenses.

McClane is accused of killing a mule deer buck in 2016, tagging it with her daughter’s license, then killing another mule deer buck later in the year. McClane is charged with illegal transfer of a tag for the incident involving her daughter’s license and exceeding the buck deer limit for killing an additional deer. She also is charged with failure to properly tag a cow elk killed during the early elk season.

Minchow is charged with failure to properly tag one cow elk shot in August, hunting during archery season without valid licenses, exceeding the limit on elk by killing a bull later in the season, and illegal possession of the bull elk.

Both pleaded not guilty in Carbon County Justice Court.