Some fathers pass down a work ethic. Some pass down a love for the mountains. This one allegedly passed down a felony.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks issued felony warrants in August 2025 for Ronald Schubert and his son Chad, both of Belleville, Michigan, in one of the uglier elk poaching cases to come out of Big Sky Country in years. Wardens say a trophy 6×6 bull elk was killed illegally back in September 2022 in Hunting District 702 in Treasure County — and the case is a masterclass in how Montana runs down poachers, no matter how long it takes.
What They’re Accused Of
Investigators say Chad Schubert shot the bull with a rifle during the archery-only season, on private land he didn’t have permission to hunt, without a valid permit for the district. Then it allegedly got worse. Wardens say the head and antlers were taken and most of the meat was left to rot — a violation Montana takes deadly seriously — and they believe Ronald helped remove and transport the head.
Both men face felony charges of unlawful possession of a trophy bull elk. Beyond that, the charges split: Ronald is charged with criminal trespass, while Chad faces counts including hunting during a closed season, waste of a game animal, failure to obtain landowner permission, failure to return to the kill site, and tampering with physical evidence. Chad also faces additional pending charges in Rosebud County tied to deer, antelope, turkey, and mountain lion hunts. A photo said to show two men posing with the bull, faces cropped out, made the rounds online and did the case no favors in the court of hunting public opinion.
If convicted, the penalties include more than $60,000 in fines and restitution, possible jail time, and the big one: loss of hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges — not just in Montana, but nearly everywhere in the country.
One Bad Decision, Banned Almost Everywhere
Here’s the part a lot of hunters still don’t realize. Montana belongs to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, a mutual agreement between member states — nearly every state in the country, Michigan included — that says if you lose your hunting privileges in one, you lose them in all of them. Poach a bull in Treasure County, and your Michigan whitetail season is gone too.
And Montana has been swinging that hammer hard. In April, a Tennessee man named Jerry “Trey” Truitt III received a lifetime revocation of his Montana hunting and fishing privileges after a years-long string of violations in Ravalli and Lake counties — including hunting without a license, trespassing, hunting in a closed season, and even using another person’s hunting license. We covered a similar case when three men poached bulls in the Elkhorns, and an Idaho case where a hunter shot a trophy bull with a rifle in bow season and faked an arrow wound. The pattern is the same every time: game wardens are patient, evidence piles up, and the punishment follows you across state lines — sometimes worldwide.
Poaching Isn’t Hunting — And It’s Stealing From You
Let’s be clear about who the victim is here. That bull belonged to every hunter who put in for a Montana tag, hired an outfitter, or taught their kid to do it right. Every poached bull makes tags harder to justify, landowner relationships harder to build, and hunters easier to villainize in the public eye.
And the meat waste is what stings most. A mature bull carries 200-plus pounds of the best protein on earth. Leaving it on a hillside for a set of antlers isn’t hunting — it’s vanity wearing camo.
Do It Right — There’s No Shortage of Legal Bulls
The irony is that Montana offers some of the most accessible big-game hunting in the West when you do it legally. We book Montana elk, deer, and black bear combo hunts on hundreds of square miles of private ground, and spring black bear hunts in some of the prettiest country in the state. No trespassing required — just a tag, a rifle or bow in the right season, and a little obsession.
We talk about cases like this on the Hunt Podcast because they matter to every one of us who does it the right way. If you’d rather chase a legal bull than a court date, browse our guided hunts or reach out and we’ll point you at the right trip.
Hunting is not a hobby. It’s an obsession — and obsession doesn’t cut corners.
