Billings Man Gets 20-Year Hunting Ban, $12K Fine for Shooting Elk During Archery Season

ven•a•tic: fond of or living by hunting

NORTH AMERICA’S MOST-READ OUTDOOR NEWSLETTER

The weekend might not be here just yet, but your favorite dispatch from the great outdoors is. 

So grab your coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and let's get caught up on the outdoor news and views from the past 24-or-so hours.

Here's what's worth reading about today:

HE’D LOOK BETTER BEHIND BARS
BILLINGS MAN HANDED 20-YEAR HUNTING BAN, $12K FINE IN WHEATLAND COUNTY ELK POACHING CASE

A Billings man lucked out with a plea deal that will allow him to avoid immediate prison time but will still see him slapped with $12,000 in financial penalties and a 20-year hunting ban after pleading guilty to multiple poaching charges in Wheatland County District Court.

Michael Jason Letasky entered guilty pleas to five misdemeanor charges stemming from an incident during the 2025 archery elk season near the Haymaker Wildlife Management Area. According to officials, the conviction brings an end to an intensive multi-agency investigation that began with a tip from two law-abiding archery hunters.

The investigation kicked off after a pair of archery hunters, who were actively tracking a trophy-class bull elk, witnessed a man step out from a treeline and shoot the very animal they were stalking using a rifle, a big no-no during the archery-only season…

State Won’t Reopen Sections Of Afognak Island Elk Hunt: Elk hunters on Afognak Island have taken advantage of favorable conditions this fall and reached established harvest objectives during hunting opportunities provided through a combination of drawing and registration hunts in portions of the RE755 registration hunt area. Consequently, portions of the RE755 hunt area will not open this year. Read the full story.

Sudbury man shoots 2 hunting partners, killing one of them: Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say an eastern Ontario hunting excursion by three people from Sudbury last week ended in one of them shooting the two others, one of them fatally. Read the full story.

Missouri's new chronic wasting disease plan has some hunters unwilling to cooperate: The Missouri Department of Conservation has made changes to methods of preventing the spread of chronic wasting disease, a deadly pathogen that has infected about 1% of Missouri's approximately 1.5 million white-tailed deer. But hunters are frustrated with the changes, and some hunters’ decisions could affect meat processors and taxidermists. Read the full story.

First elk hunt opens at wildlife refuge built around a former nuclear weapons plant: Elk hunting has opened for the first time at Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, the former Cold War nuclear weapons site, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) says in a draft plan that there are no restrictions on eating wildlife taken there. The agency’s draft hunt plan, dated January 2026, also recommends that hunters not eat elk liver because of chemical findings in testing. Read the full story.

Minnesota Bear Harvest Hits Third Highest On Record With Over Four Thousand Taken: The bear hunting season in Minnesota concluded Sunday, October 18. The total killed was 4,168 this year.  The total harvested last year was 2,683.  The only two years that saw a higher number of bears shot in the state w as in 1995 and in 2001. Read the full story.

Overdue 80-year-old U.P. hunter found safe after K9, drone search: Around 7 p.m. Wednesday, it was reported to the Menominee County Sheriff's Office that the family of an 80-year-old man became concerned that he had not returned from hunting during daylight hours. A K9 and drone unit responded to the scene and the missing hunter was quickly located and in good health after spending 10 hours in the woods. Read the full story.

Federal board opens late moose hunt on eastern Kenai Peninsula: Hunters in Cooper Landing, Hope and Moose Pass have another chance to bring home a moose this fall after federal officials authorized a late subsistence season on parts of the eastern Kenai Peninsula. The Federal Subsistence Board approved an Oct. 20-Nov. 10 hunting period in the remainder of Game Management Unit 7, allowing eligible rural residents more time to harvest an antlered bull after the regular September season.  Read the full story.

😵 This old boy finished the job. Watch as these two titans go at it in a fierce display of dominance.

Only one of them walked away…

The pull of the weekend.

📸 by @shyonthefly

 Oh, and one more thing…