In the wild world of social media influencers, few stories capture the absurdity of fame quite like that of Samantha Strable. The 25-year-old from Great Falls, Montana who is known online as "Sam Jones" with over 90,000 followers, has graduated from viral villain in Australia to accused poacher in Wyoming. What ties these scandals together seems to be a consistent and blatant disregard for wildlife rules, wrapped in a self-proclaimed ecology expert's resume. Strable's latest brush with the law isn't just another social media spectacle; it's eight misdemeanor charges that could land her in jail and will likely cost her tens of thousands in fines.
If you’ll recall, the Strable drama began in the Land Down Under in March of this year. Working as a Professional/Fauna Spotter Catcher/Ecologist for Kleinfelder in Newcastle, Australia, the influencer was caught on video snatching a baby wombat from its mother and bolting toward her car. The clip exploded online, igniting fury across Australia, including backlash from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who slammed the act as "unacceptable" and urged respect for native wildlife.
Strable fired back in a statement, defending herself, arguing that wombats are pests in parts of Australia, where authorities allow shooting, poisoning, trapping, and burrow destruction. "It's legal control," she argued. But the optics of a wildlife pro manhandling a marsupial for clout were brutal and her job ended shortly after, as the internet branded her public enemy No. 1.
Fast-forward to November 2025, and Strable's back stateside, this time allegedly gaming Wyoming's hunting system. As many of us know, resident licenses are a steal compared to nonresident ones and include many benefits including lower prices, more available tags, and access to wilderness areas without a guide. The catch, of course, is that you need to live there full-time: at least 365 days with no more than 180 days absent.
Following an anonymous tip in August, Wyoming Game and Fish Warden Jacob Miller dug in and found Strable bragging on social media about her "loophole," prompting him to look a little deeper and get his hands on the necessary warrants. Phone records soon painted quite a nomadic picture for our well-travelled and not-so-well-to-do social media starlet. According to reports, in 2024 she spent just 29 days in Wyoming while bouncing between Australia, Montana, North Dakota, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. This year, her Wyoming tenure dropped to a measly seven days, mostly in Alaska with plans to stay through June.
Fresh off a Wyoming mule deer hunt | Samantha Strable
Despite this, she managed to snag resident tags and killed prime game. In April 2024, she grabbed an elk tag for Sublette County and used it to drop one that October. May 2024 brought an antelope tag for Crook County, leading to a buck antelope kill that fall. Come January 2025, she scored a mountain lion tag and took down a big cat in Sheridan County. And finally in May 2025, she picked up a black bear license, and even though it was just a general one, it was still purchased under false pretenses.
Following the investigation, Sublette County prosecutors hit her with eight misdemeanor charges just last week. In total, she’s now facing six counts of false swearing for lying on her applications, one count of taking wildlife without a license tied to that elk, and one count of nonresident hunting without a guide. The possible penalties for her fibs are brutal and could include up to a year in jail and $10,000 per false swearing count, with similar stakes for the elk kill, and six months plus a $1,000 fine for the guide violation.
Booked and released on her own recognizance, Strable's case is on its way to Pinedale Circuit Court, but is currently without a trial date as of right now.
