Barely a month after Wyoming's Uinta County scandal erupted, where a trio of so-called cowboys lassoed, rode, spurred, and dragged an already-injured, one-eyed cow moose, we’ve got another case of questionable characters giving the cowboy image a black eye. This time, in Idaho’s Pahsimeroi Valley, a 39-year-old man named Spencer Oldham has been permanently stripped of his hunting privileges after treating a 1,200-pound bull moose like a stray steer during a routine cattle drive. Roping the trophy bull around the neck and front leg on a summer afternoon in 2025, his careless stunt caused the animal to collapse, gasp, and ultimately die—leading to multiple misdemeanor charges for unlawful taking, possession, and wasteful destruction of wildlife.
The incident took place back on August 17, 2025, when the 39 year-old was part of a group riding horses and moving cattle through the remote East Fork of the Pahsimeroi Valley near Ellis, Idaho. According to court documents, Oldham spotted a bull moose emerging from the river bottom and decided to rope it like a steer. He recklessly lassoed the animal around its front left leg and neck, causing it to fall and "ball up" on the ground. Despite attempts by Oldham and others in the group to get the moose back on its feet, the animal remained down, breathing heavily. According to reports, the group ultimately left the scene, abandoning the moose to its fate.
When discovered days later by a hunter, the bull moose's carcass was rotting and bloated in an open sagebrush area above the river. Reporting the find to officials, it wasn’t long before Idaho Department of Fish and Game was on the scene. Their investigation revealed no bullet or arrow wounds, but rather significant trauma near the neck, including bruising and maggot infestation. It was noted that the moose's antlers were still in velvet, with bloody tines indicating recent growth damage and that the meat had spoiled completely due to neglect and exposure to the elements, rendering it a total waste.
Following the field investigation, a senior IDFG conservation officer identified Oldham through interviews with the four other men in the group, some of whom witnessed parts of the event but claimed they did not see the roping itself. One noted seeing the moose breathing before they departed and Oldham soon fessed up.
“I knew I shouldn’t have done it,” Oldham told wildlife officers according to court documents. “I had regrets after … I knew I had fucked up.”
Moose hunting in Idaho is a strictly regulated activity, with no open season in August, and the state’s bull moose are classified as once-in-a-lifetime trophy animals for licensed hunters. At the time of the incident, Oldham did not possess either an Idaho hunting license or the required moose tag.
His admission of guilt highlighted the embattled cowboy’s acknowledgment of the wrongdoing, though he maintained the act was not intentional poaching but an ill-advised attempt to handle the animal like livestock.
For his actions, Oldham faced three misdemeanor charges including unlawful taking of game animals, unlawful possession of wildlife, and wasteful destruction of wildlife. He pleaded guilty to the first two and entered an Alford plea to the third—acknowledging the strength of the evidence against him without fully admitting guilt.
Magistrate Judge James Howard Barrett Jr. presided over the sentencing, and handed Oldham 90 days in jail, which was fully suspended, along with one year of unsupervised probation. Additionally, his Idaho hunting license was revoked for life, and he was ordered to pay over $10,000 in civil penalties and fines.
Due to Idaho's participation in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, this ban extends to most other U.S. states, effectively ending Oldham's legal hunting activities nationwide.
