FWP Criminal Investigator Justin Singleterry, Ravalli County Prosecutor David Lakin, and Warden Sergeant Lou Royce, pictured with some of the evidence | FWP
A Corvallis man who had been working on a 10-year career as a serial poacher has finally hit the wall after a judge handed him one of the stiffest sentences in recent Montana memory. After what was deemed to be a pretty good run (by illegal hunting standards), a Ravalli County judge has since ordered Jason Rulon Davis to serve 31½ years, including 15 years in prison with a five-year parole restriction.
Davis, who had already been barred from hunting in earlier cases, continued to pursue illegal activity anyway and ended up in front of a jury of his peers back in May. It was then that he was convicted on 18 counts (five felonies and 13 misdemeanors) after a four-year investigation by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks that began with tips from the public and was prosecuted by the Ravalli County Attorney’s Office. The convictions covered the unlawful possession, shipping, and transporting of poached deer along with accountability charges for hunting without licenses and taking more deer than the season allows. In all, investigators were able to document six animals including three trophy mule deer bucks, two trophy white-tailed bucks, and a mountain lion.
Unfortunately for Davis (and legal hunters everywhere), these animals were far from backyard deer used to pack freezers for hungry families. Investigators determined that on one occasion, Davis helped his son down a trophy class mule deer buck that ended up scoring more than 197 inches inside one of the state’s most tightly regulated trophy districts. The buck was taken without a permit, from the roadway, after dark, and with the aid of artificial light. In addition to shooting the buck after dark and without any licenses, the father and son duo also removed the head and antlers and left the carcass to waste.
Boone and Crockett Club materials describing the case noted that Davis had been committing wildlife crimes since the early 2000s. Despite prior convictions and the resulting loss of privileges, he kept operating, at times aiding others in unlawful hunting. The pattern, prosecutors argued, showed a disregard for both the law and the resource that ordinary fines and short suspensions had failed to stop.
Boone and Crockett Club CEO Tony A. Schoonen was asked to testify in the case | Boone and Crockett Club
At the August sentencing, the court imposed the 31½-year term, ordered more than $50,000 in restitution and court fees, and permanently revoked Davis’s hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges. Once he is released from prison he remains prohibited from accompanying anyone that is hunting, fishing, or trapping, and he is barred from entering public or private lands where hunting is allowed, including FWP Block Management Areas, for the remainder of the sentence.
“We would like to thank the Ravalli County Attorney’s Office for all of their work on this case,” said FWP Region 2 Warden Captain Kyle Miller. “These crimes were extensive and spanned many years, and we appreciate the time and effort that the Ravalli County attorney’s office invested to prosecute this case and hold Jason Davis accountable for his actions.”
