There’s a particular brand of nervousness that sets in when a Montana game warden walks toward your truck, and apparently for at least one hunter near Cely Lake in Region 2, that feeling hit hard enough to skip straight past the denial phase. In a new episode from the Wildlands channel, wardens Bill Copen and Kyle Miller set up a spike elk decoy in a zone with specific brow tine restrictions — and what unfolded is the kind of thing that should make every elk hunter in western Montana double-check their regs before they ever pull the trigger.
If you’re hunting elk in Region 2, you already know the regulations can get granular fast. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks uses antler restrictions in certain hunting districts to protect younger bulls and shape herd age structure — and brow tine restrictions are among the more specific requirements a hunter has to internalize before stepping into the field. These aren’t obscure rules buried in fine print. They’re the kind of thing you’re expected to know cold before you ever chamber a round. Decoy operations like this one work precisely because wardens can place a realistic mount in a legal-looking situation and see exactly who does their homework and who doesn’t. The K9 component adds another layer — these dogs are trained to detect harvested game, blood, and evidence that hunters sometimes think they’ve hidden well enough. In this case, the confession came before any of that.
Warden operations in western Montana have ramped up in recent years, and Region 2 — which covers the Missoula area and surrounding drainages including major public land blocks in the Lolo National Forest — sees heavy hunting pressure every fall. That pressure brings opportunity for both ethical hunters and, unfortunately, for the kind of shortcuts that land people in front of a judge. FWP wardens like Copen and Miller are running sophisticated enforcement tools now: decoys, K9 units, aerial surveillance, and trail camera intel. The days of assuming a remote drainage means no one’s watching are long gone.
Whether you’re a die-hard elk hunter who follows every regulation to the letter or someone who’s ever wondered just how these sting operations actually play out on the ground, this episode is worth your time. It’s a raw, unscripted look at real Montana wildlife law enforcement — and honestly, the moment that hunter starts talking before the dog even deploys is something you have to see for yourself.
Montana's outdoor week, in your inbox at 7am Friday.