GREAT FALLS — Bryant Mikkelson, a Montana outfitter, has been charged with failing to report the killing of a grizzly bear.
Grizzly bears are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
According to court documents, Mikkelson — of Timber Mountain Outfitters, based in Buffalo — was charged with one misdemeanor count of failure to report taking of a grizzly bear.
Federal investigators say Mikkelson was hunting for black bear on May 27, 2025, in the Highwood Mountains in Chouteau County when he allegedly shot and killed the grizzly bear.
Court documents state:
At the time of the killing, Mr. Mikkelson learned the bear was, in fact, a grizzly bear. Mr. Mikkelson sent text messages and photographs of the bear and of himself posing with the bear to acquaintances. Mr. Mikkelson discussed the killing of the bear in those text messages.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service learned of the killing on June 2, through an anonymous tip.
On June 10, two weeks after the bear was killed, Mikkelson came forward to report the killing to the USFWS.
Federal law requires anyone who has killed a grizzly bear to report it within five days of the incident.
Mikkelson entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors, who are recommending that he be sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
A change of plea hearing is set for September 9 at the federal court building in Great Falls.
