Tips sought in 'thrill kill' wildlife deaths

RIVERTON (WNE)  — Several landowners along Upper Riverview Road are offering a $2,500 reward after finding dead big-game animals on their properties last fall in incidents they believe may have involved illegal hunting.

The flyer, distributed locally, describes incidents between Aug. 15 and Sept. 6, 2025, and seeks information leading to the arrest and conviction of an unknown perpetrator dubbed the "Thrill-Kill Poacher."

Upper Riverview Road landowner James D'Antonio said he found two dead bucks on his property.

"No one had permission to hunt on my property, and from what I could tell, whoever shot the animals made no attempt to do anything but kill," said D'Antonio.

After comparing notes with neighbors, D'Antonio said nearby landowners believe more than a dozen animals – including elk and moose – across several properties may have been killed by the same unknown poacher.

"The common threads between all of those cases are that there was no attempt made to harvest any meat, the animals seem to have been killed at night, and in many cases, the same kind of arrows were used," he said.

Another Upper Riverview Road landowner who asked not to be named said one of his trail cameras captured images in mid-September of a person in hunting clothing carrying a bow and walking on his property around dusk. About a week later, he said, he searched the area and found a dead nine-point buck he believed had been illegally shot and left unrecovered.

The landowner said he reported it to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

D'Antonio said several landowners later pooled funds to offer the $2,500 reward, but no useful tips have come in so far.

Game and Fish officials said an investigation is ongoing and encourages anyone with information about wildlife crimes to report it through the Stop Poaching hotline – 307777-4330 or online at wgfd.wyo.gov/stop-poaching. Tips can be submitted anonymously.

This story was published on Feb. 25, 2026.