Man pleads guilty to 2008 wolf killing

A Kalispell man will be sentenced in May after pleading guilty to killing a wolf in 2008 in the McGinnis Meadows-Fisher River area.

Before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch in Missoula last week, Robert Earl Patton, 49, pleaded guilty to a violation of the Endangered Species Act for killing a wolf on Oct. 31, 2008.

Prosecutors say he reported killing a wolf that was approaching him while he was hunting deer between Kalispell and Libby.

But a veterinary medical examiner with the National Wildlife Forensics Lab in Ashland, Ore., determined that the wolf was shot in the back left side.

Heading back to his camp around 5:30 p.m. after hunting deer and elk, Patton said he heard choppy barking and saw a black dog-like figure moving toward him.

At 20 yards away, the animal wasn’t backing down.

So, Patton raised his rifle, aimed, and fired at the animal’s chest.

He heard the bullet hit, then silence.

Patton moved the body under a fir tree and returned to his hunting camp.

The next day, when he had cell-phone service, Patton called Tip-Mont and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and reported the incident.

Three days later, agents met Patton near the McGinnis Meadow-Fisher River area between Kalispell and Libby, where they located the wolf’s body.

Patton was released on special conditions.

His sentencing is scheduled for May 4. He faces up to one year in prison, a $100,000 fine and one year supervised release.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.