GREAT FALLS – Hyatt Voy will spend most of the 2026 fall hunting season in the Fergus County Detention Center after his conviction for poaching a trophy mule deer buck in central Montana.
Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks said in a news release that during the 2024 general hunting season, Voy — a realtor working in the Lewistown area — used his real estate license to gain access to a ranch property and potential real estate listing that the owners were attempting to sell.
During a visit to the property, Voy killed a trophy mule deer buck without landowner permission. Wardens responded to a complaint from the landowner, and Voy later admitted to the crime. The deer was donated to a food bank, and the antlers will be kept for educational use or sold at auction.
According to FWP, Voy was sentenced in the Tenth Judicial District Court in Lewistown to four years with the Montana Department of Corrections, with all time suspended except for 102 days.
In addition, he must pay $8,000 in fines and restitution, and received a seven-year suspension of hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges in Montana and 48 other member states of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact.
Voy has already served 10 days in the Fergus County Detention Center and must report back for the remaining 92 days of his sentence in September at the beginning of the 2026 fall hunting season in Montana.
According to FWP, Voy has an "extensive history" with FWP violations dating back to 2015 in Park, Garfield, and Fergus counties, and the 2024 unlawful possession charge was his third offense of that type since 2017.
In October 2025, he was found guilty in a jury trial in Stanford for felony unlawful possession of a trophy mule deer buck and hunting without landowner permission, a misdemeanor.
In her sentencing order, District Court Judge Heather Perry said, “Hunting without permission and lying about it results in a negative appearance for all of the professional realtors who work very hard to maintain both their reputation and trust of their clients and potential clients. Similarly, responsible hunters are very careful to treat the opportunity to hunt on private land as a privilege, so the landowners continue to allow hunting.”
