× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

CASPER, Wyo. — The trial for a Crow tribal member charged with poaching begins Wednesday in Sheridan, Wyo.

Clayvin Herrera is charged with killing antlered game. His jury trial will take place in the Sheridan County Circuit Court.

Herrera claims an 1868 treaty with the U.S. government allows Crow to hunt on their native lands. As a result of the treaty, Crow officials say hunting by Crow members on some Wyoming public land is legal, and can’t be considered poaching.

However, Game and Fish argues Wyoming’s statehood nullified the Crow’s hunting rights, and if members come into Wyoming from Montana and kill elk without a license or out of season, they’re as guilty as anyone else. Wyoming wildlife officials also say it is more difficult to manage herds if an unknown number of elk are killed each year.

Herrera pleaded not guilty to two citations he received in the fall of 2014 for killing antlered game in January of that year in the Bighorn National Forest.

Kyle Anne Gray of Billings law firm Holland & Hart is representing Herrera. Gray declined to comment on the case prior to trial.

Sheridan County Deputy Attorney Christopher LaRosa is prosecuting the case.