It's a hot topic we're learning more about, after photos go viral of a bison being stabbed in Jardine, Montana.

The pictures were taken by the Buffalo Field Campaign. In an article posted on their website, a volunteer said a group of teenage hunters shot two bison, but one was still alive. The photographer then watches as the group began to stab the bison.

Ervin Carlson a member of the Blackfeet Tribe says people who hunt under treaty rights go through strict hunter safety.

Carlson says, " They have their people go through the trainings before they go out to hunt there they have to go through a pretty strict certification."

Rob Aasheim with FWP says, the hunters are of the Nez Perce tribe out of Idaho and were on public lands. He says, Montana has no authority to tell tribal governments how tribe members can hunt. However, Aasheim says, the controversy of this act is about how hunters conduct themselves.

Aasheim says, "We don't condone the behavior exhibited that was shown by the buffalo field campaign only the Nez Perce tribal leadership can effectively change how their behavior and what's being portrayed here in these late buffalo hunts."

In response, Ervin says most Native American tribes are very respectful to the animal.

Carlson says, "You know, respectful about it they are sacred animals to them and for the most part that's what a lot of tribes will do they will have ceremonies before they go to a hunt."

As a hunter, Aasheim says he believes the hunt should be ethical, pain free and efficient. Ervin also adds that he has never heard of an act happening like this.