Wyoming Sportsman Group Blasts ‘Disgusting’ Moose Abuse, Urges Tough Penalties

The original story by Dale Killingbeck for Cowboy State Daily.

A Wyoming sportsmen’s group formed after last year’s high-profile wolf abuse case is now demanding justice in another disturbing wildlife incident — this time involving a cow moose allegedly roped, dragged and spurred by three men in Uinta County.

Wyoming Sportsmanship, a grassroots organization created in the wake of the Daniel, Wyoming wolf torture case, is calling for “the full force of the law” against the trio.

“Anytime any of Wyoming’s wildlife is senselessly tortured it is egregious,” said group president and spokesman Paul Ulrich. “The multiple alleged incidents (in Uinta County) are particularly egregious, pathetic, and disgusting.”

The case surfaced this week in Evanston Circuit Court after investigators obtained video from May 2021 allegedly showing a cow moose in poor condition with a lariat around its neck, being ridden and aggressively spurred.

Charged in connection with the incident are:

• Justin Martin, 53, of Evanston;
• Range H. Martin, of Evanston;
• Kylan W. Platt, of Malad City, Idaho.

A Sheridan wildlife investigator linked the men to multiple videos of the abuse. In a statement, Wyoming Sportsmanship stressed that what’s shown on the footage “does not represent true hunting, ranching, or sporting conditions.”

The group’s board includes some prominent Wyoming names, including former Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kite, who didn’t immediately return calls but was quoted in the group’s statement.

She called the alleged actions “repulsive.”

“They shamed themselves and degraded the image we all have of our cowboys in this state by attacking and torturing an old, weakened wild animal that was just trying to survive,” Kite said.

Wyoming Sportsmanship formed after the February 2024 wolf torture case in Sublette County, in which prosecutors say a Daniel man ran down a wolf with a snowmobile, taped its mouth shut, paraded it in a bar, and then killed it. That case drew international outrage. The suspect, Cody Roberts, has pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty.

Ulrich, a fourth-generation Wyomingite, said the group includes “a few of us from all walks of life in Wyoming,” who pushed hard for the “Clean Kill Bill,” passed in 2025. The law increases penalties and is meant to ensure the “malicious torture of wildlife is treated as the serious crime it is,” he said.

According to Ulrich, the statute now offers stronger protection for all Wyoming wildlife, not just predators.

A criminal summons issued Dec. 4 by Special Prosecutor F. Gaston Gosar of the Sublette County Attorney’s Office orders Justin Martin, Range Martin and Platt to appear in Evanston Circuit Court on Jan. 15 to answer the charges.

According to court records:

• Justin Martin is charged with:

  • Two counts of accessory before the fact to felony cruelty to animals.

  • Two counts of accessory before or after the fact to wanton taking of a big game animal (cow moose)
    These charges stem from incidents on May 4 and May 24, 2021.

• Platt and Range Martin are each charged with:

  • Felony cruelty to animals;

  • Wanton taking of a big game animal (cow moose);

  • Possession permit required for live warm-blooded wildlife.

The alleged incidents involving Platt occurred on May 4, 2021, and those involving Range Martin on May 24, 2021.

The potential penalties are serious:

• Accessory before the fact to felony cruelty to animals:
  Up to 2 years in prison and $5,000 fine per count.
• Accessory before or after the fact to wanton taking of a big game animal:
  Up to 1 year in jail and $10,000 fine per count.
• Felony cruelty to animals:
  Up to 2 years in prison and $5,000 fine.
• Wanton taking of a big game animal (cow moose):
  Up to 1 year in jail and $10,000 fine.
• Possession permit required for live warm-blooded wildlife:
  Up to 6 months in jail and $1,000 fine.

Justin Martin is listed as the registered agent of M Arrow Ranch in Evanston, where the alleged abuse took place, and as a brand inspector for Uinta County on the Wyoming Livestock Board’s website. Messages left for Martin, Prosecutor Gosar and Uinta County Attorney Loretta R. Howieson Kallas were not immediately returned, and it’s still unclear why a special prosecutor was brought in.

For now, Ulrich and Wyoming Sportsmanship say they’ll be watching closely — and expect the state’s new tougher wildlife law to be fully tested.

“Anytime this kind of cruelty happens, we want to make sure it’s treated like the serious crime it is,” Ulrich said.