A Wyoming hunter says he plans to be in Daniel on June 14 to offer a different point of view when the Hogs For Hope motorcycle rally, organized in protest of the reported torture and killing of a wolf.
Gillette-area resident and outdoorsman Mitch Gilliam told Cowboy State Daily he wants to show support for Wyoming’s wolf management policies, and for having wolves delisted from federal Endangered Species protection across the Lower 48.
He’s calling for like-minded people to join him in Daniel.
Gilliam also wants to push back against what he says is the unjust demonization of Daniel resident Cody Roberts.
Since February 2024, Roberts has been at the center of a firestorm of controversy based on reports that he ran a wolf down with a snowmobile and injured it, and then taped its mouth shut and kept the animal alive for hours before finally killing it.
Gilliam said he’s talked with Roberts about what happened Feb. 29, 2024, and is convinced that the widely reported narrative of events of that day isn’t accurate.
Different Views On Predator Policy
Gilliam told Cowboy State Daily that he’s trying to organize a peaceful demonstration.
He doesn’t plan to confront Hogs for Hope supporters or the rally’s organizer, Jonas Black, a dog trainer and social media influencer from Austin, Texas.
Black organized Hogs For Hope last year in response to the wolf story, which he has repeatedly described as a young female, and which he dubbed “Hope.”
He, a few other motorcyclists and a trailing caravan of about a dozen vehicles rolled through Daniel on May 26 last year, under law enforcement escort.
Though there were some harsh words exchanged between members of the caravan and locals, the event was peaceful and Hogs For Hope rolled through instead of making a planned stop in Daniel.
Coyote Carcass At Last Year’s Rally
Gilliam said he was in Daniel on May 26, 2024, but wasn’t involved in any direct confrontations with Black or his supporters.
At the time there were reports that somebody had left a dead coyote along the roadside near Daniel with duct tape on its muzzle.
Some took that as a jab against people who were upset because the wolf’s muzzle in the original incident was seen in photos and video taped shut.
Gilliam said somebody picked up the coyote carcass and placed it on the front porch of the Green River Bar in Daniel, but he removed it.
Hogs For Hope Returns
Black previously told Cowboy State Daily that he plans bring Hogs For Hope back to Daniel on June 14 because he’s not satisfied with changes to Wyoming’s predator policies.
The Wyoming Legislature this year passed a bill banning hunters from deliberately allowing predators to suffer, dubbed the “clean kill bill.”
But the measure stopped short of banning the practice of running wolves, coyotes and other predators down with snowmobiles or other vehicles, commonly called “whacking.”
Black said he plans to use donations raised though Hogs For Hope to support litigation against whacking, and to push for further reform of predator management.
Gilliam said he supports keeping Wyoming’s current wolf management policy in place to protect ranching and big game hunting.
He also wants to see wolves delisted all across the Lower 48.
While Wyoming, Montana and Idaho allow wolves to be hunted, they are still federally protected in other states, including Colorado.
Gilliam said he’s concerned that Hogs For Hope and others who share Black’s views want wolves listed as endangered species in every state.
As Gilliam sees it, the wolves that were reintroduced to the Rocky Mountain West are an “invasive species” that are larger than the wolves that previously inhabited the region.
He added that he moved from North Carolina to Wyoming 24 years ago and initially supported reintroducing wolves. But after seeing the toll wolves have taken on ranching and hunting, he thinks reintroduction was a mistake.
Is The Story About Cody Roberts Inaccurate?
Gilliam said he got caught up in the controversy over the Daniel wolf incident last year, and even received some death threats for expressing his opinions.
Black previously told Cowboy State Daily that he’d also received death threats because of the stance he’s taken.
Gilliam said he didn’t know Roberts before the incident and the worldwide controversy that blew up over it. He said he wasn’t present when Roberts had the wolf in his possession.
He said that during the firestorm of controversy in the aftermath of the incident Roberts reached out to him because of some of the opinions Gilliam was expressing.
They started talking, and Gilliam said he now considers Roberts to be a friend.
Roberts’ account of what happened with the wolf doesn’t match was has been reported in the press and spread across social media, Gilliam said.
According to accounts of events, Roberts disabled the wolf by running it over with a snowmobile.
Roberts then reportedly took the wolf to his home and duct-taped its mouth shut before showing it off at the Green River Bar in Daniel. He eventually killed it out behind the bar.
Roberts forfeited a $250 bond on a charge of illegal possession of a warm-blooded animal, according to court records.
Gilliam said that according to what Roberts has told him, Roberts was out looking for some of his dogs that had gone missing after a fire on his property and encountered the wolf, which he had previously seen hanging around.
The wolf “was not a female” as has been widely told, but “was a young male,” Gilliam said.
Gilliam said that according to Roberts’ account, he didn’t run the wolf over but instead jumped off his snowmobile and tackled it to capture it, Gilliam said.
Apparently, Roberts got the idea that “he wanted to keep the wolf as a pet,” which Gilliam said he thinks was foolish.
Gilliam said that according to what he’s been told, on the day Roberts captured the wolf, other people convinced Roberts that trying to keep the wolf was illegal and foolish. So, Roberts finally decided to kill it.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
