Men accused of killing 3,600 birds, including eagles, to sell them

Text messages obtained by investigators showed one man telling buyers he was "on a killing spree" to collect more eagle tail feathers for sales.

Two men killed about 3,600 birds, including bald and golden eagles, during a "killing spree" on Montana's Flathead Indian Reservation and elsewhere, then sold eagle parts on a black market that has been a long-running problem for U.S. wildlife officials, a federal grand jury indictment says.

The men worked with others to hunt and kill the birds, according to the indictment, and in at least one instance used a dead deer to lure in an eagle that was shot. The two defendants conspired with others who weren't named to sell eagle feathers, tails, wings and other parts for "significant sums of cash" across the United States and elsewhere, the indictment said.

Simon Paul, 42, of St. Ignatius, Montana and Travis John Branson, 48, of Cusick, Washington, face 13 counts of unlawful trafficking of bald and golden eagles and one count each of conspiracy and violating wildlife trafficking laws.

Text messages obtained by investigators showed Branson and others telling buyers he was "on a killing spree" to collect more eagle tail feathers for future sales, according to the indictment that described Paul as a "shooter" for Branson.

The indictment said the killings began in January 2015 and continued until 2021 near Ronan, Montana, on the Flathead Reservation, home of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. It did not say how many of the 3,600 birds killed were eagles.