A social media influencer with a history of unscrupulous wildlife-related behavior is under new scrutiny for falsifying her residency to hunt big game in the Cowboy State.
The woman, Samantha Strable, gained notoriety earlier this year for grabbing a baby wombat off the side of the road in Australia—a move that brought on a slew of public outlash from her social media followers. In the now-deleted video, she snatches the animal and runs back to her car with the mother in pursuit. She holds the squirming wombat for about a minute, then lets it go back into the roadside ditch.
In addition to local backlash, the incident brought to light other wildlife crimes that Strable may have committed in the last several years as well. This summer, Wyoming Game & Fish Department (WGFD) received an anonymous tip that Strable was purchasing big-game tags in Wyoming, despite not having lived in the state for several years.
To qualify for resident licenses in Wyoming, an individual must reside in the state for one year, and cannot leave for more than 180 days in a calendar year. An investigation conducted by WGFD Warden Jacob Miller found Strable to have allegedly been in violation of all these statutes.
According to an affidavit obtained by a local news outlet, Cowboy State Daily, Warden Miller discovered that Strable held an Alaska driver’s license and had been working and living in Australia, Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota between 2023 and 2025, spending only a few weeks a year in Wyoming.
In fact, Strable admitted as much in a separate 2023 interview with the Cowboy State Daily, which was published at the time to showcase the young hunter’s accomplishments. Strable told the reporter that she worked as a seasonal wildlife technician in Wyoming during the summers, but took off to travel, work, and hunt in other countries during the off-season.
“I can’t stand the six-month winters, so I head to the Southern Hemisphere in November or December,” she said. She reported having hunted red stag in Chile; wallabies, chamois, Himalayan tahr, and wild pigs in New Zealand. On the pig hunt, she said, her team used dogs to corner the animals and knives mounted to long sticks to kill them by hand.
None of these exploits, however, stopped Strable from claiming Wyoming residency and killing a handful of animals every fall before taking off for greener pastures. In 2024, she drew resident elk and antelope tags and filled both. In early 2025, she also killed a mountain lion and purchased a resident black bear license. In August—on the same day the anonymous tip was received—she bought a Wyoming resident general elk tag, but used a Montana mailing address.
On November 21, following Warden Miller’s investigation, Strable was booked into Sublette County Jail and charged with eight misdemeanors, including counts of poaching wildlife, false swearing under oath, and hunting a wilderness area as a nonresident without a guide (a privilege reserved for residents in Wyoming).
In the time since Strable’s misconduct has come to light, she has deleted all her social media accounts. Reportedly, she had around 95,000 followers and was known for posting about her fishing and hunting trips, including the illegal Wyoming hunts. The posts, however, beginning with the wombat video, are probably what got her in trouble to begin with.
After filming the notorious video in Australia, an online petition calling for her deportation received about 48,000 signatures, and the Australian Minister of Home Affairs said he was investigating whether her visa could be revoked. Strable left Australia on her own accord before that could happen. However, her reputation may have preceded her back to Wyoming, leading to the anonymous tip regarding her questionable residency status.
If convicted of the charges being pressed, Strable could face several thousand dollars in fines and potentially prison time. False swearing in Wyoming carries a fine of up to $10,000, illegally hunting wilderness areas as a nonresident is punishable by up to $1,000, and the poaching charges carry up to a $10,000 fine and a revoked hunting license. As always, those charged with wildlife crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
To say the least, it’s a turn of events for someone who, at one point, looked to be leading the next generation of hunters and conservationists. Strable’s Southern Hemisphere trips might be on pause for a couple of years to come.
Feature image via Samantha Strable’s Facebook Page.
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