It appears that Gates was the organizer of the poaching and the others went along, attracted with the opportunity to shoot a large deer or elk. The men were dropped off to enter the ALE on foot, and picked up later at a designated location. Investigators from the Service's forensic lab in Ashland, Oregon, used DNA testing to match samples taken from the dead animals, or their bones found on the Monument, with blood samples on hunting knives and from recovered antlers, some of which were hanging in the poacher's houses. The offenders went as far as taking pictures of themselves with their illegal trophies. The confiscated antlers will be used by the Monument and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for outreach and environmental education programs.

The success of this case underscores the cooperation and professionalism exhibited between Federal and State wildlife officers, FWS's forensic lab, and Hanford Reach National Monument staff.