In the case of the poachers in the Tundra...I think they are suppose to look well geared as a tougue in check statement about the players themselves and their quest for more loot (you even herar them going on about just one more hide and they can get a new silver-plated shotgun and the like...much like the players would have done in Nagrand and possibly later in the Basin).
And what is to stop a level 75 trash mob from wearing level 70 epic armor? Maybe he did a run through the Black Temple before his player quit WoW and left him to fend for himself, being recast as an extra...talk about a long fall from grace.
