Ontario Hunter
AH ambassador
Washington Hunting Guide and Outfitting Company Plead Guilty to Lacey Act Violations
thevenatic.beehiiv.com
Looks like someone to stay away from if looking for a guide. I wonder who ratted him out? The Canadian taxidermist or one of his clients? Gotta be an idiot to trust your livelihood to either. The $170,000 restitution may sound like a lot but I checked the website. Mayhem lodge is quite the extravaganza. I think this guy must be loaded. He plead guilty yesterday but full sentencing is not till October. I hope Trager gets a lifetime ban from hunting. That would be appropriate. Unfortunately, it's a federal case and I'm not sure a federal court can impose restriction on state hunting. I understand that ban on hunting in Washington would now apply to every other state but Hawaii. Besides operating as an unlicensed guide in Canada and illegally transporting poached game across international borders, he was also charged with chasing birds with motorized boat, failing to make reasonable effort to retrieve birds, and exceeding the daily bag limit. Must have been a client who squeeled but I suspect the taxidermist got the ball rolling. Or it's possible USFW had an officer posing as a client. They have used that tactic for years. I remember when a Montana outfitter and world famous Jonas Brothers Taxidermy were busted for sheep poaching back in the seventies. The feds used an agent posing as a client to bring down that huge poaching ring. Anyway, the Dept of Justice is not releasing any info about how this investigation unfolded. Not yet.
