https://www.sltrib.com/news/20...hunting-guide-faces/


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Utah hunting guide faces felony charge for Donald Trump Jr.’s big-game hunt

Court documents say guide Wade Lemon used ‘a pile of grain, oil and pastries’ to lure a bear that Trump Jr. then killed.
(@donaldtrumpjr via Instagram) A screenshot of an Instagram post shows Donald Trump, Jr. on a hunt in Utah in May 2018. Prosecutors filed charges against Utah hunting guide Wade Lemon for a hunt around the same time Trump Jr. killed a bear using Lemon as his guide. They have indicated there was no evidence showing Trump Jr. would have known about alleged bearbaiting that went on during the hunt.

(@donaldtrumpjr via Instagram) A screenshot of an Instagram post shows Donald Trump, Jr. on a hunt in Utah in May 2018. Prosecutors filed charges against Utah hunting guide Wade Lemon for a hunt around the same time Trump Jr. killed a bear using Lemon as his guide. They have indicated there was no evidence showing Trump Jr. would have known about alleged bearbaiting that went on during the hunt.

By Eric Peterson
| May 21, 2022, 7:00 a.m.
The following story was written and researched by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune.

Utah hunting guide Wade Lemon faces five years in state prison for the death of a Carbon County bear killed during a guided hunt on May 18, 2018.

But Lemon, a well-known guide didn’t pull the trigger — Donald Trump Jr. did, according to the Utah Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Trump Jr. is not named in a recent filing against Lemon, but the DNR confirmed his identity as the person named in the felony complaint as Lemon’s “client” on the hunt. Prosecutors have indicated there was no evidence showing Trump Jr. would have known about the alleged baiting that went on during the hunt.

Without naming Trump Jr., Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said the hunter in the case “was actually a victim and a now a possible witness in a fraudulent scheme to lead the hunter to believe it was actually a legitimate Wild West hunting situation.”


The charges against Lemon from the Trump Jr. hunt were filed just before the four-year statute of limitations expired. The DNR initially investigated allegations of illegal bearbaiting on the hunt in 2018 and closed the case later that year.

On Sept. 3, 2020, The Utah Investigative Journalism Project requested files on closed investigations against Wade Lemon Hunting. The DNR provided files on cases dating back to 2009 except for the case on the 2018 Trump Jr. hunt. DNR had decided to reopen that case and denied the records request, stating the release would interfere with the now “open” investigation.

DNR turned the case over to the Utah Attorney General’s Office. Utah Attorney General Reyes has close ties to Trump, having campaigned for him and even flying to Nevada to investigate the election results after Trump’s defeat at the polls and signed on to a lawsuit claiming “unlawful election results.” The Attorney General’s Office reinvestigated the case for months, then handed it off to the Davis County Attorney’s Office to screen for filing of charges.

Documents show investigations into Lemon’s organization for the past decade — allegations of cruel and illegal big game baiting practices.

Hunter Nation

“Lots of quality time in the woods hanging out at 10,000 feet. #outdoors #weekend #adventure #cabin #utah,” reads a May 19, 2018 Instagram post from Trump Jr. The president’s son is decked out in camouflage standing casually at the edge of a cliff before a sweeping view of rolling forests, hills and plateaus. The post is tagged “Utah” and the caption reads “Great weekend in Utah with some good friends in the outdoors.”

Trump Jr. was in Utah to help launch Hunter Nation, a hunting advocacy group. That group would later launch its own super PAC, Hunter Nation Action, which spent $96,997 in ads against Democrats in the 2020 election, according to the campaign spending transparency site Open Secrets.

The organization formed in 2018 and was cofounded by Utahn Don Peay, the Utah campaign manager for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.


“You will have to go a long way to find a bigger advocate for our hunting lifestyle, a more passionate hunter and conservationist than Don, Jr.,” reads a post Hunter Nation released in the fall of 2019 as part of a raffle for members to win a trip hunting elk in Utah with the president’s son.

“The opportunity to share a hunting camp with him is truly priceless,” the post reads.

There were no pictures of Don Jr.’s kills from his May 2018 trip to Utah on his social media feed, but DNR confirmed that over the course of two days the president’s son bagged two kills that many would consider once-in-a-lifetime hunts — a bear on May 18 and a cougar on May 19, 2018.

Charging documents allege Lemon’s outfitters illegally used bait on the bear shot by Trump Jr. According to the document, a witness identified Lemon and his employees during the hunt in May 2018 and was able to identify Lemon over radio traffic, giving instructions to his employees.

The illegal bait, “a pile of grain, oil and pastries” was discovered with a trail camera pointed right on it with “WLH” (for Wade Lemon Hunting) written on the side and with Lemon’s own telephone number, according to court documents. The charging documents also include evidence from a subordinate confirming Lemon had him place the bait in the location several weeks before the hunt.


Lemon was contacted by phone and said he was surprised by the charges related to the Trump Jr. hunt, saying, “As far as I knew everything was above board,” before ending the call.

A request for comment from The Trump Organization, where Trump Jr. is an executive vice president, was not returned.

Questions about past investigations were emailed to Lemon and a lawyer responded to say he had no comment.

Big clients bag big game

Hunting guides who cater to the wealthy elite have a lot at stake in ensuring successful hunts. These companies employ hunters to scout woods, deserts, mountains and plains for the biggest game, to ensure these high-profile clients have the highest chance for a successful hunt. According to DNR, Wade Lemon Hunting has been investigated eight times for allegedly breaking the law to ensure a successful hunt, though he was not charged with a felony until Tuesday.

On May 25, 2009, Hal Stout, an officer with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR), was investigating Lemon’s hunting areas for illegal bear bait in the vicinity of Nine Mile Canyon in Carbon county. Stout was inspecting one bait location when “I heard an ATV and ran for concealment,” the report states.

Stout observed a truck with dog boxes roll past and observed the plate as linked to a Lemon employee. After the vehicle passed, the officer located two more illegal bait areas — one with a dead horse carcass covered in branches and a melon rind nearby. He had little time to appraise the situation before a nearby commotion grabbed his attention.

“I heard hounds baying and continued in the direction of the sound,” Stout writes, hearing one individual specifically call for “Wade” asking to have them bring another individual from nearby cabins out to the area. The investigator again monitored from concealment and could not see all the parties involved but was aware that someone was brought out to shoot a treed bear.

According to Stout’s report, Lemon’s employees had treed a bear and built a fire under the tree to keep it from escaping while they waited for their client to be brought to the site.


“At the base and between these two trees I observed a chair made of rocks,” the report reads. “I heard WADE earlier say that the boys had built a fire under the tree and made him a chair.”

The investigator documented multiple examples of violations of state law from the manner of trapping the bear in the tree and the case languished for several years, before being dismissed in June 2012. A remark in the case file notes “that the level of illegality detected was insufficient to justify disclosing investigative techniques used in this case.”

Lemon would face other investigations. In 2011, an informant told DWR Lemon had a mountain lion treed and that “the lion hunter had his own private plane and was flying in tomorrow to shoot it.” Investigators later found the site of the kill.

In 2016 Lemon’s company was investigated for illegally taking a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep harvested in an off-limits area on Utah’s Mount Nebo. DWR did not fault Lemon’s company as the agency at the time had not updated its guidebooks and a DWR employee had given Lemon confirmation that they could lead a guided hunt on the mountain.

In a statement, DNR spokesperson Faith Jolley pointed out that many of these cases are difficult to investigate, sometimes informants won’t come forward and in other cases, evidence of baiting can only be gathered “by requesting a search warrant and setting up trail cameras in the area of the bait station.”


Jolley says that DWR officers generate an average of 2,000 case reports a year for “illegal wildlife activity” investigations. “The majority of these cases conclude either being screened by a county attorney or with an investigation that results in no leads,” Jolley said.

‘Great day on the mountain’

Despite the multiple investigations over the years, former DWR Director Mike Fowlks attended at least one hunt with Lemon’s outfit.



In a May 14, 2020, Instagram post from Wade Lemon Hunting, Fowlks is shown posing with a recently killed bear. The post reads: “Had a great day on the mountain with @mikefowlks Congratulations again Mike on a great boar!”

Fowlks was director during the 2018 investigation and also law enforcement section chief during the times of the previous Lemon investigations. A month after DNR provided records of Lemon investigation files, Fowlks announced his retirement.



Fowlks declined to comment for this story other than to say that the 2020 hunt he went on was not with Lemon personally, but just through his company.

I have hunted with WLH numerous times . Off the top of my head, I have hunted with them for pronghorn, bison, elk, mule deer , mountain lion , desert big horn, Rocky Mountain big horn, prairie dogs , black bear and most recently turkeys in Mexico . I have never personally witnessed anything that I thought was questionable. In fact, I have experienced them being very careful to comply with the law. For example, I once left my license in the truck. I had to retrieve it BEFORE I was allowed to shoot.

I was not there . Therefore, I will not opine on whether the allegations happened or not . It is curious that this happens just before the statute expires . If hard proof exists, charges would have been filed long ago.

quote:

The charges against Lemon from the Trump Jr. hunt were filed just before the four-year statute of limitations expired. The DNR initially investigated allegations of illegal bearbaiting on the hunt in 2018 and closed the case later that year.

Political prosecutions are not unheard of.

https://www.fox13now.com/news/...that-trump-jr-killed


Utah hunting guide charged with illegally baiting bear that Trump Jr. killed

A guide who helped Donald Trump Jr. bag a black bear on a hunting trip in Utah has been charged with illegally baiting the animal.


By: Spencer BurtPosted at 5:23 PM, May 22, 2022 and last updated 10:58 PM, May 22, 2022

CARBON COUNTY, Utah — A guide who helped Donald Trump Jr. bag a black bear on a hunting trip in Utah has been charged with illegally baiting the animal.

The Utah Attorney General's Office charged 61-year-old Millard County resident Wade Cox Lemon with "wanton destruction of protected wildlife," a 3rd-degree felony. The charge was filed on behalf of the AG's office through the Davis County Attorney's Office.



Lemon "personally guided a client on a successful bear hunt" in Carbon County on May 18, 2018, according to charging documents.

A "concerned witness" contacted the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and said they found "a pile of grain, oil, and pastries" in the area after the hunting party left. DWR agents responded and confirmed that there was half-eaten bait in front of a trail camera with Lemon's initials and phone number on it.

The witness also said they saw the group hunting with dogs. Both the witness and DWR agents said there was loose straw on a nearby road, which they said is generally used to line the cages of hunting dogs when they are being transported.



Lemon's client checked the bear in at a DWR station that day.

"The end of the hunt is recorded showing the bear surrounded by a pack of hunting dogs before the client shoots and kills the animal," prosecutors wrote in the charging document. "Utah law forbids luring bears to a bait station and then pursuing the animal with dogs."

Utah Code 23-20-3 says it is illegal to "possess or use bait or other attractant to take protected wildlife which is prohibited in this title or a rule, proclamation, or order of the Wildlife Board."

According to the charges against Lemon, investigators interviewed some of his sub-guides, who said they knew the bear was baited to the area where it was killed that day. One sub-guide confirmed that Lemon "always keeps bear bait spots on this particular property," and that Lemon told him to "get stuff out there" a couple of weeks before the hunt.

The charging documents did not list Trump Jr., but a report by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project and The Salt Lake Tribune confirmed that he was the client in the hunt that day.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said the client in the case “was actually a victim and a now a possible witness in a fraudulent scheme to lead the hunter to believe it was actually a legitimate Wild West hunting situation," according to the Tribune's report.


The Tribune reports that the DNR confirmed two kills by Trump Jr.: a bear on May 18, 2018, and a cougar on May 19, 2018. Lemon says on his company's website that he specializes in guiding hunts for black bears and mountain lions with his trained hunting dogs.

While Lemon's company, "Wade Lemon Hunting," frequently posts photos of his clients with their big game kills on Facebook, there are none of Trump Jr.'s hunts.

However, the son of then-president Donald Trump posted photos on his Instagram account from a "weekend in Utah with some good friends" on May 19, 2018.


In addition, Wade Lemon Hunting posted photos with Trump Jr. on May 21, 2018, and said they were together to launch an organization called "Hunter Nation."

One of the organization's listed purposes is to "educate the public regarding hunting, wildlife, and habitat."


The Tribune pointed out that the charge against Lemon was filed just before the four-year statute of limitations expired.


"The DNR initially investigated allegations of illegal bearbaiting on the hunt in 2018 and closed the case later that year," the investigative report read.

The Utah Investigative Journalism Project then requested public records on closed investigations against Wade Lemon Hunting. The Utah Department of Natural Resources provided files on multiple cases dating back to 2009 — but the DNR did not include records of the May 2018 incident because they had decided to reopen the investigation.

According to the Tribune, Lemon was contacted over the phone and said he was surprised by the charges.

“As far as I knew everything was above board,” he reportedly said before ending the call.

The Tribune's report also outlines some of the past investigations into Lemon's company.

A judge has issued a summons for Lemon to appear in court on June 13. He is also ordered to check himself into the Carbon County Jail before that date, where he will be booked and immediately released.

Interesting and time will tell.

I am curious why it was reopened after it was closed.

Running bears off baits is not unusual. Although I have heard many sketchy things about Lemon, I have always put them down to envy. We shall see what the evidence shows.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50...separate-canned-hunt



Utah hunting guide charged with baiting bear for Trump Jr., leading separate 'canned hunt'

By Pat Reavy, KSL.com | Posted - May 23, 2022 at 6:00 p.m.


Donald Trump Jr. speaks on KSL NewsRadio on Sept. 21, 2016. A Utah hunting guide has been charged with baiting a bear during a 2018 expedition with Trump Jr. in Utah's Carbon County and another felony accusing him of leading a client on a "canned hunt" in Millard County. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)


PRICE — A Utah hunting guide is facing a criminal charge accusing him of baiting a bear during an expedition in Carbon County with Donald Trump Jr.

Wade Cox Lemon, 61, of Holden, Millard County, was charged last week in 7th District Court with wanton destruction of protected wildlife, a third-degree felony. The case was filed by Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings on behalf of the Utah Attorney General's Office, according to court records.

Lemon was also charged in a separate case on Monday with another count of wanton destruction of protected wildlife, a third-degree felony, in Millard County's 4th District Court for an incident on Jan. 24, 2021. That case filed by Benjamin B. Willoughby, a prosecutor with the Davis County Attorney's Office, on behalf of the attorney general's office.

When asked why Davis County prosecutors filed the charges, the Utah Attorney General's Office referred all questions Monday to Davis County. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes is a longtime supporter of former President Donald Trump. Reyes' website includes a section called "Standing with Trump," which includes pictures of him with the former president and Donald Trump Jr.

Lemon operates Wade Lemon Hunting, which on its website promotes itself as: "Your premium big game hunting outfitter since 1978."

Although court documents only list the person who killed the bear as a "client," the Utah Department of Natural Resources confirmed that Trump Jr. had two permits for the hunt. "These indicate the harvest of one bear and one cougar in May 2018 in Carbon County with Wade Lemon providing guide services," the department said in a statement Monday.

On May 18, 2018, Lemon guided a bear hunt in Carbon County. "The end of the hunt is recorded showing the bear surrounded by a pack of hunting dogs before the client shoots and kills the animal," according to charging documents.

A concerned witness, who recognized Lemon and the client, reported the hunt to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The witness "listened to radio traffic and heard Wade Lemon say to let the dogs go. The witness entered the area after the group left. The witness observed that a section of dirt road had been dragged with a log to prepare the road to show a bear track," the charges state.

The witness also found straw used to line the cages of the hunting dogs, a pile of grain, oil and pastries, and a trail camera strapped to a tree pointing in the direction of the bait, according to the charges. Investigators say the camera had "WLH" written on it along with Lemon's phone number.

"DWR agents met with the witness on site and documented the graded road, straw, trail camera and half-eaten bait," according to the charging documents.

Investigators also interviewed several others "who knew the bear was baited to the property where it was pursued," the charges say, adding that one witness said "that he has known for years" which spots Lemon uses to bait bears.

It is against the law in Utah to lure a bear to a bait station and then chase it with dogs.

The case was originally investigated by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, "but we felt we needed additional evidence to prove that the bear bait had been used to lure the bear before it was harvested using dogs," a DWR spokeswoman said.

The case was closed, with the option of reopening it if any new evidence was discovered.

"In later reviewing this investigation report, there were aspects of the investigation that we wanted to better understand, which led us to requesting a review by the Utah Attorney General's Office. In the Utah attorney general's investigation, they were able to gather additional evidence, resulting in the filing of a third-degree felony," according to the DWR.

Rawlings did not return KSL.com's call for comment Monday, but told the Salt Lake Tribune that there is no evidence that the "client" or hunter in this case knew about the alleged baiting.

On the Wade Lemon Hunting Instagram account, a post from May 21, 2018, talks about spending "a few days in the field getting to know @donaldtrumpjr."

"His passion for hunting and the outdoors is genuine and contagious to all of us," the post states. "The entire WLH crew were all blown away by not only what a good hunter he is, but what a good person he is."

Trump Jr.'s Instagram account includes a post from May 19, 2018, which states, "Great weekend in Utah with some good friends in the outdoors" and later states, "Lots of quality time in the woods hanging out at 10,000 feet."

An initial appearance for Lemon in his 2018 case is scheduled for June 13.

According to the charging documents filed on Monday, the Utah Attorney General's Office opened an investigation into Lemon in 2021 regarding allegations that he "was guiding clients on 'canned hunts' — a hunt where the paying client is brought in after the animal has already been located."

A confidential informant met with investigators in Meadow Canyon in Millard County and informed them he had found a mountain lion track. He then found the mountain lion and informed Lemon about it, who then arranged for a client from Sandy to arrive, the charging documents allege. Investigators reported hiding on the ridge and watching as Lemon led the client in.

"The investigators observed Lemon's hunting party arrive on ATVs and watched as the group walked toward where the mountain lion had been treed," the court documents state.

The client then shot the mountain lion, and was later interviewed by investigators.

"The client reported that he had no idea the hunt was canned and did not realize the mountain lion had already been located before he arrived," according to the charges.

Are they saying dragging a road is illegal. I have seen that done all over the world.

Their definition of a canned hunt differs from mine. Of course, the Utah statutes might define the term. Is it illegal to take a client to a wild animal that has already been located?

If he had just dragged the road, I suspect he would be fine. He had a bait station (which is illegal and alleged) in the hunting area.

The assumption in the report, though not necessary to prove, is the guide was bating bears to the are, preparing the area to show tracks, then using dogs to find and tree bears that were in the area because of bait.

Like tracking lion from a hit bait.

If Utah is like KY, the only thing they have to prove is bait in the area, during season, and he was aware or should have known. That is why the trail camera becomes important. It establishes his knowledge of the bait.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Are they saying dragging a road is illegal. I have seen that done all over the world.

Their definition of a canned hunt differs from mine. Of course, the Utah statutes might define the term. Is it illegal to take a client to a wild animal that has already been located?

In Utah, when chasing lions or bears the hunter has to be present when the dogs are released from the truck.

Additionally, for bears you cannot both bait and hunt with hounds--you have to do one or the other. Based on the articles, the road that was dragged was in the area right near the illegal bait site, the hounds were released and the bear treed and then Jr was called to leave the cabin and come hunt.

Edited for correction:
The cougar was even worse as the cat was treed then the call was made to bring the hunter (not Trump Jr) in when he was several hours away.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I am curious why it was reopened after it was closed.

Where the timing really gets interesting is with Mike Fowlks and his decision to retire a month after the records request was made.

Fowlks was director during the 2018 investigation and also law enforcement section chief during the times of the previous Lemon investigations. A month after DNR provided records of Lemon investigation files, Fowlks announced his retirement.

Fowlks was a client of WLH at least once, in 2020.

quote:

Originally posted by justanotherhunter:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Are they saying dragging a road is illegal. I have seen that done all over the world.

Their definition of a canned hunt differs from mine. Of course, the Utah statutes might define the term. Is it illegal to take a client to a wild animal that has already been located?

In Utah, when chasing lions or bears the hunter has to be present when the dogs are released from the truck.

Additionally, for bears you cannot both bait and hunt with hounds--you have to do one or the other. Based on the articles, the road that was dragged was in the area right near the illegal bait site, the hounds were released and the bear treed and then Jr was called to leave the cabin and come hunt. The cougar was even worse as the cat was treed then the call was made to bring Jr in when he was several hours away.

Thank you

quote:

Originally posted by justanotherhunter:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I am curious why it was reopened after it was closed.

Where the timing really gets interesting is with Mike Fowlks and his decision to retire a month after the records request was made.

Fowlks was director during the 2018 investigation and also law enforcement section chief during the times of the previous Lemon investigations. A month after DNR provided records of Lemon investigation files, Fowlks announced his retirement.

Fowlks was a client of WLH at least once, in 2020.

I am not saying you are wrong . I am curious where you got this information.

This article from the SLC Tribune covers the timelines of investigations (criminal and the journalism records request) and Mike Fowlks positions, retirement announcement, and hunt with WLH.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/20...hunting-guide-faces/

Thanks .

This comes as no surprise to anybody that guides or outfits. I can’t believe this is the first thing they’ve got him on.

I hope his taxes are in order after accepting all of the PPP money.

https://www.federalpay.org/pay...unting-llc-holden-ut



Here’s a link to an article when he illegally guided a hunter in a unit that wasn’t open to them and he claimed ignorance when everybody knows the rule on even and odd years for that unit. He got a girl at a local DWR office fired over it and got off. Will be interesting to see how this plays out now that his buddy Mike Fowlks resigned as director of DWR

https://archive.sltrib.com/art...=4476856&itype=CMSID

Here’s my favorite Wade lemon quote

“Lemon said his clients "put a lot of money into Utah," more than those complaining about the ram.
"These knuckleheads ought to be ashamed for spit-balling these people. Those guys who buy a $25 deer tag don't do squat" for habitat conservation, he said.“

Y’all remember when I posted about a WLH client killing a “new world record” that turned out to be a pen raised pet in Mexico? Pathetic

https://photobucket.com/u/drum...09-82d2-a23a364dde51

https://photobucket.com/u/drum...65-9653-bc8d9b90506e



Wade Lemon is a scumbag

quote:

Originally posted by justanotherhunter:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Are they saying dragging a road is illegal. I have seen that done all over the world.

Their definition of a canned hunt differs from mine. Of course, the Utah statutes might define the term. Is it illegal to take a client to a wild animal that has already been located?

In Utah, when chasing lions or bears the hunter has to be present when the dogs are released from the truck.

Additionally, for bears you cannot both bait and hunt with hounds--you have to do one or the other. Based on the articles, the road that was dragged was in the area right near the illegal bait site, the hounds were released and the bear treed and then Jr was called to leave the cabin and come hunt. The cougar was even worse as the cat was treed then the call was made to bring Jr in when he was several hours away.

A local news site ran an article on this subject and mentioned that the person who killed the lion was from Sandy, UT. It was not Trump who shot the lion.

I don't want to fling any arrows but and I don't have a dog in the fight. I just want to make sure those of us in the hunting community are sticking to the facts in this case.

Good catch touchdown 88, thanks for the correction. I've edited my earlier post accordingly.

quote:

Originally posted by drummondlindsey:
This comes as no surprise to anybody that guides or outfits. I can’t believe this is the first thing they’ve got him on.



Here’s a link to an article when he illegally guided a hunter in a unit that wasn’t open to them and he claimed ignorance when everybody knows the rule on even and odd years for that unit. He got a girl at a local DWR office fired over it and got off. Will be interesting to see how this plays out now that his buddy Mike Fowlks resigned as director of DWR

https://archive.sltrib.com/art...=4476856&itype=CMSID

Yep. The Nebo Ram debacle was grotesque (and Mike Fowlks was running the show when the DWR claimed responsibility for the "error" and asked the prosecutor to not pursue the case, just saying). The absurdity of calling a fisheries biologist tasked with overseeing a different region than the one that contains the unit where the sheep was killed (the morning of the hunt) to ask if the governor's tag "was open statewide" and whether that would include the unit where Mount Nebo is located was appalling. Just a complete stain on conservation, the DWR, and especially WLH.

So Trump killed the bear but not the lion?

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
So Trump killed the bear but not the lion?

According to this new article, Trump killed the bear not knowing it was baited. The article mentions another hunter who killed the lion.

KSL News article

https://www.sltrib.com/news/en.../utah-hunting-guide/



Utah hunting guide charged in Donald Trump Jr. hunt faces new criminal allegations

Wade Lemon is accused of ‘perpetrating fraud’ on Trump Jr. and another client in ‘canned’ big game hunts in Utah.


By Brian Maffly
| May 28, 2022, 7:00 a.m.


An additional felony poaching charge has been filed against the prominent Utah hunting guide who was prosecuted earlier this month for illegally using bait to help Donald Trump Jr. kill a black bear in Carbon County in 2018.

Wade Lemon, a guide based in Holden, has been under investigation during the past several years by state wildlife officials who suspect Lemon of leading high-paying clients on trophy hunts using tactics that are banned under Utah hunting regulations.

In the latest case, a sting operation orchestrated last year by the Utah Attorney General’s Office, Lemon is accused of helping a client shoot a cougar in a “canned” hunt staged in Millard County.

The charges in both cases, known as “wanton destruction of wildlife,” are third-degree felonies that carry potential prison sentences of up to 5 years each. Other possible consequences of a conviction for Lemon are a loss of hunting in privileges in Utah and other states and revocation of his outfitting license.

In neither case is the client being charged because the facts indicate they are the victims of a fraud who had no way of knowing a crime was occurring when they illegally shot the animal, according to prosecutor Ben Willoughby.


“That mountain lion was treed while this hunter was still packing up his car in Sandy, Utah,” said Willoughby, a Davis County assistant district attorney, in reference to the Millard case. “It’s a fraud on him designed to make it look like he’s getting a bona fide hunting experience when in fact there is no hunting, there is no risk, there is no sport involved at all.”

Willoughby and his boss Troy Rawlings have been assigned to prosecute Lemon as Utah’s special assistant attorneys general.

Lemon’s initial court appearance is set for June 22 in Fillmore’s 4th District Court, where the charge was filed Monday. On Thursday, The Salt Lake Tribune reached Lemon’s lawyer, Greg Law, who declined comment.

The Lemon cases expose an unsavory side to trophy hunting, which is subjected to numerous rules to ensure the animals are pursued and killed ethically and humanely. The ethic of “fair chase” appears to have little to no place in the two guided hunts that led to charges against Wade.

Utah does allow the use of dogs to pursue cougars and bears, a practice denounced by many wildlife advocates as animal abuse. To minimize the potential for abuse, bear and cougar hunts are subject to careful, yet hard-to-enforce rules. Under Utah hunting regulations, for example, the hunter must be present when the dogs are let loose and must participate in the chase until the hunt’s conclusion.


In Lemon’s Millard County case, the client’s participation was allegedly limited to being transported by ATV to the spot where a cougar had been cornered in a tree and squeezing two rounds into the animal’s body.

Lemon, 61, has been guiding hunters in Utah since the late 1970s and has grown his service into one of Utah’s largest with international operations in Mexico and Africa. Lemon and his guides have helped more than 2,000 clients “fulfill their dream of harvesting a Trophy Mountain Lion,” according to the website for Wade Lemon Hunting.

“We are not lion hunters, we are lion catchers,” the site states. “Until you have watched a pack of hounds working a track you will never fully understand the passion of a houndsman watching a good dog work.”

The Millard County case is one of several into Lemon’s operations, but only the second to lead to criminal charges. The sting operation occurred on Jan. 24, 2021, after a houndsman found cougar tracks near Meadow Canyon in Millard County. This person, identified only as a “confidential witness,” worked with state investigators, according to the charging document.

The unnamed cooperating witness called Lemon to inform him that he was tracking a cougar and asked if he had a client who wanted to bag one, and Lemon responded that he could be there in a few hours with a hunter.


Lemon asked the witness to release some of his dogs, but to hold some back for when his client arrived. At 11:47 a.m., the witness called Lemon to say that his dogs cornered a cougar that was “chilling up in a tree,” according to the documents. The witness told the guide that all his dogs were loosed on the cougar pursuit so he had none left to release for the client’s benefit. Lemon responded by asking what kind of vehicle he would need to access the site and whether the dogs could be heard from the road.

“He said that’s good if you can’t hear it from the road. That’s the fraud,” Willoughby, the prosecutor, said. “Lemon says, ‘We’ll get other dogs loaded in dog boxes just for effect.’ That is evidence of the fraud perpetrated on this hunter. They are concealing the fact that dogs have already been released.”

The scam requires fooling the client into believing no dogs were let loose until he joined the chase, he said.

“While they are suiting the hunter up, you release a bunch of other dogs which will look to the hunter as if he is present when the dogs are released,” Willoughby continued. “The trick is when the hunter gets to the scene where you shoot the cougar, it’s up in a tree and there are now a lot of dogs around the base of the tree.”

Unless the hunter is counting dogs, he may not suspect anything is amiss.


The client, a man from Sandy, told investigators that he had no idea the hunt was staged and that the cougar had already been located before his arrival.

Wasn’t Wade Lemon a poster here for awhile?

He is not on the directory of members for AR.

The latest article says the first appearance is 6/22. I take that means not the actual trial. I wonder when that will be.

I have been quite bothered by this. My first hunt with Wade was in the 80's for pronghorn. I try and think back about anything I could have missed. I don't think there was any funny business with my hunts. I can't remember the specifics about a bear hunt in NM. Wade wasn't there. I THINK we released the dogs but I am not 100% sure. It was over 20 years ago.

I do recall us chasing a mountain lion. It was treed. When I went to shoot, I was asked to produce my license. I had left it in the truck. They would not let me shoot until the license was retrieved.

Time will tell whether he is guilty or not.

I'm not sure what the NM hound regs are fit when the dogs are released. Honestly, my thoughts are that most of WLH hunts were likely by the book, but he has a tendency to willfully break the law when the stakes are right to him/his guides. His blatant disregard of the law during the Waldrip sheep hunt on Mt. Nebo and how that all played out was infuriating, frankly. Then his son and other guide chasing a buck out of the campground/closed to hunting area on Antelope Island for the auction tag hunter to try to shoot was disgusting. Add in the willful trespassing from this winter, the Don Jr. bear shenanigans coming to light, and this sketchy cougar hunt (along with a few other credible issues that are still in the works based on discussions I've had with folks involved in those investigations) it seems like the chickens are coming home to roost

quote:

Originally posted by justanotherhunter:
I'm not sure what the NM hound regs are fit when the dogs are released. Honestly, my thoughts are that most of WLH hunts were likely by the book, but he has a tendency to willfully break the law when the stakes are right to him/his guides. His blatant disregard of the law during the Waldrip sheep hunt on Mt. Nebo and how that all played out was infuriating, frankly. Then his son and other guide chasing a buck out of the campground/closed to hunting area on Antelope Island for the auction tag hunter to try to shoot was disgusting. Add in the willful trespassing from this winter, the Don Jr. bear shenanigans coming to light, and this sketchy cougar hunt (along with a few other credible issues that are still in the works based on discussions I've had with folks involved in those investigations) it seems like the chickens are coming home to roost

You bring up incidents I have never heard of. Not saying you are wrong . Just surprised at the revelations.

Larry:

Here is a link to the Nebo fiasco:

https://archive.sltrib.com/art...=4476856&itype=CMSID

quote:

Originally posted by Jason P:
Larry:

Here is a link to the Nebo fiasco:

https://archive.sltrib.com/art...=4476856&itype=CMSID

Thanks.

I have heard of this incident. However, a previous post discussed contacting a fisheries biologist prior to shooting the ram.. I had never heard that before.

I also never heard of them running a buck out of a campground which was previously mentioned.

Again, I am not saying it didn't happen. These incidents were news to me.

A few years back, I bought the sheep tag for Antelope Island. I hired WLH. On this hunt is when I found out there was a lot of animosity between outfitters. Based on my own experiences with WLH, I do wonder if this animosity has something to do with this. We met some AI Park people on this hunt. Not only were they grateful for the money raised for AI, they seemed to have the utmost respect for the WLH people.

As I have said before, on my hunts, I am sure nothing was done inappropriately. However, if he is guilty, he should have a price to pay.

Guilty or not, I am disappointed. If he is guilty, I am disappointed in Wade. If he is not guilty, I am disappointed in the people who caused the entire thing.

Time will tell.

quote:

Originally posted by drummondlindsey:

Here’s my favorite Wade lemon quote

“Lemon said his clients "put a lot of money into Utah," more than those complaining about the ram.
"These knuckleheads ought to be ashamed for spit-balling these people. Those guys who buy a $25 deer tag don't do squat" for habitat conservation, he said.“


Wade Lemon is a scumbag

That pisses me off. What an arrogant, entitled disposition. I hope he gets his elitist ass thrown in a concrete cell. No doubt he has been getting away with it for years because of DWR jerks on the take. They should be investigated too.

quote:

The latest article says the first appearance is 6/22. I take that means not the actual trial. I wonder when that will be.

With the right lawyer it could be years.

Any news on the court appearance?

Not that I've heard of

When there is money on the line a lot of strange things go on.

The more money the more strange things.

Any news?

Still crickets as far as I know

Seems strange to me that this has gone quiet.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Seems strange to me that this has gone quiet.

Why delays are very common in the court systems.

With nothing to report because of them it would be quiet.

I expect to see nothing until trial time.

Any word on this matter?

Millard County case is set for preliminary hearing on 11/2 at 1:30 pm.

Carbon County case was set for preliminary hearing on 10/19 at 1:30 pm. I haven't bothered to check into how that went.