Utah Hunting Guide Charged With Felony For Baiting Bear That Donald Trump Jr. Shot

A Utah man is being charged with a felony in relation to a bear that was shot and killed during a hunt he was guiding on May 18, 2018. The man who pulled the trigger is a rather notable hunter, Donald Trump Jr., but court docs allege that he was tricked by the guide, Wade Lemon, who allegedly baited the bear with grain and pastries.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings has claimed that Trump Jr., “was actually a victim and now a possible witness in a fraudulent scheme to lead the hunter to believe it was a legitimate Wild West hunting situation.”

Evidence that implicated Lemon and his company Wade Lemon Hunting included witness testimony that Lemon was heard instructing his employees to set bait for a bear over the radio, and the bait was also discovered nearby a trail camera covering the area which bore Lemon’s WLH logo.

Lemon has been investigated numerous times over the years for going to extreme and illegal measures to ensure the presence of big game for his high-paying hunting clients. In 2009, an officer for the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Hal Stout, said he observed Lemon’s employees chasing a bear up into a tree, then setting a fire under it to keep it there until hunters arrived.

Despite Stout documenting this and multiple other violations of state regulations around hunting, the case against Lemon was dropped. Claims of illegal hunting are difficult to investigate and litigate, so it’s impressive that Lemon is finally facing charges after the years of sketchy behavior he has been displaying.