……According to their plea agreements, between 2008 and 2010, Harding who operated Harding’s Wild Mountain Herbs, Inc., and Harward, who operated Timber Creek Services, engaged in commercial hunting activities for American black bear, mostly in Garrett County. Hunting for black bear is highly regulated in Maryland. Restrictions included a prohibition on the use of bait to attract the bear, as well as requirements that hunters associated with each other on the same hunting permit remain within view of each other while hunting.
During the course of an undercover investigation by NRP and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, law enforcement discovered that Harding and Harward were using bait to attract bears to locations where hunters – who had paid Harding and Harward to be guided in their pursuit of the bear – could more easily kill one of the animals. The undercover officers also learned that the defendants were violating the Maryland regulations that required a sub-licensee on a black bear hunting permit to remain in visual contact with the licensee.
During the course of the investigation, undercover officers posed as clients, paying Harding and Harward for guided bear hunts. Their investigation found Harding and Harward were illegally baiting bears for paying clients, some of whom came from outside Maryland to hunt.
Read More Here: http://smnewsnet.com/archives/212140/maryland-hunting-guides-sentenced-for-violating-black-bear-hunting-regulations/
