Three big game hunters face felony wildlife crime charges after allegedly charging their clients thousands of dollars to hunt mountain lions and shipping them across the country.
Chad Michael Kulow, 44, his partner Andrea May Major, 44, and LaVoy Linton Eborn, 47, are accused of leading unlicensed expeditions into the wilderness of Idaho and Wyoming to hunt feral cats.
The trio allegedly killed at least a dozen mountain lions and were charged under the Lacy Act, a federal conservation law that criminalizes the trade in wildlife that was transported or sold illegally.
Kulow made no secret of his activities on social media and often shared photos of himself and Major proudly displaying a variety of mountain lions and other wildlife they had photographed for sport.
Three big game hunters, including Andrea Major (pictured), face felony wildlife crime charges after allegedly charging clients thousands of dollars to hunt mountain lions and shipping them across the country.
Chad Michael Kulow, his partner Andrea May Major (left) and LaVoy Linton Eborn (right) face federal charges after allegedly leading unlicensed trophy hunting expeditions in the wilderness of Idaho and Wyoming.
According to the indictment against Kulow, Major and Eborn, they charged their clients more than $6,000 each for the opportunity to hunt and kill mountain lions.
On these trips, the cougars they hunted were allegedly not part of their license with the state of Ohio or a federally permitted outfitting service they worked for, he reports. USA today.
They apparently worked for a licensed outfitter, but allegedly conducted unlicensed hunts that their employer had no knowledge of, as the Justice Department said they began “acting illegally in their capacity as outfitters.”
Their companies began in late 2021, where they began “independently hiring cougar hunting clients, accepting direct payments, and guiding hunts in southeastern Idaho and Wyoming.”
Their expeditions reportedly took place in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest and the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Idaho and western Wyoming, respectively.
After a successful hunt, the clients were illegally shipped across the country, to places including Montana, Texas, North Carolina and Alaska, according to court documents.
Kulow, Major (together here) and Eborn allegedly charged their clients more than $6,000 each for the opportunity to hunt and kill mountain lions.
The hunters made no secret of their activities on social media and often shared photos showing a variety of mountain lions and other wildlife they had hunted for sport.
Under Idaho fish and game laws, licensed hunting outfitters are required to file big game mortality reports on the trophy animals they kill. However, prosecutors allege that the three falsified their reports and claimed they were carried out under license.
The three hunters face trials in November, with Kulow charged with a total of 13 Lacey Act violations, seven felony counts, and Eborn eight counts.
They face up to five years in prison if convicted, along with a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release for each count.
They allegedly promoted their exploits under the trade name ‘Lethal Guides and Outfitters,’ and Eborn is also accused of issuing his own hunting contracts to clients through another entity called ‘EN Hunting Services.’
Both businesses were allegedly unlicensed and were unknown to the licensed vendor they worked for at the time.
Hunters face up to five years in prison if convicted, plus a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release for each charge.
Kulow responded to a Facebook comment calling his hunt “horrible” by saying, “We are in the business of saving deer and humans.” They are not domestic cats. They are murderers
In a Facebook post from October 2020, Kulow proudly shared images of his hunting excursions and told his followers, ‘Utah lions are out! We are ready to hunt lions throughout the state; Contact us to book the lion hunt of your dreams.
The publication was accompanied by several images of the hunters hoisting enormous pumas larger than them while wearing a big smile on their faces.
When one person commented “that’s horrible” about the footage, he responded: “We’re in the business of saving deer and humans.”
‘They are not domestic cats. They are murderers. Look for predator management,” he added.
The arrests come as part of a Lacey Act crackdown by federal prosecutors that has seen several hunters charged this year.
The same week that charges were announced against Kulow, Major and Eborn, an 81-year-old Montana man was sentenced to six months in federal prison for violations of the Lacey Act.