The Shady Outfitter
The Shady Outfitter
District Game Warden Erik Schmidt
A Maryland man has pled guilty to numerous state game and fish charges related to providing illegal hunting outfitter services and residency fraud in Logan County, North Dakota.
The suspect, a resident of Federalsburg, MD, recently pled guilty to nine counts of providing outfitting services without a license, one count of advertising outfitting services without being licensed and one count of misrepresentation in application for license in Logan County.
In October 2023, North Dakota Game Warden Erik Schmidt checked the suspect who was a part of a group of waterfowl hunters in Logan County.
Although all of the vehicles used by the hunters in the group had out-of-state licenses, the suspect provided warden Schmidt with a North Dakota resident hunting license.
An investigation into the suspect's residency showed he was living in Federalsburg, MD and had purchased multiple 2023 Maryland resident hunting and fishing licenses two days before purchasing his 2023 North Dakota resident hunting and fishing licenses.
Shortly after beginning the investigation into the suspect for residency fraud, investigators learned he was a licensed hunting outfitter in Maryland and owned a hunting guide and outfitter business in Maryland.
Evidence suggested he was operating an unlicensed waterfowl hunting guide and outfitter business in North Dakota out of a house he owned in Napoleon, ND as well.
Further investigation showed that starting in 2022, he began offering North Dakota guided and outfitted waterfowl hunts as an unlicensed outfitter in North Dakota.
As an unlicensed North Dakota outfitter, he advertised and sold multiple North Dakota waterfowl hunts to clients of his Maryland business and on online hunting auction sites in 2022 and 2023.
He had already sold and booked North Dakota waterfowl hunts in 2024 prior to being charged.
In September 2024, he was charged with 11 counts of providing outfitting services without a license, one count of advertising guiding or outfitting services without being licensed and one count of misrepresentation in application for license in Logan County.
Through his attorney he pled guilty to 11 of the original 13 counts.
He was assessed a fine of $1,000 and had his hunting privileges suspended in North Dakota for a period of three years.
Because North Dakota and Maryland are both members of the Interstate Wildlife violators compact, his privileges to hunt may be suspended in Maryland as well as all other member states.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation assisted in this case.