Guide receives yearlong hunting ban for illegal bear baiting in national forest

(WTAQ-WLUK) — A hunting guide has been banned from hunting on federal property for a year after being convicted of illegally baiting bear.

Federal prosecutors say Timothy J. Collar, 64, is a bear hunting guide who often planned and guided hunts in northern Oconto County, in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. In preparing for the 2023 hunting season, prosecutors say Collar placed bait in plastic barrels in several locations in the forest. The barrels were uncapped, close to public roads and “significantly oversized.” Collar also damaged natural resources to gain access to and from the bait sites, prosecutors say.

Judge Byron Conway also fined Collar $3,000.