Three New Mexico men connected to a big-game hunting outfitter are being charged with running a years’ long fraud scheme to obtain resident elk tags and sell them to out-of-state hunters. In announcing the charges Monday, federal prosecutors with the United States Attorney’s Office accused Danial Adair, Daniel Nicolds, and his brother Lary Nicolds of fraudulently obtaining elk tags and transferring them to out-of-state hunters in exchange for payment and guiding services, which they then concealed from the IRS.
Prosecutors say the three men ran this scheme through their outfitter, Big Horn Outfitters, from around 2019 to 2022. During this time, the indictment alleges, “they created fictitious hunter accounts, used false identifying information, and paid draw fees with prepaid debit cards” to illegally draw resident elk tags. The men would then cheat the system by submitting fraudulent medical transfer requests, “including fake doctor notes and forged agreements,” to the New Mexico Department of Wildlife so they could transfer the tags to clients from out of state.
State regulations strictly prohibit hunters from transferring their hunting licenses or tags. There are, however, a few exceptions where the NMDOW director may grant a transfer if the licensee:
- Is deceased.
- Is deployed by the U.S. military prior to the start of the hunt.
- Can demonstrate that they are hospitalized or convalescing from a recent hospitalization due to a serious injury or illness.
“The defendants are also alleged to have concealed the scheme through the use of prepaid debit cards, alternate email accounts, and false tax reporting while guiding hunts and facilitating the transport of harvested elk across state lines,” reads Monday’s announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of New Mexico.
Adair and the Nicolds brothers are being charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of violating the Lacey Act. Adair and Daniel Nicolds, who are listed as the owner-operators of Big Horn Outfitters on its Facebook page, are also being charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Outdoor Life did not receive an immediate response when attempting to reach Big Horn Outfitters by phone.
These charges and the underlying allegations are enough to upset any big-game hunter who plays by the rules. But they are especially troubling in a state like New Mexico, where resident elk hunters have long complained about the state’s draw system favoring private landowners, who can obtain tags outside the public draw through the Elk Private Land Use System. Landowners can then sell those EPLUS tags to the highest bidders, which are often wealthy hunters from out of state. (Some of these tags will sell for upwards of $30,000 to $40,000, according to one local realtor group that specializes in hunting properties.) In 2022, according to the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, more than 75 percent of the tags issued to landowners through EPLUS went to nonresidents.
Some New Mexicans say this system, combined with the growing influence of hunting outfitters and the large sums of money that nonresidents are willing to pay, has made it that much harder for the average hunter to draw an elk tag in their home state. Outfitters who cheat and profit from the system only contribute to this lack of opportunity.
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“As a hunter, I know it’s extraordinarily difficult for New Mexico residents to draw elk tags,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison said in a statement Monday. “In fact, many New Mexicans who apply wait years — sometimes decades — to draw a coveted tag and win the opportunity to fill their freezer with elk. Fraudsters who illegally rig the system and make it more difficult for New Mexicans to hunt elk in their own state will be aggressively prosecuted and held fully accountable.”
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