On September 1, 2006, the Wisconsin Department ofNatural Resources (DNR) issued a license to Walter J. Palmer, authorizing him to hunt and kill a black bear only in Subzone A1 in northern Wisconsin. On September 30, 2006, Palmer, with the assistance of others, hunted and killed a black bear near Phillips in Price County, Wisconsin, at a location approximately 40 miles by vehicle outside of Subzone A1.Afterthe bear was killed, members of the hunting group noticed that Palmer'stag was for Subzone A1 and that the bear had been killed outside of that zone.
The members of the group, including Palmer, agreed that if any authorities were to ask where the bear had been killed, they would say it had been killed off Taylor Lake Road south of
Minong, a location in Subzone A1.
Palmer and others transported the bear carcass toa registration station in Subzone A1. At the registration station, Palmer filed a Bear Registration Stub, falsely certifying that the bear had been killed in Subzone A1. Palmer later caused the bear carcass to be transported from Wisconsin to Minnesota.