Wyoming
Drunk Montana man makes a fool of himself trying to impress women by climbing iconic Wyoming attraction
Caught in a horny situation.
A drunken Montana man made a fool of himself when he tried to impress a potential love interest by climbing a Wyoming landmark — only to be stopped by police.
The man was caught scaling Wyoming’s famous elk antler arches when the Jackson Police Department responded to a call at around 12:40 a.m. on May 13, the Cowboy State Daily reported.
The man — who was not identified by name but was from Montana — told police that he was “drinking” and got the idea to try the drunken escapade to “impress some girls he had just met.”
Ruschill said the man cooperated and was given a “$100 citation.”
Photos shared on the Instagram page touronsofyellowstone of the inebriated romancer show the moment he was caught on top of the arches when police arrived.
Shockingly, he wasn’t the only one captured climbing the structure, as a woman in a white dress and cowboy boots was also snapped committing the act.
Social media users claiming to have lived in or are familiar with the area were stunned that the man thought it was a good idea — even if he was drunk.
“I lived there for a few years right after college and walked by there intoxicated on several occasions from the bars across the street and not once did me or my friends think, ‘Hey, anyone want to climb the antler arches?’” one user commented.
“I have been to Jackson over a hundred times. Never have I ever thought – oh I should climb those horns in the park,” another shared.
“I live here and had not heard about this. Unless it’s today. I hope they were punished but I’m not sure what law they were breaking, unless it was drunk in public,” wrote another.
While many commenters were shocked by the drunken stunt, Ruschill said it wasn’t his first time seeing someone take on the horny task.
“I’ve seen it a couple of times in my career here, but don’t remember the last time we’ve written a citation specifically for climbing one of the arches,” he told the Cowboy State Daily.
However, what surprised the officer was how high up the drunken man got up the arches.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody quite get up as far onto the top like this gentleman,” he said. “We usually catch them thinking about it, talking about it or just starting to climb,” Ruschill said.
“From the photos I saw on Instagram, this guy has made his way to the very top of the arch.”
Ruschill stressed that no one should attempt to climb the structure since it’s not only illegal but also dangerous.
“Our defendant is innocent until proven guilty. But in Jackson, it’s illegal to climb something that’s not meant to be climbed,” Ruschill said.
“It’s a long way to fall from the top of the southwest arch. Someone could get injured or killed doing such a thing. That’s the public safety message to this incident.”
The Jackson elk arches were built by the Jackson Rotary Club in 1953 and comprise 10,000 to 12,000 pounds of antlers, according to Yellowstone Park.com.
They are the first of four stunning arches across the city, with the rest added between 1966 and 1969.
On the heels of one of the warmest and driest winters on record, parts of Wyoming show “significant fire potential” this spring and summer, according to a national forecast released on April 1.
The U.S. has set or is approaching records for the number of wildfires ignited and the acreage burned by March, and Wyoming firefighters and district managers have already responded to blazes across the state. While the National Weather Service forecasts rain and snow for parts of Wyoming this week, many firefighters in the state are nervous about the potential for huge, quickly spreading conflagrations this summer.
“I certainly don’t ever remember a winter quite like this winter,” said J.R. Fox, Campbell County’s fire warden. “Everybody’s definitely nervous about what the fire season will bring.”
The new report, published by the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, rated areas of southern Wyoming as having significant fire potential in April, June and July.
The report identifies “above,” “below” and “near normal fire outlooks” across the country and has been produced in some form by the organization since 2002.
Wildland fire managers in Wyoming say the season’s meager snowpack and high temperatures have left an unprecedented and volatile range of fire conditions across the state. A team of scientists recently determined that the record-shattering heatwave that gripped the West in March would be “virtually impossible” without climate change.
Some firefighters are making tough decisions about when and how to use limited resources, while others are reaching out to communities earlier than they ever have before, urging fire-smart behavior.
“From my 40 years of being here, we’re six plus weeks ahead of time” in terms of fire conditions, said Liz Davy, a co-founder of the Greater Yellowstone Fire Action Network. This March, her organization, which helps areas around Yellowstone prepare for and respond to wildfires, started reminding communities early how best to protect property from wildland fires.
Homeowners should remove firewood from on or underneath porches, sweep up dead leaves and trim vegetation around their property, including grasses and shrubs near structures, Davy said. The Greater Yellowstone Fire Action Network also helps communities and homeowners make evacuation plans in case of a wildfire, and Davy is considering taking such steps this spring.
“I’ve never packed a go kit, but this year I’m kind of thinking about it,” she said.
Some areas of Wyoming have already dealt with wildfires. The Kane fire in Big Horn County was discovered on March 22 but behaved like an “August blaze,” reported the Cowboy State Daily. There have also been a few small starts in Natrona County, said Brian Oliver, chief of the Natrona County Fire District.
In a typical year, Oliver said Natrona County would usually be able to contract out some of its firefighting crews and equipment to other jurisdictions during the spring, a valuable source of income for his department. But now, with the risk of fire so high—on March 26, Natrona joined 10 other counties in Wyoming under fire restrictions—Oliver doesn’t see this as an option.
“I think we’re gonna need everybody here at home,” he said. “The fires this year have the potential to go big and be very dangerous very quick.”
Springtime can be when homeowners and ranchers, accustomed to receiving snow during March and April, use fire to maintain their property or prepare fields for the growing season. But Oliver said he and his department have asked ranchers and some subdivisions to put aside their plans to burn.
Even in areas of Wyoming where snowpack has been closer to average, fire managers are nervous about the coming season.
“The lower elevation snow is significantly less than normal and it’s disappearing earlier than normal,” said Shad Cooper, Sublette County’s fire warden. Cooper said the county has increased its social media messaging about fire danger and stepped up evacuation planning “because we’re seeing fire activity much earlier than normal.”
Last month, Sublette County sent resources over to Lincoln County, where an agriculture burn had gotten out of control, Cooper said.
On the heels of 2024’s record-setting wildfire season in Wyoming, state lawmakers allocated new resources to firefighting during this year’s legislative session. State Forestry will now oversee two 10-person firefighting crews capable of deploying anywhere in Wyoming; lawmakers also improved state firefighters’ benefits.
“That increase in capacity is gonna directly support local response [and] statewide needs,” Cooper said.
With summer still a few months away, firefighters cautioned that it was too soon to know for certain how this year’s season would unfold. Still, the whole state should already be mindful of fire risks, said Jerod DeLay, Wyoming’s assistant state forester and fire management officer.
“Be aware of your surroundings and be mindful of the conditions out there,” he said. “Have a plan for wildfire, because wildfires could wreck your plans.”
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WYOMING — In 2025, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s (WGFD) Wildlife Health Laboratory tested over 5,300 samples from elk, deer and moose for chronic wasting disease (CWD).
WGFD released its 2025 CWD Surveillance Report recently, which stated that the agency tested 5,370 samples, and CWD was detected in 842 of the samples. CWD prevalence averaged 21.6% in hunter-harvested mule deer bucks, up from 19.4% in 2024. The percentage in hunter-harvested white-tailed deer bucks was 32.1% in 2025, an increase from 29.2% in 2024. In hunter-harvested elk, the percentage was 2.4% in 2025, just barely up from 2.3% in 2024. No CWD was detected in moose samples in 2025.
“Wyoming’s CWD surveillance would not be possible without the participation of our hunters,” WGFD Wildlife Health Lab Manager Jessica Jennings said in a statement. “We encourage hunters to check the Game and Fish website for the 2026 priority and mandatory testing areas, check current CWD prevalence on the interactive CWD map and no matter where you hunt, please consider having your animal tested for CWD.”
Last year, CWD was identified in three new deer hunt areas, six new elk hunt areas, and four elk feedgrounds. As of the end of 2025, CWD has been detected in 35 of 37 Wyoming mule deer herds, and in 24 of 34 designated elk herd units.
CWD is a fatal disease of the central nervous system in mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk and moose. According to WGFD, the disorder is caused by abnormally folded proteins called prions. There is no cure for CWD, and there have not been any human cases of CWD, nor any proof that humans can contract the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization recommend not consuming animals that test positive for CWD. All testing of CWD is free for animals harvested in Wyoming. Read the full report here.
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