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 drunken is seen on top of the arch when a Jackson police officer arrives. @Mousie202/@Toursonofyellowstone/Instagram
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.”
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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.
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.” @Mousie202/@Toursonofyellowstone/InstagramA woman in a white dress and cowboy boots was also snapped committing the act. @Mousie202/@Toursonofyellowstone/Instagram
“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.
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“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.
The Elk Antler Arch, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Universal Images Group via Getty Images
“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.
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“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.”
The Jackson police officer said it wasn’t his first time seeing someone take on the horny task. Bloomberg via Getty Images
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.”
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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.
JACKSON, Wyo. — As the temps rise and more people head toward the water to recreate, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ), the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) and the Wyoming Livestock Board (WLSB) sent out an annual reminder to avoid harmful cyanobacteria blooms (HCBs).
According to the WDEQ, cyanobacteria is also known as blue-green algae and can form HCBs that pose risks to human and animal health. HCBs usually appear in mid-to-late summer and can occur in streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs. They can vary in appearance — they can be green, tan, brown or blue-green, and can float in or on the water, producing cyanotoxins and other irritants. HCBs can often look like spilled paint, clumps, grass clippings or scum. They can also stick to surfaces underwater like rocks or plants.
If a person or animal is sick after exposure to a cyanobacteria bloom, seek medical attention or a veterinarian. More information on the health risks and symptoms can be found on WDH’s website. The WDH will follow up on all HCB illnesses reported, and the WDEQ will investigate potential blooms to determine if they are harmful. The WDH will also issue different levels of advisories for bodies of water where HCBs could pose a risk to people and animals.
To view a webmap of current and past advisories, to view answers to frequently asked questions, or to report a suspected bloom or bloom-related illness, visit the WDEQ webpage here.
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If a suspected bloom is present, the WDH and WLSB recommend the following:
Avoid contact with water in and around the bloom, especially in areas where cyanobacteria are dense.
Do not swallow water from the bloom. Boiling, filtration or other treatments will not remove toxins.
Rinse fish with clean water and eat only the fillet portion.
Avoid water spray from the bloom.
Do not allow pets or livestock to drink water near the bloom, eat bloom material or lick fur after contact.
If people, pets or livestock come into contact with a bloom, rinse off with clean water as soon as possible.
Monica is a Staff Reporter who studied journalism at Syracuse University and has been in the valley since 2015. She loves writing about the local food and bev scene, especially craft beer. When she’s not on the clock, you can find her paddle boarding, sewing, or whipping up a new recipe at home.
Corner-crossing public land users have had their legal access rights repeatedly affirmed, and on Friday, the sheriff of the county where it all started was asked if state statute changes could help his deputies navigate the new legal landscape.
Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken retorted that his officers are acting under the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision upholding corner crossing’s legality, while also being “very, very careful” to ensure that those public land users aren’t contacting or damaging private property. Current deputies are “fairly well versed in this issue,” he said.
“As time progresses and new deputies [come on board] and this issue becomes more and more prevalent, I think more clarification would be beneficial,” Bakken told members of the Wyoming Legislature’s Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee gathered in Dubois.
Minutes later, the panel of Wyoming senators and representatives voted in a show of hands to prepare language addressing law enforcement’s desire for more legal clarity.
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The appeals court used this graphic to depict corner crossing. (U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals)
Corner crossing is defined as stepping from one piece of public land to another where the landscape consists of a checkerboard-like pattern with alternating public and private ownership. Corner crossers needn’t touch kitty-corner pieces of private ground, but they necessarily pass through the airspace above it.
The proposition of a bill further cementing the public’s right to access 3 million acres in Wyoming was not without its controversy.
“This issue is not settled at the federal level,” Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation lobbyist Brett Moline testified in Dubois. “Until it is settled, I don’t think there’s much that we can do.”
Moline’s remark alluded to the prospect that the Supreme Court of the United States might take on the corner-crossing case. That’s considered unlikely — several people said in the meeting. Nevertheless, it’s being sought by lawyers for Fred Eshelman, the wealthy North Carolina pharmaceutical executive who owns Elk Mountain Ranch in Carbon County. Checkerboarded public land next to and throughout the ranch was the site of the showdown that so far has affirmed the public’s right to access that public land.
A fence guards private property at the Elk Mountain Ranch, site of a corner-crossing controversy. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)
Wyoming Stock Growers Association lobbyist Jim Magagna also urged lawmakers to wait on SCOTUS before tinkering with state statute.
“If it is heard by the Supreme Court and upheld, then I think where we will be coming to the Legislature and need your assistance … would be in defining the parameters of it,” Magagna said. “There’s going to be so many things that would need to be addressed from a Wyoming perspective.”
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The longtime lobbyist threw out some suppositions: Could someone invent a ladder that could accommodate a side-by-side or even a pickup truck that could enable motorized corner crossing?
But other parties encouraged action, translating the 10th Circuit’s decision into clear-cut Wyoming law.
“Is this complicated? Wildly,” Wyoming Backcountry Hunters and Anglers lobbyist Sabrina King said. “Do we probably need clarification at some point that says, ‘Corner crossing, if you don’t touch the surface of the private land, is not a crime.’ That would be helpful.”
“It’s wild that we have to lay out in statute that not committing a crime is not committing a crime,” she added, “but with the complication of this issue, that may be necessary.”
Efforts to amend Wyoming law to recognize the federal courts’ corner-crossing decisions have so far fallen short. Democrat Rep. Karlee Provenza, of Laramie, ran a bill during the Legislature’s 2025 general session — prior to the 10th Circuit’s decision — but it went nowhere after being held in the drawer by Republican Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, a Hulett rancher.
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Rep. Karlee Provenza (D-Laramie) talks on the House floor in 2024. (Ashton J. Hacke/WyoFile)
Five months later, Provenza is working with legislative staff on the language of a bill that might gain support of the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee, of which she’s a member.
“It’s a whole lot easier to point to a statute in the green book than it is to say, ‘Here’s this however-many-page court document that tells us that we can do this, this and this,’” Provenza told WyoFile. “If we have it in our state statute, it’s just a lot clearer for law enforcement on the ground. It reduces disputes between law enforcement and landowners who are potentially trying to [prevent] sportsmen from being able to hunt on their public land.”
The Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee meets next on Aug. 19 in Casper.
