Officials in Wyoming fined an Idaho man $6,000 last month after he camped on the National Elk Refuge for 10 days illegally collecting elk shed antlers. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) press release, the poacher amassed more than 1,000 pounds of antlers valued at more than $18,000 during his illegal stay on refuge property last April.

Frank Durbian, the project leader at the 24,000-acre National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyoming, tells Field & Stream that one of his staffers spotted a large pile of elk antlers while out performing routine duties on refuge property last spring. "They noticed the stash of antlers on the boundary between the refuge and the forest (service property)," Durbian says. "They alerted our refuge law enforcement officer who had a team of officers here that were preparing for the annual May 1 opener."

Shed antler collection season leads to hectic scenes at the National Elk Refuge as antler hunters from all over the country descend on the area in droves in search of valuable sheds dropped by the elk herds that winter there. In recent years, Wyoming has implemented tighter restrictions around shed hunting activities, including an official season that comes on in May 1. Both antler collection and overnight camping strictly prohibited within the boundaries of the refuge. But shed hunters must access the adjacent Bridger-Teton National Forest via refuge roadways.

"A few years ago, it was getting kind of out of hand so now everyone meets at the fairgrounds (in Jackson) and registers with the Jackson police Dept. and gets a number to get in line," say Durbian. "The Jackson Police Department then leads that line out at 6 a.m. on May 1 to the refuge entrance, and everyone kind of slowly and uniformly follows the refuge speed limit and drives out [of the refuge] and up into the [National] Forest. That's when they get out and start hunting for antlers."