John Weinfurter, of Pittsville, Wis., walks back to his vehicle at the Flat Creek Trailhead on May 1, 2019, with an antler tucked in his backpack after shed hunting in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The forest used to allow people to access just-opened winter ranges starting at midnight April 30, letting them get a jump on the shed hunt. But the hunt now opens at 6 a.m. on May 1.

John Weinfurter, of Pittsville, Wis., walks back to his vehicle at the Flat Creek Trailhead on May 1, 2019, with an antler tucked in his backpack after shed hunting in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The forest used to allow people to access just-opened winter ranges starting at midnight April 30, letting them get a jump on the shed hunt. But the hunt now opens at 6 a.m. on May 1.

Jackson law enforcement officials expect roughly 500 cars to descend on the National Elk Refuge on Sunday for the start of the spring elk antler hunt.

This year, the hunt and the public lands that host it will both open to the public at 6 a.m., a change aimed at minimizing conflicts and backcountry mishaps on the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

How many people will hit the Bridger-Teton east of the National Elk Refuge on Sunday remains to be seen, officials said.

“We don’t have an actual number of how many people will be there,” Jackson Police Department Sergeant Jeromie Traphagan said.

The department’s new application system for the police-led lineup that delivers antler hunters to the refuge at first light collected data about the number of cars registered — not the number of people in them.

“Some people will be driving a four-person vehicle,” Traphagan said. “Somebody might be funny and bring a bus.”

Starting at sunset Friday, the National Elk Refuge closed its eastern road to all drivers other than people who live in the Twin Creek inholding.

“That keeps people from coming out here and trying to get a place out here ahead of the actual line that’s forming at the fairgrounds,” said National Elk Refuge Manager Frank Durbian.

The general public isn’t allowed to shed hunt on the National Elk Refuge. That’s a privilege reserved for Boy Scouts, who got out there last weekend.

But the federally managed elk sanctuary does serve as a staging ground for folks who venture out into the Bridger-Teton to the east.

This year, officers will be placing cars in line in the order applications were received.

They’ll start doing so with the first 50 applicants at 8 a.m. on Saturday.

Traphagan said people will need to show up when they have been told to and in the vehicle they registered. If they don’t, they’ll lose their spot.

“If they come in and don’t make the time frame they’re allotted or come with the wrong vehicle, then they’re out,” Traphagan said.

The application process also allowed Traphagan to say where in the United States people are coming from: “Literally all over the place,” he said.

The bulk of applications came in from Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and Utah, the sergeant said.

The change aligning the ending of winter wildlife closures on the Bridger-Teton and the start of the shed hunt season at 6 a.m. was first proposed earlier this season.

Documents formalizing it were signed Thursday, Bridger-Teton spokesman Evan Guzik said.

In years past, a disconnect between the midnight end of winter wildlife closures on the Bridger-Teton and the 6 a.m. start of the antler hunting season led to some problems. And land and wildlife managers have spent the past few years tweaking the timing to minimize issues in the area.

Linda Merigliano, recreation program manager for the Bridger-Teton’s Jackson District, previously laid out a few examples: “People tromping around in the middle of the night, running into bears, really bad weather conditions, hypothermia, people trying to cross rivers with horses and being swept away.”

Guzik said Bridger-Teton law enforcement personnel will be in the area to ensure the new rules are followed.

People who have registered for the hunt with the Jackson Police Department will be escorted from the Teton County Fairgrounds to the National Elk Refuge starting sometime around 5:30 a.m. Sunday, Traphagan said.

Contact Billy Arnold at 732-7063 or barnold@jhnewsandguide.com.

Billy Arnold has been covering the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the people who manage it since January 2022. He previously spent two years covering Teton County government, and a year editing Scene. Tips welcomed.

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