A routine spring shed-antler hunt turned into a trespass citation for a local father after his 7-year-old son picked up what appeared to be a legal find along a familiar access road. Unbeknownst to the father-son duo, the antler contained a hidden tracking device planted by Wyoming Game and Fish Department wardens in cooperation with frustrated ranch owners.
Miles Galovich was cited on April 19th for trespass after his son grabbed a five-point elk shed about 20 yards off a gated access road on or near the LU Ranch in Hot Springs County. It just so happened that the antler was one of several decoys rigged with GPS trackers and placed on private/deeded ranch property to deter chronic spring trespassing during the sensitive calving season. Game wardens followed the signal to Galovich’s home, where the boy returned the antler (but was offered stickers as a consolation prize). Galovich maintains it was an innocent mistake, citing unclear property boundaries and an easement road used by his family.
“My boy was a little disappointed that he had to give the shed away,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
Ranch owners DJ and Katie Healy have long dealt with unauthorized shed hunters crossing their land, which includes a Hunter Management Area open for fall hunting but closed to spring antler collection to protect cattle and wildlife. They say the decoys were placed “well within” their property lines and were not intended as entrapment. Wyoming law allows Game and Fish citations for collecting on private land without permission even without posted signs in some contexts – a point of ongoing tension in the state’s checkerboard of public, state, and private ownership.
While the Hot Springs case has drawn local attention, the use of GPS- or chip-rigged decoy antlers is an established, if low-profile, enforcement tool employed by multiple agencies in high-conflict areas.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department, specifically, has used the tactic on public lands for years. In 2019, warden Kyle Lash was documented by National Geographic placing decoy elk antlers embedded with metal tracking chips in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Jackson.
In 2022 National Park Service rangers in Grand Teton National Park planted multiple GPS-tracked decoy antlers and an elk skull along Wolf Ridge. Idaho resident Jeremy Ward unknowingly collected them while illegally gathering dozens of real sheds inside the park (where collection is banned year-round).
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks conservation officers have similarly deployed “transmitted antlers” equipped with hidden GPS transmitters and motion-activated cameras. A 2020s episode of the television series Wardens showed officers using the rigs to catch early-season or closed-area violators, describing it as part of an “Antler Blitz” to protect wintering wildlife.
Shed antler hunting has boomed in popularity across the West, fueled by strong market prices for crafts, dog chews, and decor. But it collides with wildlife needs during late winter and early spring, when animals are at their most vulnerable. As such, Wyoming, Montana, and neighboring states enforce seasonal closures on public lands precisely to minimize disturbance. On private ranches, owners are now increasingly restricting access to prevent disease transmission risks to livestock and to reserve opportunities for lessees or employees.
For now, agencies are saying that these operations are targeted and evidence-based, not random stings. Officials say they are a response to repeated complaints from landowners and observed patterns of illegal activity rather than a broad new “tracking program.”
Galovich and the Healy family reportedly have no personal grudge, but he is still up against a May 15th court date where he could face fines of up to $1,000 and the potential loss of his hunting privileges.
