River rescue follows accident during annual antler hunt

JACKSON, Wyo. – Rangers and law enforcement officers carried out a daring moonlight rescue after a boat full of people capsized in a rushing river and two other boats were swept downstream during a popular antler-hunting event in Wyoming.

A crowd of people was trying to cross the Gros Ventre River in boats and on horseback after midnight Friday, in an annual rush to find antlers shed by elk in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

One horse drowned in the frigid river, which was running higher and faster than usual because of early snowmelt.

A boat carrying five people started taking on water and then capsized, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer David Bonham said. Three of the people made it ashore by clinging to the hard-sided vessel, while the other two were swept downstream.

One of the two eventually got to dry ground under a rocky cliff. He climbed up “about 5 feet and was stuck on the cliffs, and he couldn’t climb any higher,” Bonham said.

The fifth man crawled onto a gravel bar.

Grand Teton National Park rangers used a raft to rescue the boaters, who were wet and cold but mostly uninjured.

The two boats that were swept away were found safe downriver.

Antler hunting is a popular pastime in some Western states. Many people do it because they enjoy the hunt and like to keep what they find as souvenirs. Others sell to artists and craftsmen.