Collecting fallen (or “shed”) elk antlers is a popular pastime in elk-heavy places like Montana, but it’s usually a very low-tech, grassroots affair. That’s why last year’s story of an American Black Hawk helicopter descending from the sky to harvest elk antlers at a farm was so strange.
Was it really possible that US military personnel were using multimillion-dollar government aircraft to land on private property in the Crazy Mountains – yes, that’s their real name – just to grab a few hundred bucks worth of antlers?
antler hunting
In May 2025, Montana rancher Linda McMullen got a call from a neighbor. “He said, ‘Linda, a green Army helicopter has landed at your place, picking up elk antlers,'” McMullen told The New York Times last year. “I said, ‘Are you kidding?’ He said, ‘I am watching them through binoculars.’
The local sheriff, who said he was “still trying to figure it all out” at the time, said this was “the first helicopter I had heard of” in connection with shed antler collection.
Adjutant General of the Montana National Guard, J. Peter Hronek immediately issued a statement on Facebook “regarding the unauthorized use of military aircraft.”
In it, Hronek said he was “aware of an alleged incident involving a Montana Army National Guard helicopter landing on private property without permission” and that “an internal investigation is ongoing, and appropriate adverse and/or administrative action will be taken if allegations are proven true.” The Black Hawk was apparently on a training flight at the time.
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