A Kaycee area rancher who hunters claimed tried to steal an elk head with antlers from them has been charged with misdemeanor theft for allegedly hiding the head that was taken on public property.
The court case against Brett D. DeLapp continues with a pretrial hearing set for June 10 and a trial to begin June 26 in Johnson County Circuit Court after the landowner pleaded not guilty last month, according to a letter and court documents sent from Johnson County prosecuting attorney Tucker Ruby to one of the hunters, Ryan Chuckel of Hartland, Wisconsin.
Chuckel shared the documents with Cowboy State Daily this week.
DeLapp could not be reached for comment.
The misdemeanor theft charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and/or a $750 fine.
In November 2025, the elk hunters helicoptered into a section of public land surrounded by private property in Johnson County.
They claim that on or about Nov. 11, they confronted a rancher after he tried to swipe the head and antlers from a bull elk that Chuckel shot.
A Fly-In Hunt
The hunters chartered a helicopter to ferry them into a section of mixed Bureau of Land Management and Wyoming State land, accessible only by air.
The group included three hunters with bull elk tags, including Chuckel, a friend who came along to help pack elk meat, and a videographer.
Andrew McKean, an outdoor writer who lives in Glasgow, Montana, was also one of the hunters.
He recently posted a video of the hunt on the Outdoor Life YouTube Channel.
It includes cellphone video of members of his party confronting a rancher, who they claimed walked off with the head and stashed it in some brush.
The hunters say the bull elk head was promptly returned after the rancher was confronted by the hunters.
When asked why he took the head, the man in the video, whose face is blurred out, replies: "Because I don't want you guys hunting on this outfit."
Other than the alleged theft and confrontation, the hunt went well, Chuckel told Cowboy State Daily.
One of the hunters shot a bull elk the first evening they were there, he said. The next day, they set out to find some bulls that had bedded down in a draw.
“After some time, the bulls came out on a bench” above the draw, he said. “We made a move. We got to within shooting range, and I shot and killed an elk."
Shortly thereafter, the third hunter shot a bull.
“The two kill sites were probably only a few hundred yards apart,” Chuckel said.
The party split up, went to the respective kill sites and started quartering the elk carcasses, so they could be packed out.
“My bull was sort of on a cliff, which made things tricky,” he said.
They worked until after dark and packed up some of the meat. They put the rest of the meat in bags, hung from trees.
“We opted not to kill ourselves trying to pack out two bull elk that night” and returned to camp, he said.
Reported To Game And Fish, Sheriff
The next day, they split up again and returned to the kill sites to finish packing out the meat and the bulls’ heads and antlers.
Chuckel said the other group made it to his elk about 40 minutes before he and his companion showed up.
They told him about the alleged attempted theft and the confrontation with the rancher and showed him the cellphone video of the encounter.
The rest of the trip was uneventful.
When they got back to Buffalo, they filed a report at the local Wyoming Game and Fish Department office.
“They encouraged me to contact the Johnson County Sheriff’s office,” Chuckel said, so he filed a report there as well.
No Hunter Harassment Charge
As Chuckel sees it, that while the alleged incident was small and brief, the case could have broad implications for hunter access, as well as what constitutes hunter harassment.
“I’ve given this a lot of thought, because it’s pretty weighty, not only in terms of my experience and all this went down, but it has some implications about how private landowners and public hunters interact,” he said.
Misdemeanor theft applies to items valued at less than $1,000. He questions whether his trophy-sized elk skull and antlers would go for less than $1,000 on the open market.
He also said he’s frustrated that Game and Fish didn’t bring a hunter harassment charge against the rancher.
“I don’t wish ill will upon the rancher, but I feel that it’s not a good message that Game and Fish didn’t pursue hunter harassment charges,” he said.
Game and Fish won’t comment on the matter, because it involves an ongoing case, agency spokeswoman Amanda Fry stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily.
Chuckel said that as it was explained to him, a Game and Fish hunter harassment charge would not apply in his case, because he and the others were finished actively hunting by the time of the alleged incident with the rancher.
He said he doesn’t agree with that assessment.
“My reaction to that is, I believe that I’m hunting until I totally remove that animal from the field,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
