JACKSON (WNE) —  A Jackson man was severely injured along the Greys River Road on Saturday evening when two unidentified men beat him up during a hunting excursion.

The man’s father, Noble Handley, has asked that his son’s name not be printed, out of fear of retaliation.

Handley said the incident happened at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Bridger-Teton National Forest.

His son, who’s in his early 30s, had returned with his friend to their camp with an elk they butchered and tagged with one of their tags.

“They had discovered an elk that had been likely down for at least a couple hours,” Handley said. “[My son and his friend] proceeded to debate what they should do, and about 20 minutes later, they started butchering it.”

So as not to waste the meat, Handley’s son and his hunting partner claimed the found elk as their own.

The latter man was also beaten, although not as severely as Handley’s son. He drove Handley’s son from the Greys River area back to Jackson, where he was admitted to St. John’s Health with severe trauma.

Handley gathered from his son that he had spoken to the guys who attacked him earlier that day. The men told his son that they had shot a cow and a four-point elk, which they said was down the road. The elk Handley’s son found was not down the road, Handley said, and it was a five by six, so the men didn’t connect the elk they found to the one the other men had shot.

The three attackers are believed to be in their late 20s or early 30s. One suspect in particular is of interest: a man with a rifle-recoil cut on his nose.

Handley’s son was released from St. John’s on Monday and is now receiving further treatment in Billings, Montana.

“Both sides of his jaw are broken; multiple teeth are misplaced,” Handley said.