JACKSON, Wyo. — Piled high on pallets or taped in bundles, nearly 6 tons of elk antlers await bidders Saturday morning during the 50th annual Jackson Hole Boy Scout Elk Antler Auction.
Sorted by size, color and condition, about 5,000 antlers will line closed streets around the town square. Boy Scouts and volunteers collected them from the nearby 25,000-acre National Elk Refuge after the antler-hunting season opened May 1.
Starting at 10 a.m., more than 100 bidders from 30 states will compete against each other for the coveted antlers. They are not only cherished by collectors but are vital to business owners who make them into lamps and furniture, jewelry, chew toys for dogs, or grind them up for medicinal purposes.
Although avid antler hunters Melissa Bowman and John Hyde of Downey did not buy any last year, watching the auction was unforgettable.
“We liked looking at the variety and sizes,” Bowman said of the antlers, which range from shades of brown to sun bleached.
Some antlers were taller than the young Scouts carrying them to the auction block.
“The volume of antler sheds and the amount of money raised for the Scouts was impressive,” Hyde said.
Last year, 11,512 pounds of antlers fetched $175,397. The proceeds are divided 75/25 between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be used for habitat projects and winter feed at the refuge and the Jackson District Boy Scouts of America.
Matched pairs are prized. Last year, a 25-pound 6x7 matched set sold for $155 per pound, while a larger 8x8 21-pound set cost $116 per pound.
To bid on the antlers, registration is accepted online at elkfest.org or at 9 a.m. at the square. While the auction takes about 2,000 hours for Scouts and their leaders to organize, it is over in about three hours.
After the auction, other venues on the square are worth checking out. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will set up The Great Elk Tour, its premier traveling conservation exhibit featuring mounts of some of the largest bull elk in the world.
A booth will offer children’s activities, while private vendors sell moose and deer antlers, hides and other wildlife items.
The elk, deer and moose antlers that Hyde and Bowman find in Southeast Idaho decorate their home and are not for sale. The satisfaction of finding them is priceless enough.
“It’s exciting after hiking and glassing to be able to take some home,” Bowman said. “Moose usually drop their antlers in December, then deer generally in February. Even if we don’t find any, it’s great to be out in the mountains.”
