Big Bucks Bet in Wyoming Elk Antler Auction

“Thunk!” goes the gavel as auctioneer and longtime rancher Earl Hardeman motions for the first two Boy Scouts to lug up a bundle of unwieldly elk antlers. In this case, the antlers are taller than the boys.

And so begins one of the West’s most unusual and colorful yearly events. The Elk Antler Auction benefits the very animal species whose horns are on the auction block.

Held the third Saturday in May every year on the east side of the Jackson town square, the auction garners a surprisingly big payload for the Jackson Hole Scout troops that host it.

Elk antlers are in great demand, and artists, mountain men, international businessmen, tourists and just plain folk swarm into town to bid big bucks on them. Last year the scouts made $46,000 on the auction, reaffirming their claim to being the richest scout troop in the United States.

But the scouts turn over 90% of their profits to the nearby National Elk Refuge to buy feed for 8,000 elk who spend the winter just north of Jackson.

The money helps make it possible for this last herd of migrating wildlife in the United States to survive the winter months before returning to their summer range in the high country of the Tetons and south Yellowstone.

At the turn of the century the deer had disappeared from more than 90% of their original range. The reasons for near-extinction were sad but obvious.

For hundreds of years, elk had migrated from the high country across Jackson Hole in search of the grasses they could dig up under the lighter winter snow pack. At the end of the 19th Century more than 25,000 were seen moving across the valley floor.

But farmers and ranchers had also discovered Jackson Hole, and by the end of the 1800s had built dozens of homesteads directly across the elk migration route. Domestic livestock grazed the natural forage. Then the winters of 1909, 1910 and 1911 were unusually harsh. Many elk died.

Even the ranchers, fighting for their own survival, were upset by the elk carnage, and petitioned the federal government for help. In 1912 the National Elk Refuge was established on 2,700 acres just north of Jackson. Today it has expanded to 25,000 acres.

Free to move on and off the refuge at will, 8,800 of Jackson Hole’s 11,000 elk choose to migrate onto the refuge, where milder weather prevails for six months of the year. During the three harshest months, refuge rangers augment the elks’ diet with alfalfa.

30 Tons a Day

“It takes about 30 tons of food a day to feed these browsers,” said assistant manager James Griffin. All told, costs reach more than $300,000 a year to feed the migrating elk.

And that’s where the Elk Antler Auction comes in. Male elk shed their antlers each spring while still on the refuge. Only the Jackson Hole Boy Scouts are officially allowed to collect the discarded horn on refuge property.

Last year the scouts gathered more than 3,000 pounds of antlers in one day, which was stockpiled along with another 3,000 pounds that the rangers collected during week-to-week chores on the refuge.

Five days before the event, scout leaders and helpers sort, bundle, tape and weigh the antlers that are to be sold. Similar antlers are grouped to appeal to artists who make fancy inlaid belt buckles out of the antler butts, called “buttons.”

Antlers will also be made into chairs, tables, chandeliers, cribbage boards, and door and knife handles. Some bidders like newly shed, darker horn, while others prefer older, faded ones.

The biggest buyers are businessmen from China, Korea and the West Coast. They buy the antlers in bulk, pulverize them and sell them as dietary supplements and aphrodisiacs. Powdered elk horn is a million-dollar business abroad.

By 8 a.m. on the day of the auction, the antlers are spread out in rows so potential bidders can get a close look at the merchandise. At 9 a.m. all those intending to make a bid sign a register and are given an official bidding number. At 10 a.m. the auctioneer begins the bidding.

Town’s Trademark

The town square’s four mammoth elk antler arches provide an interesting backdrop. Constructed of thousands of elk antlers, these trademark arches were built in the days before anyone in Jackson considered the horns to be valuable.

During and after the daylong auction there’s the annual Dr. Don MacLeod Historical Society Cookout.

Last year, after the last bid had been made, 5,225 pounds of elk antlers had changed hands and the Boy Scouts were $46,619 richer.

The average price per pound turned out to be a heady $8.92, up $2.92 from the previous year. One perfectly matched six-point pair of antlers weighing 30 pounds sold for an unprecedented $1,950.

Jackson Hole, a peaceful, flat valley, is about 50 miles long and 6 to 12 miles wide, at the foot of Grand Teton National Park, which stretches for more than 310,000 acres in northwestern Wyoming. The city of Jackson is below the park in the southern end of the valley.

Skiing from early fall to very late spring at world-famous resorts is what draws most people to the Jackson Hole area. But in summer, people show up for white-water trips along the Snake River and for the best fishing in the Rockies, where cutthroat trout are legendary.

This city, which was established in 1897, still maintains the spirit of the Old West, with stagecoach rides and a daily summer shoot-out between an outlaw and posse. Men and women both dress in cowboy clothes and saddle horses are tied along Main Street.

Jackson also is known for its shops and art galleries, where the famous as well as the locals exhibit their works. In addition, the city supports a symphony orchestra, a summer fine arts festival and various playhouses for summer stock.

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For more information on the Elk Antler Auction, contact the Jackson Hole Area Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box E, Jackson, Wyo. 83001, (307) 733-3316, or the Refuge Manager, National Elk Refuge, P.O. Box C, Jackson, Wyo. 83001, (307) 733-9212.