Elk Antler Auction
2009 Elkfest
May 22, 2010 - May 23, 2010 update info
3077335935
elkfest.org
It is usually a "bull market" in Jackson, Wyoming, at 10:00 a.m. on the third Saturday in May, when the annual Jackson Boy Scout Antler Auction swings into action. The auction sells nearly five tons (10,000 pounds, 4545 kilograms) within about two hours each year. The antlers on the auction block are collected by the Scouts and National Elk Refuge personnel each spring, usually from March to early May, after the bulls have completed their annual shedding of antlers.
Eighty percent (80%) of the proceeds from the auction are donated by the Scouts to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service toward elk management and the winter elk feeding program on the refuge. The antler pickup by the Scouts was begun in the late 1950s as a practice to reduce damage to feeding equipment, to prevent trespassing by antler thieves, and to prevent disturbance to the elk herds.
Antlers are collected on the National Elk Refuge each spring by the Jackson District Boy Scouts under a special use permit. The antlers are sorted, bundled, weighed, tagged, and sold at the public auction in the Jackson Town Square each May. More than 200 Scouts and adult leaders work for nearly 2,000 hours with refuge personnel in the antler project, which includes a litter cleanup campaign on the refuge.
More than 150 bidders from 28 states, representing local buyers, Asian markets, western export houses, and regional crafts people comprise a portion of the annual crowd. Antlers are crafted into many items, including chandeliers, furniture, knife handles, belt buckles, and buttons, or they are ground to a powder with reputed aphrodisiac and medicinal properties popular in the Far East.
The antler arches at each corner of the town square in Jackson were originally built from antlers from the refuge, and antlers are donated by the refuge to the town to refurbish the arches. Also, the refuge donates antlers to schools, universities, parks, refuges, and museums for various non-profit public, educational, scientific, and interpretive purposes.
The 42nd Annual Elk Antler Auction will be held May 16th and 17th 2009. Live musical performances and a chili cook off are also included in the weekends festivities. Come out and celebrate Wapiti and Wilderness!
- Content provided by the US Fish & Wildlife Service
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