Jackson Hole antler auction faces smaller haul after mild winter
A mild winter cut the antler pile to about one-third of last year’s haul, but Jackson Hole’s 59th Scouting Antler Auction still drew more than 100 registered bidders.
More than 100 bidders had already signed up for Jackson Hole’s 59th World-Famous Scouting Antler Auction, and the 2026 antler haul fell to about one-third of last year’s total weight after one of the mildest winters on record in Jackson Hole. Private antler sales spaces sold out before auction day.
The auction sat at the center of ElkFest in Jackson Town Square, with a Saturday, May 16, 2026 schedule that began with viewing at 8:00 a.m., a warm-up by the Jackson Hole Community Band, a welcome and flag ceremony, and a 10:00 a.m. auction start. ElkFest ran May 15-17 and paired the auction with the Scouting Expo, vendors, live entertainment and other Old West Days events. The public could attend freely, but anyone wanting to bid in the live auction had to register and be there in person.
That smaller pile reflected winter conditions on the National Elk Refuge, where bull elk held onto their antlers longer and moved off the refuge earlier than usual. The refuge, established in 1912, manages about 25,000 acres of winter range for the Jackson elk herd and hosts an average of roughly 7,500 elk each winter. When snow and cold are normal, scouts collect the cast antlers that feed the annual sale.
The auction list still promised richly colored brown antlers, sets with strong mass, premium matched pairs, beetle-cleaned skulls, limited small antlers, pallets of white antlers, plus bison skulls, moose antlers and mixed white-antler lots. The auction turns field-fresh shed hunting material into graded lots where color, symmetry, size and condition decide value.
The event’s roots go back to 1968, when the first Boy Scout antler auction was organized to support the National Elk Refuge and local Scouting. Today, proceeds still split the same way, with 75% returning to the refuge for habitat work such as equipment, weed management and irrigation staffing, and 25% going to Scouting programs for camp fees, leader training and related costs. A 2023 auction drew 164 registered bidders and raised $218,382. In 2024, scouts gathered 8,162 pounds of antlers.
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