Jackson Hole Auction??

bonepiler · May 4, 2008

I hear of people taking their antlers to Jackson Hole to the auction. Is the public auction held at the same time as the Boy Scout Auction? How do you consign? Do they charge a commission? Is it worth the trouble? When is it this year? How do I find out more information? The only thing I can find on the internet talks about the Boy Scout thing.

I know each year when I sell my bobcats, I average $150 a pelt more by taking them to the Utah Trappers Association Auction. The same traveling buyers that rip people off in town end up buying my cats at auction, but have to pay a "fair" price for them. I am assuming this can be the case with antlers too. While I am not in the shedding business for the money, I want to make sure I am the one rewarded for my hard work, not some middleman.

Any information or insight anyone can provide would be much appreciated.

antlerman73 · May 4, 2008

the only time i was there in 2003, they had a street blocked off and people had little booths set up and were selling antlers out of those. it was seperate from the boy scout auction

wyohikeit · May 5, 2008

The Jackson sale is always the third Saturday of May
Yes you can sell antlers yourself, rent a booth ect---but in Dubois a few miles away there is an antler sale that whole week prior to the Jackson sale. It is a far better place to sell in, more buyers less restrictions ect. Dubois is set up for the buyers and sellers to get together. There is some info on line.

Time in the hills is always worth more than money

slamdunk · May 5, 2008

LAST EDITED ON May-05-08 AT 01:38PM (MST)[p]I don't even go to the auction anymore now that they moved the good stuff out to Dubois.

Antlerfest June 7th at Cabela's, come say hi at the Skull Krazy booth!!

Skull Krazy
"No Bones About It"

bonepiler · May 5, 2008

Thanks for the info., I will check it out. I would rather go to Dubois anyways. I have a trailer load to sell, so I am not messing with a booth.

Bambistew · May 6, 2008

The auction is just for the stuff the boy scouts pick up. They usually have 4-5000 pounds of loose, and about 3-400 matched pairs that get sold in sets or bundles of a few.

The auction used to be the place to sell your stash, but about 5-6 years ago it started a couple days early in an offsite location, then ended up going on about a week, the town of Jackson figured that they should be getting a 'cut' from all those sales and put some restrictions on it. The buyers and sellers said FU and went to Dubois.

I used to go every year, my buddy was one of the largest buyers... made for a long day.

The prices tend to increase about 15-20% at the 'auction' but don't expect to get top dollar for junk. We used to buy just about as much the couple weeks after the auction... most of which was for sale then, but the seller wanted to much money, in the end he didn't even get the 15-20%. I wouldn't get to greedy, there are litterly tons of antlers and unless you have something really unique or big don't expect much over standard price.

P.S. take your sun screen. I think I got burned just about every single year we went.

HNTBIGBULLS · May 6, 2008

Just for your information, if you are coming
to Jackson from another state, you have to
call ahead and let the fish and game know you
are bringing antlers, and you also need to check
them in at the office before you can legally sell
them.

If you get caught without doing that the might
confiscate your antlers.

Bozeman · May 10, 2008

I just talked to a local horn buyer. He says he's paying $6.50 a pound for browns. $4.00 for whites and $2.00 for chaulky stuff. He says that it doesn't matter if the browns are broken or not. He pays a flat rate no questions. I did ask him about big matching sets and he does pay more for those. He says he's the biggest horn buyer in the U.S. I'm in Montana by the way.