JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - Before the adults could even finish giving instructions, the boys were already taking off, running up the steep ridge, determined to maybe be the first to find an elk antler.
At 9 a.m. a large storm was building in the west - it would eventually soak everyone and end the hunt early - and dozens of Jackson District Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and parents had spread out across the National Elk Refuge to collect shed wapiti antlers for the annual auction at ElkFest, set for May 22 on Town Square.
“This is my favorite event,” said Clarke Farrer, Scout executive for the Grand Teton Council of Boy Scouts. “It’s like an Easter egg hunt.”
Farrer has been a Scout executive for the past nine years, and for four of those he has driven over from Idaho to help the boys gather antlers, the Jackson Hole News and Guide reported (https://bit.ly/1QHDSRs).
“I found a bunch,” Farrer said. “This was my best year.”
It was a remarkable year for many of the Scouts. One Cub found 19 antlers and two matched pairs.
“It was great,” young Jack Bakunin said with a big smile. “I found six. My dad found zero.”
The Boy Scouts have taken over the refuge for a day in early spring for almost 50 years, collecting antlers to sell at the auction. The Scouts keep 25 percent of the proceeds - which runs into the tens of thousands of dollars - and the refuge gets the other 75 percent for habitat upkeep.
As one group of boys was on the way to the western ridges, the caravan of cars was suddenly stopped. A herd of elk heading uphill had started sprinting downhill, kicking up dust. A lone black wolf raced toward the herd - a rare sighting. The boys were excited about that, but it turned out the black wolf was a bad omen.
The group, which spent two hours going up and down the giant ridges, came across plenty of bones and skulls but found only a handful of antlers among the sagebrush and bison scat.
When the trucks came to pick the boys up in the pouring rain, their empty hands were a stark contrast to the overflowing pile of antlers in the beds of the trucks.
“It’s more fun when you actually find antlers, but .” one Scout said, trailing off with a frustrated look on his face.
Eli Byington was the first in that group to find an antler. He almost stepped on it as he was wandering slowly on top of a ridge. He held the antler like a trophy for the rest of the hunt.
While the ridges that overlooked herds of bison and elk may have been empty, the open fields the younger Scouts surveyed were full of shed antlers. But no matter who found what, it was a solid day for the Boy Scouts and promises a fruitful auction.
“It’s great for the kids to learn about nature,” Farrer said. “It’s good for the boys and good for the refuge.”
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Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, https://www.jhnewsandguide.com
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