Mike: What are shed antlers going for these days? I have a big pile I might want to unload if the price is right?
I’ve been getting that question a lot. Here are some guidelines to go by. Keep in mind that the value of antlers can vary according to antler size (bigger is better), condition and grade of the sheds and the simple effects of supply and demand.
These are spring 2014 estimates; I’ll try to update the figures every year or so.
I checked with shed fanatic Mike C., who told me that whitetail sheds are running from $7-$10 a pound. “Ten dollars a pound for single sheds that that are like 70-78 inches. The deer farm market has killed the price of the smaller stuff, but it is still moving, albeit slowly.”
As for elk sheds, Mike says it’s somewhere around $9 to $12 a pound. I’ll add that a wildlife law enforcement officer from Nevada recently said a matched set of antlers from a trophy bull elk could fetch $500 to more than $1,000.
According to the price list of Shed or Dead, a Colorado antler broker, large sets of whitetail antlers (160” and up) in best condition (Grade A Brown) will go for around $18 per lb. For brown and white antlers in good condition (the majority of sheds you’ll find) it’s $6-$11 per lb. Old, chalk-white deer antlers might get you $1 per lb. Brown and white elk sheds are going $6-$11.
Anybody sold any antlers lately?
Mike, I have never sold sheds, but I did inquire of a friend who is a nationally recognized taxidermist, taxidermy contest and exposition owner and recognized by the IRS and courts as an expert witness / evaluator for an estimate of what a fair chase gross 170″+ typical eight point rack could fetch if the owner was interested in selling.
His response was that due to the influence of the deer farms / breeding operations and the fact they are producing so many deer in the 180″+ size, the market for both sheds and racks had come down considerably from what it was like ten years ago.
He gave me a rough valuation of $1,000 for the rack if it would be B&C certified / accepted.