Jackson, Wyoming Town Square

Above, yours truly at the Jackson Town Square. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

The big fight between Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood) and Jack Wilson (William Smith) in the 1980 comedy, Any Which Way You Can ended at Jackson, Wyoming's Town Square.

Last week,First Lady Melania Trump paid a visit to Town Square during her visit to Jackson Hole.

Above, another view of Town Square. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last summer, Mitch Geriminsky and I visited Jackson and we both posed for photos under one of the four famous antler arches that are on each corner.

Here's a little history of Town Square from the Jackson Hole Traveler:

The Square's iconic elk antler arches date back to 1953 when local Boy Scouts teamed with the Jackson chapter of Rotary International and a number of community members to erect the very first arch. Three more followed over the next 13 years. The arches feature prominently in untold numbers of vacation photos and even a few Hollywood Westerns. 

The town of Jackson turned 100 in 2014. In typical Wild West fashion, the motivation to incorporate the town in 1914 had a little something to do with a saloon.

Every year, the local Boy Scouts collect antlers that the elk shed between January and April. Many of them are sold at auction to pay for food for the elk in the National Elk Refuge just outside of town.

To read more, go here. 

About Antlers

Above, yours truly at an antler arch in Jackson, Wyoming. Photo by Mitch Geriminsky.

For those who are aghast over antlers made into arches, home decorations and other things, having antlers from a deer or elk doesn't mean that they were killed.

From about mid-August to mid-September, deer and elk shed their antlers and people retrieve them for the aforementioned uses. They grow new ones the following spring.

Above, one such use of shed antlers. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

In fact, in Jackson, Wyoming, the shed antlers are auctioned off after being gathered by the Boy Scouts and other charitable groups. The money raised (around $100,000) goes for feed for elk at the National Elk Preserve near Jackson.

According to our raft trip guide, elk have long since forgotten about migrating to lower areas during winter or unable to due to areas being built up. So the proceeds of the antler auctions go to feeding the elk (and deer).

So, if one is in Jackson, Wyoming and sees something made of antlers, go ahead and buy it and help feed the elk and deer.