Deer, elk, antelope, and moose shed their antlers once a year. Jim Phillips of Montana has been collecting them for 59 years, amassing 16,000 antlers so far. His arrangements are spellbinding, almost putting the Paris catacombs ossuary to shame.
Nothing gets Jim Phillips going like antlers—lots and lots of antlers. But this collector is no killer. For the past 59 years, he’s been scouring the hills of southwestern Montana in pursuit of local elk, deer and antelope antlers that the animals shed each season. In that time, the self-proclaimed “Antlerman” has amassed over 16,000 specimens and built a shrine attached to his home to show off his impressive collection. For Phillips, the hunt for new antlers is a joy renewed with each hike through the hills and every discovery along the way.