Waaaay back in 1881, when the Buckhorn Saloon first opened, the owner promised patrons a free beer or shot for any deer antlers they brought in. Although the location has changed, you can still see the collection – and the bar – at today’s Buckhorn Saloon, downtown. You don't need a ticket to sip an over-priced beverage in the saloon, beneath the collective gaze of a giraffe, a bear and all manner of mounted horned beasts.
If you have an insatiable appetite for taxidermy, pony up for a kitsch walk through the attached museum, which also includes such oddities as two-headed cows, an eight-legged lamb, and a grotesque ‘mermaid’ skeleton. Admission covers the adjacent Texas Ranger Museum, where you can learn about early rangers and step into a recreated Western town.
