elk in pa

ann brezinski

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have any of you hunted elk in pa?if so what are your thoughts on this?i and a friend are thinking of applying next year for a permint.i know it is a long shot but i might get lucky.
gary b
 
My dad got a cow elk tag about 5 years ago for PA. We thought it would be like doe hunting....it wasn't. The management unit he was in literally had about twice as many bulls as it did cows. We saw a few on opening day (Monday) and then didn't see another legal elk until Friday morning. We hunted hard for a week. I was able to take the week off and spend with him, it was a great time and I'll treasure those memories forever.

That said, at least one of the management units is more of an elk shoot not a hunt - but remember it is to help manage the herd. It's still going to taste good even if you didn't have to pack it out.
 
My dad got a cow elk tag about 5 years ago for PA. We thought it would be like doe hunting....it wasn't. The management unit he was in literally had about twice as many bulls as it did cows. We saw a few on opening day (Monday) and then didn't see another legal elk until Friday morning. We hunted hard for a week. I was able to take the week off and spend with him, it was a great time and I'll treasure those memories forever.

That said, at least one of the management units is more of an elk shoot not a hunt - but remember it is to help manage the herd. It's still going to taste good even if you didn't have to pack it out.
Actually most of those units are an elk shoot and not an actuall hunt. Our camp is in the heart of the primary area. If you sit on our porch during (the hunt), the same vehicles will pass by many times thruout the day as they make the loop driving around the area. The numerous food plots created for the elk are mostly within sight of a road, so that the tourists, some of whom are (hunters), need not walk very far if at all to look at them. The whole thing is a big joke created to generate cash.
Not much different than going to a game farm to shoot an animal.
 
I assume you're on Winslow hill?
No but not all that far from there. There have gotten to be lots of Winslow Hills in that region, but thankfully not as famous. I don't believe they issue any permits for in town Bennezete because of all the festivities going on during (the hunt). Maybe the campground out on the edge of town, im not sure. Right now, meaning today, you might count 100 or more elk between Weedville and Driftwood as you drive along rt 555. Mostly in or very near yards and houses, cemetarys etc. Last week I saw what had to be at least 10 bulls in one bunch right along the road in a yard in Weedville.
 
I drew a Bull tag in 04 unit 9, which was approx. 150sq miles. Living 120 miles one way from the elk range, made it tough. I hunted without a guide and on was able to kill a 12 year old 7x7. He has 56" main beams, is 51" wide and scored 407. Not an easy hunt, but no way an Idaho hunt either. You have to remember getting drawn is the tough part, and when and IF you are drawn, you will have the opportunity to hunt for the bull of a life time.
 
Maybe introduce some wolves back there and make it tougher hunting.....
Or is that too close to DC.....
 
True story.
In the early years of (the hunt), it was required that all who were drawn for a tag, had to aquire the services of a guide/outfitter. They even offered a program where they trained the guide/outfitters.
I think it was a whole half day coarse costing about 10 bucks, and it included all the necessary road maps of the elk range. Im not entirely joking here, I had several friends who took the coarse and became guides and even they joked about it.
Anyway the first year of the hunt, my B I L whoe's name the camp phone was listed, got a call from the game warden investigating an Elk kill on our property. (all kills require the site to be marked with tape, and they are all investigated). This kill as many others are, was within the safety zone of our camp building which is 150 yds unless permission is granted. My B I L was asked if we wished to press charges against the hunter, and he said no.
No doubt the guy drove up our drive and shot it, but he claimed otherwise. Anyway the following fall I arrived at camp for turkey hunting and a vehicle pulled in and the guy asked for me by name. I had no idea who he was until he told me he was the lucky elk hunter, and he brought us a nice elk roast in appreciation. I questioned him about his knowledge of the area, and he said he had never been there until he arrived for that hunt. So this trip was his second time ever being there. But he was now a guide, and offered me free services if I ever drew a tag. I said ive been coming here since im 12 and im now 70, and your offering to guide me? He said well you have to have a guide, and im simply offering you my service. So I thanked him and he left. Since then there have been two more shot within the safety zone of our camp, but only one with permission, a huge 7x8 shot from the driveway as my son watched.
The game warden for Cameron Co sat in our camp and told me flat out that without landowner cooperation for the many situations just like these, the whole elk program couldn't be successful.
So you can call it whatever you want, and ill call it what it really is.
 
Maybe introduce some wolves back there and make it tougher hunting.....
Or is that too close to DC.....
Don't give them any ideas. Our whitetail herd has taken a pretty big hit over the last 10-15 years, wolves wouldn't help here (or anywhere else). PA elk hunting I don't think is so much about the difficulty of the hunt, more about controlling their numbers and making a buck in the process.
 
Don't give them any ideas. Our whitetail herd has taken a pretty big hit over the last 10-15 years, wolves wouldn't help here (or anywhere else). PA elk hunting I don't think is so much about the difficulty of the hunt, more about controlling their numbers and making a buck in the process.
Actually the deer numbers are pretty good, at least in the fairly large area of the N C we hunt. BUT, they have become a different species than years back due to the coyotes. They are definatly more nocturnal, especially the older bucks. But there is also a better opportunity for a good buck than at any time in my 70+ years of hunting. The biggest issue is the lack of hunters, and vast areas of public land gated off from the hunters. No doubt the elk program was largely responsible for a large percentage of the gates. Yes you can still walk in there and hunt, but not many do, and many more older ones like me simply cant. The DCNR controls that, and there are slightly different policys from region to region depending on what person is in charge of that region.
 
My experience with idaho whitetail....they are like rats....scared of their own shadows..and faster than flash Gordon(rip Stan Lee).....coyotes...i dont know how they could do much of anything to change the whitetail aptitude...
 
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My experience with idaho whitetail....they are like rats....scared of their own shadows..and faster than flash Gordon(rip Stan Lee).....coyotes...i dont know how they could do much of anything to change the whitetail aptitude...
We have more than 6 tress to hide behind out here so those coyotes tend to sneak up pretty close. When we coyote hunt in the winter someone has an ar with at least a 20rnd mag. I have an 8shot 12 ga along with a 243 of some flavor. Packs are getting larger every year. Just last night while going to a Christmas party off the beaten path on Cape Cod. Not a hotspot for song dogs in the least we saw 8 or 9 out across a cranberry bog. It's not even breeding season yet when they get into huge packs here. Up mom's they are usually in packs of 4+ through the fall.
 
One time.....while in central oregon we decided to go spotlight Lesschwabs alfalfa fields to see how many deer weren't co.ing off our side of the mountain......and we had to agree at "most of them" had become Lesschwabs residents.....but on our way there we saw what we thought were the pronghorn run across the road.....in the spot lite they were all coyote.....about 30 of them......unbelievable....and it does happen....and not a gun to shoot............all the luck...
 
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