It’s enormous! This huge bull elk stood not 200 feet from us with a rack the size of Manhattan. Several more were a little farther out in the field bugling with the power of a locomotive. It was eerie...
It’s enormous! This huge bull elk stood not 200 feet from us with a rack the size of Manhattan. Several more were a little farther out in the field bugling with the power of a locomotive. It was eerie to hear their piercing calls echoing through the open range. We stood behind the viewing wall, peering out from the beautifully-colored canopy of trees that surrounded us. It’s fall in Elk County, Pennsylvania.
Elk Country Visitors Center: A Treat!
The Elk Country Visitors Center provides wonderful, forested trails leading to protective walls where visitors can view the animals in their natural habitat.
The herds move freely through woods and fields in Elk and Cameron counties. On this particular day, we were blessed with their presence right in front of us at the visitors center. It was so much more interesting than watching it on PBS. We could hear the clacking of antlers as bulls fought for dominance over the harem. The babies, now five months old, grazed out of the way of the warring males, standing quietly near their moms. We must have stood for an hour watching them. It was all so fascinating.
Elk Challenge
Elk Population Booming
Now is a great time to visit Elk and Cameron counties. September through the end of October marks their most active season- a time when you are most likely to see them. With the elk population booming, however (approximately 1000 in this two-county area), more and more elk activities are popping up keeping visitors busy throughout the year.
Elk at Visitors Center
We’ve traveled to Benezette in Elk County in October three times since 2012, and we’ve seen elk each time. It’s truly a thrill to view these majestic animals up close and personal. A mature bull can weigh around 700 lbs. Their rack alone can weigh 40 lbs. Quite a spectacle.
Yellowstone Progeny
Elk were not always wandering the hills of Pennsylvania. At the turn of the century, the natural elk population in PA was extinct, the victim of unregulated hunting. In 1913, Yellowstone National Park reported an overabundance of elk and sought to ship some animals to other areas of the country. PA transported 50 elk by train and released them in Clinton and Clearfield counties away from the farms. Two years later, another 95 elk were shipped from Yellowstone and released in Cameron, Potter, Forest, Blair and Monroe counties.
Elk being elk, they migrated to the farms anyway and were soon culled by the farmers seeking to save their crops. A small herd managed to survive and grew slightly through the 1970s and 1980s with some minor conservation efforts.
Large Elk Population A Recent Occurance
True conservation methods didn’t kick in until the early 1990s. At that time, only about 125 to 150 elk roamed the two-county area. With the guidance of the PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources and the PA Game Commission and other wildlife organizations, a program was set up to actively conserve the species.
PA Set Up the “Best Buffet” For the Elk
These organizations designated desirable areas for the elk population to grow, away from the farms, and began to purchase land. Specialized habitat management practices were deployed, and legumes like alfalfa and clover were planted in food plots to attract and maintain the elk in certain areas. “We set up the best buffet that we could for the elk”, said Jim Hyde, who was involved with game lands planning and development. If we build it, they will come. . . and they did.
Ground Zero For the Elk
Today, the Winslow Hill area of Elk County is ground zero for the elk population. The area is so special, a brand new state-of-the-art visitors center was built in 2010. I highly recommend stopping into the Elk Country Visitors Center. It’s like a natural history museum. Explore all things elk through interactive exhibits and multi-sensory 4-D theater. Enjoy the outdoors with their beautiful viewing trails and take a ride on their horse-drawn wagons. These viewing trails are where we first saw elk back in 2012. I recommend leaving a small donation in the box to help defray their costs.
Elk Country Visitors Center
Resources For Lodging and Dining
Depending on where you’re located in Central PA, we recommend an overnight stay. From Mechanicsburg, it’s almost a three-hour drive. The Pennsylvania Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau site has a nice section on lodgings. Select from area cabins, bed and breakfasts and hotels. It also provides a variety of dining options.
As I have said in the past, Pennsylvania does an exceptional job creating and maintaining its outdoor heritage and this is no exception. Plan a trip to Benezette this fall. You’ll have stories to tell your family and friends for years to come. Enjoy!
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