Want to get a look at wild elk in Pennsylvania? Here's what you need to know

While it’s possible to view wild elk throughout the year in northcentral Pennsylvania, the most popular time to see these large creatures is quickly approaching.

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“We’re extremely lucky to have an elk herd in Pennsylvania,” said Ben Porkolab, Keystone Elk Country Alliance conservation education coordinator. Pennsylvania is second to Kentucky for the number of elk in the eastern United States.

By August, the bulls will have fully grown their antlers and the region will start to see an increase in visitors through September and October. 

“I will honestly say I don’t know if there is a best month,” Porkolab said. “If you come here in September, October, it’s the rut, mating season, and a lot of people like that because the elk are more active and the bulls are bugling, which people love to hear. And of course you have the fall leaves during that time.”

However, June and July are good months to see the calves. In August, the velvet skin is still on bulls' antlers.

In the winter months, he said, you can see larger groups of elk as they gather in search of food.

Elk Expo in Benezette

The Keystone Elk Country Alliance will host the annual Elk Expo Aug. 20-21 at its visitor center in Benezette.

There will be a variety of hands-on seminars, live music and food booths for visitors to explore. 

The Elk Expo features about 110 vendors. Porkolab said the usual two-day attendance is around 18,000.

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One of the highlights happens Aug. 20 with the drawing and announcement of winners of elk tags for hunting this fall and winter. The Pennsylvania Game Commission received 104,250 applications for 178 elk tags that will be used in a Sept. 10-24 archery season, Oct. 31-Nov. 5 rifle season or the late season of Dec. 31-Jan. 7.

The drawing of the alliance's bull elk tag is Aug. 21. It’s a fundraiser for the center; participants purchase chances at elkexpo.com for an elk hunt at a cost of one chance for $25 or six for $100.

“It’s one of our best fundraisers of the year,” Porkolab said. The alliance tag generated $260,950 in 2021. Over the eight years the annual tag has been allocated by the state, hunters paid $1,035,675 on chances, revenue that has gone directly toward the group's conservation mission.

The prize allows the winner to hunt over 57 days in any of the zones that permit hunting. It also includes a guide service, free shoulder mount of the elk and meat processing.

“You can’t really put a price tag on a bull tag in Pennsylvania,” Porkolab said about estimating the value of this opportunity between the Game Commission's licenses and the alliance tag. However, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation also receives a similar Pennsylvania conservation elk tag. The organization reported in March that its tag raised $275,000 through an auction at the St. Marys foundation chapter banquet.

Porkolab credits the Game Commission with a successful reintroduction of elk.

The last known wild eastern woodland elk was killed in 1867. In 1913, the agency brought 50 elk from Yellowstone National Park and 12 elk from an animal preserve in Monroe County to repopulate Pennsylvania’s wilderness area. The commonwealth now has 1,300 to 1,400 elk roaming the hills of northcentral Pennsylvania.

One of the special things to note, Porkolab said, is that 80% of the elk range is on public land and spans 10 counties and about 1,000 square miles.

Photographing elk in Pennsylvania

One of the Elk Expo seminars Aug. 20 features Bruce Walkovich, an avid outdoorsman who loves nature photography. He'll provide tips and advice to get your best photo of an elk, deer or raptor. “It’s an open, casual thing,” the 66-year-old Portage resident said about people not having to register to participate.

“It’s designed for the person who likes to take pictures of the wildlife, but doesn’t have the camera knowledge or understanding of how to get quality pictures. I want to touch on the fact that you can get some quality pictures with a smartphone, if you really just understand some of the basics," he said.

Walkovich said his wildlife photography has followed his lifelong admiration of animals and birds. “I was a hard-core outdoorsman, both hunting and fishing pretty much since I was a little kid.” He retired after a decade as a manager of a Gander Mountain in Johnstown.

“It’s a hobby/obsession,” he said about sharing his photos with people who might not have the opportunity to see elk or other wildlife. 

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Some of his photography advice involves ethics and property rights. "The big thing is not to pressure the animals," he said.

Another thing to consider is setting up where you have a good background that’s not cluttered with cars or houses. “Sometimes if you move a little bit and eliminate most of the clutter, it really brings the attention to the subject,” Walkovich said.

“If people can take anything away from it, we’ve done well,” he said.

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Porkolab said people travel from all over the world to photograph Pennsylvania’s wild elk herd. He said people are able to find high quality elk on public land. “We have some of the biggest bulls in the world.” He explained that Pennsylvania’s elk are able to reach their full potential because they live where most are able to reach their prime age in areas with good habitat and genetics.

Pennsylvania's elk economics

Porkolab said about 500,000 people visit the area each year and stop at local stores, hotels and restaurants.

The tourists spend money in places like the Elk Crossing 555 General Store and Campground. It was formerly called the Benezett Store, using an archaic spelling of Benezette.

Janice and Tim Stiffler have owned the business since October 2020. “The more people we have (visiting the elk), the more functions they do at the visitor center, the better we do,” Janice Stiffler said about the KECA Visitor Center and several group events such as ATV rides and archery shoots.

A person can watch the elk wandering through the small town and in the Stifflers' campground. Janice Stiffler said there was a herd of 30 walking through their campground at the beginning of August.

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 During the prime viewing times like the September and October rut season, “people just line up to watch.” 

“The visitor center is absolutely beautiful. It’s gorgeous,” she said about it being a driving factor for tourism. 

“It’s just a great place,” she said about the laid-back atmosphere in Elk and surrounding counties where you can enjoy many aspects of nature including deer, bear, elk, rattle snakes, bobcats and eagles.

“It’s a place where you can get away and be away,” she said. There’s sketchy cellphone and internet service which makes disconnecting easier she said, noting some visitors relax with a kayak paddle on Sinnemahoning Creek or take a hike. There are also trails for horses and ATVs. 

Distance learning

If you can’t make the trip to Benezette, you can still enjoy a virtual experience. The Keystone Elk Country Alliance staff offers a free distance learning program to schools, assisted living facilities, outdoors clubs, church groups and scouting groups throughout the United States.

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The online program gives students of all ages hands-on interaction. The alliance sends a trunk filled with elk- and deer-related items such as antlers and hides that allow participants to see and feel the difference between deer and elk.

For example, while a mature whitetail buck may weigh about 200 pounds, a mature bull elk could weigh 900 pounds. Cow elk weigh 400 pounds to 600 pounds.

Places to see the elk

Porkolab said there are four public elk-viewing areas on Winslow Hill including the visitor center, and there are places like Quehanna Highway and Hicks Run.

He said there are many trails to hike in the Quehanna Wild Area for people to see elk far from the highway. “There’s getting to be more and more better habitat for elk away from roads and that’s thanks to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, DCNR and organizations like ours. They are providing better habitat for elk in order to keep them in areas where there’s going to be less human/elk conflict," he said.

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There are forage fields maintained by various organizations for the elk in places people can’t see from the road but are able to find along trails on public game lands, state forests and several local state parks. “If you are willing to walk, you can get into areas where there are a lot less people and plenty of elk, Porkolab said.

Visit elkexpo.com and experienceelkcountry.com for additional details about the expo and the wild elk.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on your website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on social media @whipkeyoutdoors.