Pennsylvania Game News - July 2020 - 8

Jacob Dingel

lot of bulls on the cusp of antler opulence.
"Bull antler development peaks around
8 to 10 years of age," Banfield explained.
"Those bulls 5 years old or older often are
the nice 6-by-6s most hunters consider
'shooters.' So, if we're seeing an average
age of 6, there's a lot of good bulls out
there!"
But for as good as elk-population
dynamics are for scientific reasons and
hunting, Banfield is quick to point out
there are places with too many elk on the
elk management area. These areas include
EHZ 2 - around Winslow Hill - and EHZ
14. EHZ 5's elk population also has been
increasing over the past few years, he
added.
"With time, and our new season structure, we'll have the flexibility to reduce
local populations to align with the habitat
available to them," Banfield said. "We
also continue to improve habitat on public
lands to draw elk from private properties
found in valley bottoms."
The addition of new seasons also
boosted the revenue obtained through
the annual elk-license drawing. Add to
that tidy sum, the $183,050 the KECA
raffle raised, and the $105,000 the RMEF
conservation tag brought, and elk conservation has a solid funding base.
The elk drawing and elk conservation
tags support the Game Commission's
managing of elk habitat on state lands,
conducting elk research, enhancing elkviewing opportunities and footing the cost
of annual hunts.
This year, 50 cow elk were fitted with
collars and vaginal implant transmitters.
This coming spring, the calves from those
cows will be radio-collared and monitored
for survival, starting in the weeks before
and after Memorial Day, Banfield said.
Another study aims to distinguish elk
browsing preferences. In its second year,
8

the research should help identify the differences between elk and whitetail browsing. The study provides three different
habitat treatments across six study areas.
Those habitat choices are: An exclosure that keeps elk and deer out; an exclosure with a fence deer can squeeze under,
but elk can't; and an open area where elk
and deer can both access browse.
"It'll take a while, but once a year, we
measure browsing impacts to see if there
are clear differences across the three
areas," Banfield added.

HUNTING ELK
Large bulls remain available in most
hunt zones, Banfield said. But in the larger
eastern hunt zones - EHZ 13 and EHZ
14 - they'll be harder to find.
"There are rare occasions, where they
might be closer to public roads, but you
can't count on that during a one-week
hunting season," Banfield observed.
Nonetheless, Banfield considers EHZ
13, as well as EHZs 3 and 10, as great
places to hunt for trophy bulls.
Banfield believes there are two reasons
why so many Pennsylvania bulls reach
trophy size.
"Big bulls have an instinctual drive to
stay on the move," Banfield said. "Their
occupation of any area varies, as do their
reasons for being there. They regularly
disappear and reappear, much to the displeasure of anyone trying to pattern one."
The length of Pennsylvania's bulltaking seasons is pretty short, and the
overall number of hunters pursuing bulls
is low, Banfield added.
"So, when you combine these two
factors, it soon becomes apparent that
you must be in the right place at the right
time or those big bulls will be gone,"
Banfield said.
"It's really not a matter of learned

Pennsylvania Game News - July 2020

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