Afield: Pennsylvania is home to a healthy elk herd. Here’s a look at the hunting season

Yes, Virginia, there are wild elk in Pennsylvania and some live in Centre County. A recent survey by Responsive Management of 3,428 of this state’s residents found that 62% of the respondents did not know that we have wild elk in the Keystone State. I hope that the 62% did not include readers of the Centre Daily Times.

Approximately 1,400 elk live in northcentral Pennsylvania, with about 100 residing in Centre County. They roam as close to State College as Snow Shoe, Pine Glenn and Yarnell. They are doing well enough that each fall there is a limited permit elk hunt, with hunters harvesting approximately 100 elk. The 2023 general season just ended, and the trophies included several elk shot in Centre County. What follows is a report on that hunt.

Pennsylvania general-season elk hunters endured rain on day one and some were treated to snow on the morning of the third day of the state’s limited-permit elk hunt.

Pennsylvania Game Commission elk biologist Jeremy Banfield described the remainder of the week as “great hunting weather, with temperatures that make meat care and preparation easy.” The good weather allowed hunters to build on their opening day success.

Lock Haven barber Gio Montarsi was never one to wait for good weather. He stayed out in the rain on the opening morning and it paid dividends.

“I was out before daybreak with my Elk County Outfitter’s guides and my best friends Ross Weaver and Chris Albright. We checked out a field where a large bull had been seen the evening before, but he wasn’t there,” Montarsi said.

Even though it was pouring down rain, guide Bryan Hale suggested that they walk in loops around the edges of several fields — still no elk. At 8:15, as they were walking back to the truck, guide J. R. Rosamalia spotted what appeared to be a large bull in the distance.

“We dropped down into a gully so that the elk couldn’t see our approach,” Hale noted. “The plan was to pop up closer to the bull. We did, but the bull was gone.”

Montarsi was hunting with a lot of pain — particularly walking up hills. He had been scheduled to receive much-needed back surgery right before the hunt. However, after drawing a bull permit, his doctor agreed to postpone surgery until January.

The large bull was spotted again across the road — about 750 yards away. The hunter and guides stalked the elk, while the friends stayed back.

“We spotted the 8x10 bull at about 150 yards, but it was moving away,” Hale said. “I stopped it with a cow call.”

Montarsi made a perfect double lung shot at 185 yards. His 300 Winchester mag, 180-grain-slug did its job, and the elk dropped after running about 60 yards.

“I don’t remember exactly what I said when I got close to the downed elk, and maybe it isn’t printable,” Montarsi laughed. “I was just amazed at its size — I really started to shake when I tried to fill out the harvest tag. This was Pennsylvania hunting at its best.”

Montarsi’s non-typical bull was green scored at 376 inches.

Another opening day elk was taken by Christ Yoder of Belleville. Yoder and his guide were walking up a wooded draw on State Game Land 100, in Centre County. They had seen no elk, but suddenly an elk trotted into view. Yoder and his Trophy Rack Lodge guide David Kurtz quickly determined it to be a nice bull. Yoder made a perfect 75-yard shot with his Winchester model 88. The bull ran only about 20 yards before succumbing to the handload Hornaday 180-grain .308 slug.

Interestingly, Yoder had worked for Kurtz as a “chore boy” on a dairy farm back in the 1990s. They had hunted and fished together previously. He knew that Kurtz had been an elk guide for 10 years.

“I was thrilled to hear that Christ was pulled for a zone 13 bull permit,” Kurtz said. “He got a call from the Game Commission, and less than five minutes later, I got a call from him asking me if I would be his guide.”

Guides at Trophy Rack unofficially green scored Yoder’s elk at 386 for a gross score. The elk will be officially measured by a Boone and Crockett scorer until after the 60-day drying period. Banfield called Yoder’s bull “the most interesting elk harvest this year.”

Twenty-four elk were shot on the opening day, Oct. 30, 15 more on day two and 9 on day three. The general elk season ended with hunters tagging four elk on the fourth day, seven on the fifth day, and only one on the final day. In total, 29 of the 30 bull elk hunters were successful and 31 of the 42 cow elk hunters, for a total of 60 elk harvested during the general season, which ran Oct. 30-Nov. 4. All elk must be taken to the check station for testing.

“The check station, which is held at the Elk Country Visitors Center, gives the Pennsylvania Game Commission a unique opportunity to collect a large number of samples from many individual elk in a relatively short time frame,” Banfield said.

According to Banfield, tissues taken at the check station or supplied by hunters included a brain stem sample for CWD testing, a tongue sample for DNA analysis, a rump fat sample from cow elk to evaluate their general health, a blood sample for pregnancy testing of females and brucellosis testing in both sexes.

“Liver samples were also collected as part of a study centered in Kentucky to measure trace mineral levels in wild elk,” Banfield added. “We’d like to thank the hunters for their cooperation at the check station and their patience with all the sample collection.”

The heaviest bull elk was an elk hunt zone 4 6x6 that weighed 865 pounds. It was taken during the September archery season by David Sutley of Titusville, Pa. The heaviest for the general season was the 815-pound 6x6 bull shot by Francis Wurtenberg of Croydon, Pa., in EHZ 3. The heaviest cow was harvested in EHZ 10 by John Bonner of Holland, Pa. It had an estimated live weight of 618 pounds.

“Most cows weigh between 450 to 550 lbs.,” biologist Banfield explained. “Anything over 600 for cows is huge.”

Pennsylvania’s limited permit elk season will end with the Dec. 30-Jan. 6 hunt. Forty-six hunters (17 antlered and 29 antlerless) will try for an elk during the late season.

Mark Nale, who lives in the Bald Eagle Valley, is a member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association and can be reached at MarkAngler@aol.com .