Southern New England Outdoor and Nature Site: Elk and the PA Wilds

Saturday, October 14, 2023

Elk and the PA Wilds

This bull was surprisingly tender. It is doubtful the calf is his.

Though we were in no hurry to come home, we were looking forward to our last full day of our trip. We were going to spend Sunday with my friends Matt and Susan Schenck. Matt is one of the most hardcore birders I know. He used to live in Rhode Island but moved back to his home state of Pennsylvania during Covid. When Matt moved I asked him if he lived near the elk herd and he instantly sent me a photo of one. He also told me if I ever wanted to visit after Covid was over I was more than welcome. I remembered that invite. When we decided on this trip, I asked Matt if we could crash at his house and look for elk. Matt was happy to have us.

We got to Matt's on Saturday night and the three of us walked to a pizza place and got some great pizza. Susan had to work. She is a ranger at a state park (so is Matt, but at a different park) where she does astronomy programs after dark. Matt took off Sunday and Susan had it off. So they lead us around north-central PA.

The goal was to see a bull elk. Both Laurie and I had seen plenty of elk in national parks, but had never seen one in the fall after they rubbed the velvet off of their antlers. I really wanted a "perfect" photo of a big bull elk.

Besides looking for elk, Matt wanted to show us around what is called the PA Wilds. This area of Pennsylvania is two million acres of state wild land. This huge state owned forest is divided up into state parks and multiple state forests but it is all contiguous. To put how large this forest is into perspective, the White Mountains of New Hampshire are eight hundred thousand acres. Usually large chunks of land this size are owned by the federal government, The only other huge chunk of state forest I know that is this large is the Adirondacks. If we found a bull elk, Matt was going to show us overlooks, waterfalls, and of course...birds.

Finding elk did not take long. Matt had seen some elk the day before on his way to work. They were in the same place. Though they were pretty far away there was a big male along with a couple small males. Just up the road, Susan spotted a big bull right near the road. She pulled over and we got out and watched it for thirty minutes. It was in a swamp and it always seemed to have one twig or piece of grass in front of its face. Finally it moved a few feet and I discovered there was a baby and a cow elk. The big bull licked the baby gently. I was not expecting that. After we got our fill we moved on.

The Schencks drove us up some long forest roads to a trailhead to a waterfall. It was about a mile walk but despite the dry weather in their area it was really pretty. We also stopped at a couple of overlooks and lakes. We ended up seeing a couple good birds. We had Bald Eagles, Lesser Scaup, and Pectoral Sandpipers among others.

On our way back to their house we saw some more elk. Throughout the day we saw far more big bulls than I would have hoped for. Hanging out with Matt and Susan was a great way to spend our last real vacation day.

While this post may just be my memories from a great day, I can tell you that there is a lot to explore in the PA Wilds. Elk viewing is a multi million dollar tourist industry in that area. There is an elk viewing driving route. There are multiple state parks with top notch visitor centers where you can get info on elk, trails, and more. There is a town named Benezette that is the "elk capitol of PA". There you can get all the info on elk and probably see some right in town. You will almost certainly see deer just about everywhere. With a little research, you will not need someone to show you where to look for elk. Also, with two million acres of forest, the scenery is great. There are overlooks, waterfalls, and ponds.

More photos below