Pennsylvania Elk Harvest Report

For the past two years the Pennsylvania Game Commission elk check station has been located at the Food and Cover Corps maintenance building along the Quehanna Highway near Karthaus. All successful hunters are required to bring harvested animals to the station so that biological and other data may be gathered.

PGC Elk Check Station Quehanna Highway:Photo by W.Hill

The following statistics are what were posted on the informational board outside the maintenance as of late morning on Thursday November 5, 2010.

Bulls: 15   Cows: 16.  This is from a total allocation of 17 bulls for the November season and 33 cows.  Counting the Special Conservation Tag bull taken earlier, the total number of bulls taken as of late Thursday morning was 16.

The bulls broken down by Hunt Zone and points are: Zone 2: 7x7, 5x6, Zone 3: 7x6, 5x6, Zone 4: 6x6, Zone 7:  9x7, Zone 8: Hunter had tag for Zone 8 but filled it in Zone 11, Zone 9: 7x7, 6x6, Hunter had tag for Zone 9 but filled it in Zone 11, Zone 10: 8x9, 7x7, Zone 11: 7x6, 7x7, 7x7. I asked for clarification above the Zone 11 situation  and was told that anyone with a tag could fill it either in their designated unit or in Zone 11.  I asked no further questions as I assumed that this Zone would be shown in the Hunting Digest, but it is not in my copy of it, so at this point it is unclear just what area Zone 11 encompasses. 

PGC Personnel Process Elk: Photo by W.Hill

While the regular elk season ends on Saturday, there is a week long season outside of the Elk Management Area, which runs from November 8-13, 2010.It requires a valid Elk Hunting License with an unfilled tag and a limit of one antlered or one antlerless elk, depending on what license the hunter originally obtained. At this point it appears likely that there will be several unfilled cow licenses, but there should be few if any bull hunters still qualified to hunt during this season. One guide pointed out that there is a discrepancy in the hunting license digest between the map of the area which is off limits to hunting during this season and the text describing the same situation. Giving accurate advice on this situation is beyond the scope of this article, but hunters would be well advised to obtain accurate information as to where hunting is permitted before venturing into a questionable area.