Sunday, September 12, 2010

Bugling Time In Pennsylvania's Elk Country

There have been two definitive video documentaries of Pennsylvania Elk to date. The first was "Pennsylvania Elk: Reclaiming The Alleghenies", which was produced by The Pennsylvania Game Commission, and presented the natural history of the elk in Pennsylvania, along with an in-depth discussion of the elk management program and goals. In 2008 I released a 2-DVD set "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd", which documents the herd from 1995 until 2008 and focused on the herd from the perspective of the, eco-tourist, taking a close look at the "elk culture" on Winslow Hill and the "political" issues involving the elk hunt. Most of the information in this video is still current, although at least one of the most glaring problems with license allocations and combined hunt zones were addressed to a considerable extent since that time. It also features a year in the life of the elk herd with a lengthy section on the rut. The film is chock full of high-impact, stunning footage of the elk herd. The film is currently available for purchase at Benezett Store, in Benezette, Pa. If it is not playing on the wide-screen monitor in the store when you visit, ask store workers to play a sample for you. You may also click the link above or the one in the top right of the sidebar to go to a page with further information on the film.

Today we feature a short film or video if you will that packs a lot of action into 3min. and 45 seconds. Most of the footage was taken during the past two years, but a short clip of the famous character bull "Fred Jr." or Bull#36 fighting another large bull is incorporated At the time of the fight in 2001, he was in his prime and squared off with another monster known as "the Test Hill Bull. This clip was recorded with a Canon L2 Hi-8 camcorder fitted with a 35-350mm Canon L lens.


Bugling Time In Pennsylvania's Elk Country from Willard C. Hill on Vimeo.


Photographers are warned to not approach elk closely in an attempt to duplicate some of the clips in this video or "The Truth About Pennsylvania"s Elk Herd", if they are using fixed lens camcorders or point and shoot still cameras, as the high impact shots were taken with extremely powerful telephoto lenses from a safe distance. Approaching elk may result in serious injury or death to you!

6 comments:

Brad Myers said...

Willard, an great video as always. It makes me even more ready to head north soon for the rut.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the video, not only of the elk but of the landscape and flowers.

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

That was excellent.The scenery beautiful and the Elk,magnificent. Thanks.
Blessings,Ruth

Peggy said...

Fantastic video Willard! Awesome edit and commentary!

Anonymous said...

AWESOME, Willard!!!!!! What a wonderful video. I miss hearing the elk bugle, so thanks for sharing this.

richard l coy said...

Thanks Willard for the video. The scenes bring back so many memories of my many trips to Benezette and beyond. The sunrises are stunning and one can find peace in their heart as the scene unfolds into daylight. The nbugling sends a special thrill thru me that just inspires me to keep my journeys going as long as I can.