Early May Brings Mixed Feelings About PA Elk Herd

Bennett's Branch Near Benezette

Early May with its' superb scenery,  mild temperatures, and abundant wildlife is a wonderful time to visit Pennsylvania Elk Country.  The photo above was taken near the Benezett river bridge early on the morning of May 5th, 2008 and I liked it so much that I included video footage of this scene in "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd", the documentary film that was released that September.  There is truly something special about a beautiful spring morning spent afield whether it be in a turkey blind, hiking the backcountry, or photographing scenery and big game.

For me, the primary focus of an early May trip is to document the growth of the bull's antlers and the 2008 trip yielded several excellent encounters.  The best photo sessions with a large bull was when I found the magnificent bull that many referred to as "Kisser" in the woods near the Dent's Run Viewing Area.

"Kisser" or "Odie" Near Dents Run Viewing Area

This bull could usually be found somewhere between Devil's Elbow and Benezette, but the area around Dents Run Viewing Area seemed to be an especially favorite spot for him in May.

"Kisser" The Gentle Giant

It seems most Pennsylvania bulls are not as aggressive as some of the western bulls such as Bull 6, which was a famous character bull at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone Park.  That bull was known for chasing people and attacking vehicles, but "Kisser" was the exact opposite of this.

Bull 6 Mammoth Hot Springs-Yellowstone National Park

 Well known photographer and guide Phil Burkhouse wrote an article "Fred Is Dead" in his "Wandering Aimlessly " column in the Jan 19, 2011 issue of The Cameron County Echo, about "Bull 36" also known as "Fred" shortly after he died last winter.  In this Mr Burkhouse tells how that tourist flock to Winslow Hill to see elk and that Fred was "the brightest star in the tourism trade and perhaps the most valuable animal to local businesses in the state".  He goes on to say that, "Fred was a first class citizen".  "Fred, huge beast that he was, was always friendly and gentle.  Fred was undoubtedly the largest bull elk in the herd for ten years running and did not have a mean bone in this body."  While "Kisser" was overshadowed by Bull 36's reputation, he was well know and was every bit as acclimated and harmless.  He was the most likely "heir apparent" to Bull 36, but that was not to be as he was killed in the 2010 elk hunt. I cannot comprehend why there cannot be a sufficient no hunt zone,  that a few bulls can have a large enough home range to reach maturity and live a normal life span.   I began hunting at an early age and was as avid a hunter as any until 1997-98 so I completely understand the pro-hunt point of view, but I cannot comprehend how we can be so obsessed with the need to make  every "elk a hunted elk", that we cannot allow anything special to exist such as a few bulls like this. 

Apologists for the hunt as it is currently implemented never tire of pointing out that elk were re-introduced for hunting purposes and that the re-introduction was paid for with hunting license dollars, therefore the herd should be managed primarily for hunting purposes. At times lip service is given to the concept of managing for tourism, but when the actual management decisions are made, the elk and the non-consumptive user are usually the losers.  Attaining the proper balance between hunting and tourism  is the key, and the herd can be managed in such a way that it is a win, win situation for both the tourist and hunting industries, but at this point a win, win situation does not seem likely.  Instead what we are doing is much like hunting elk in downtown Mammoth Hot Springs.  We are killing our biggest, best and most visible elk and it is WRONG!!!

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill

Camera Critters: Birds And Scenery Make Good Subjects

 Rushing Mountain Stream Makes For Great Scenic Opportunity

I spend most mornings  in a blind by a rushing mountain stream, waiting for the wily, elusive Eastern Wild Turkey Gobblers to appear.  Many times the birds do not co-operate, but if one is not totally fixated on the turkeys and looks about for other photo opportunities, they may find other subjects that are as rewarding to photograph. These opportunities range from capturing scenic shots, to photographing other birds or animals that may appear.

While I have seen Eastern Towhee's for years, I have not had many opportunities to photograph them successfully, as they usually inhabit brushy areas where they scratch among the leaves on the forest floor for food.  This changed in April when the birds began utilizing the area around my blind.

Eastern Towhee

This bird used to be called the Rufous Sided Towhee, which still sounds like a good name to me, but for some reason it was changed.  Whatever the case, they are a beautiful bird and it was a thrill to successfully photograph the species.

The Northern or "Yellow Shafted"  Flicker is another bird that frequents our area, but has been difficult for me to photograph until this spring when one stopped by on an April morning.

Northern "Yellow Shafted" Flicker

The birds came near the blind because I sprinkled a mixture of bird seed and sunflower seeds around a nearby stump and on the forest floor.  It is perfectly legal to feed birds and turkeys, but one must not do this if they hunt turkeys from the blind and they may not hunt in the area around where the feed is spread.  They must hunt far enough away that the actions of their quarry is not influenced by the food source.

In Pennsylvania, regulations require that all bait and residue thereof be removed at least thirty days before hunting is done in that area.  This is not a problem since I have not hunted for nearly thirteen years, having found observing and photographing wildlife to be a much more rewarding means of enjoying the outdoors, so if my ex-compatriots in law-enforcement stop by the only weapons they will find will be the cameras and long lenses.

Partially Hollow Stump Makes Both A Good Background And A Natural Bird Feeder

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Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill

Pennsylvania Deer Wars: My First Close-up Whitetail Photograph

Today we continue with the series on "The Pennsylvania Deer Wars", but as I like to say, "with no fighting yet". That; however,  will soon follow if we continue to explore this subject.  This takes up where the post of  March 16, 2011 left off.

Until the spring of 1974 my primary interaction with whitetail deer was either hunting or observing them, although I did have a strong desire to photograph them.  Since I was operating on a shoe-string budget I got the Minolta SRT 101, with 50mm F1.7 normal lens in early May of that year and waited a few weeks until I had more funds before I purchased the Spiratone 400mm.  What a thrill it was to look through the view finder at distant subjects. Now birds and animals were no longer barely visible spots in the finder.  It is hard to describe the excitement I felt at this point--it was even difficult to sleep at night with thoughts of prospective encounters with wildlife running through my mind.

Minolta SRT 101 and Spiratone 400mm F 6.3: Photo by W.Hill

On one fine spring morning I left our family farm and walked to a remote mountain farm where an old barn was still standing.  This was ideal whitetail habitat with excellent prospects for photo opportunities during the entire trip, but I saw no deer until I got to the barn.  When I came around one corner of the barn, a young whitetail doe ran out of the barnyard into the nearby woods, then turned and paused to look at me for a few seconds.  With heart pounding, I brought the camera to eye level and fired a few frames before she bounded away.

Young Whitetail Doe-The First Close-up Photograph: Photo by W.Hill

I was using Ektachrome 100 slide film and the 400mm lens without a tripod, which required an exposure of 1/125 sec. at f6.3, and it is difficult to hand-hold a 400mm steady enough to get acceptably sharp photos at 1/125 sec., especially in the days before image stabilization, Needless to say the photographs were not all that great, but I was so thrilled to finally have a close-up photo of a deer that I didn't even notice that they were not very sharp.  It would not be until the DSLR age that I would become obsessed with sharpness and the use of premium lenses and tripods. 


This was the first of thousands of photos I would take with SLR/DSLR cameras and telephoto lenses.  The photo below shows a mature doe and was taken this past winter with a Canon 7D and 300mm F2.8 telephoto, and what a world of difference there is. She was photographed less than 75 yards from where I took the photo in 1974 and there is a fair probability that she is a descendant of the young doe that I captured on film that day.

Adult Doe Photographed In Same Area Almost 37 years Later: Canon 7D 300mm F2.8

It would be interesting to mount the 400mm Spiratone on the 7D and see how it performs with this camera while mounted on a high end tripod.  This can be done quite cheaply as those lenses utilized a screw on T mount that adapted it to any interchangeably lens SLR and these adapters are still available.  I am certain that the results would not begin to compare with modern professional equipment, but one must consider the price of the lens and high end lenses such as the Canon L series are forbiddingly expensive and like the price of gasoline seem to become more so by the day.

So at this point, any involvement in deer wars was simply struggling to learn how to hunt and photograph them, but these interests would lead my brother Coy and I to become involved in the fight to protect the whitetail deer and other wildlife.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill

Gobbling Activity Continues, While Whitetail Antler Growth Accelerates

With April almost gone and May just a few short days away, it is turning summer-like here in southcentral Pennsylvania, with warm weather and a lot of thunderstorms..  I used to think of spring gobbler photography primarily as a warm weather endeavor, but since retiring in 2007 and spending most mornings afield in pursuit of wildlife photographs, I have found that a lot of gobbling activity occurs during March and early April when many mornings are quite cold.  It has only been in the last week or so that one is comfortable without wearing gloves and heavy clothing, while waiting in the blind during the early morning hours for turkeys to appear.  While I haven't  heard as much gobbling recently, it is still common to see gobblers strutting.

Mature Gobbler Struts During Courtship Ritual

A gobbler usually performs this courtship ritual of strutting and posturing when hens are nearby, but it is common for them to neither strut or gobble during an encounter with them, which makes photographing them doubly difficult as one needs to not only see the elusive bird, but see him when he is engaging in this behavior, the light is right, and intervening trees and brush does not obscure him.  The process is somewhat easier, when the birds are found in the meadows.  While turkeys are in many ways a woodland bird, they do like open, grassy areas and may be seen in them, especially in spring and autumn.  For some reason, they especially like to use them on rainy days.

Turkeys May Be Found In Both Woodlands And Meadows

While I tend to concentrate on the turkeys at this time of year, it is also interesting to watch the whitetail deer and document the antler growth.  Antlers size gradually increases in April, and will become more rapid as the season advances.   Below are two photos taken on the morning of April 26th.  This is the same buck that was featured in the post of April 16th, and the photo in that post was taken on April 10th., so one can see how much the antlers have grown in 16 days.

Antler Size Increases Gradually During April: Note Appearance Of Winter Coat

A close look reveals that a branch is developing on the right antler.  This buck should have at least four points by the end of May, but it is also very likely that he will disperse before then, so we may never know how large he will grow.

A Point Develops On The Right Antler

In addition to growing antlers, the deer are slowly changing from the winter to the summer coat.  The winter coat is bleached and ragged in appearance and the hair  falls out, to be replaced by the reddish colored summer coat, which is developing underneath.  Most deer will complete this process by mid-June.


Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.