Pennsylvania Elk: A Native Species?

A common complaint by opponents of Pennsylvania’s elk program is that elk are a non-native species and thus should not have been reintroduced into the state. This is usually followed by a complaint that they utilize resources that would be better expended on managing public lands for more whitetail deer. Many feel that the elk directly compete with the deer for food and their presence results in less deer.

These folks overlook a few facts in arriving at these conclusions.

Historically there was little regulation of hunting in Pennsylvania, and most importantly there was no agency charged with the management and protection of wildlife! Whatever laws that did exist, had little possibility of being enforced.. This eventually resulted in the decimation of many wildlife species. In time it became obvious that something must be done or much of our wildlife heritage would be lost forever.

It is generally accepted that elk were completely extirpated from the state, although it is possible but not likely that a very few animals did survive in the more remote regions.

Whitetail deer were not extirpated but their numbers were extremely low.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission was founded in 1895 to address this situation. Of course the agency dealt with numerous species, but we will restrict the discussion to deer and elk.

There seemed to be little hope for a speedy recovery of deer numbers by protecting only the remaining native deer, so the agency stocked deer for several years. The first animals were from Michigan while others were obtained from a variety of eastern states, many of them farm raised deer.

Elk were re-introduced by stocking animals from Yellowstone National Park, so we actually have western elk in Pennsylvania, but are these in fact non-native animals or some would say an invasive species? I think not!

In my humble opinion, to remain logically consistent they must either concede that both elk and whitetail deer are native to the state, but were eliminated or nearly so by improper management.

Most if not all of the elk are western elk and most of the deer are descended from animals that were from states other than Pennsylvania, therefore if deer are “native” animals and have a right to be here, then so does the elk!

Elk Grazing in a food plot of buckwheat: Canon 10D 70-200mmF2.8 (90mm)

Elk and deer share the food plot: Canon XL-H1 Camcorder

Whitetail bucks at Hick's Run Viewing Area: Canon XL-H1 Camcorder

Do they actually compete for food resources?

The accepted view is that deer are primarily browsing animals, while elk mostly feed by pasturing. Personally I have seen both animals engaged in both types of feeding, but it doesn’t seem likely that the elk significantly impact deer numbers as complaints about low deer numbers in the northcentral region of the state are not confined to the elk range. Unless a crop is destroyed by severe drought, I have not seen elk eliminate all the forage in a meadow, but I have seen food plots with lush forage that are not being utilized by significant numbers of deer. A shortage of deer must be blamed on other factors than the presence of elk! In fact the elk habitat management program has the side effect of producing better habitat for whitetails also!

I think we should be pleased that this magnificent animal is once again roaming the mountains and meadows of Pennsylvania!

Coltsfoot--One Of The First Flowers Of Spring

Coltsfoot is one of the earliest spring flowers to bloom in Fulton County. It bears a remarkable resemblance to dandelions, but it blooms much earlier than they do, I saw the first one around the middle of last week and finally took time out on Saturday afternoon to photograph them.

This flower is most often seen along roadsides and other disturbed areas where moisture is present. All of the below photographs were taken by the roadside.

Canon 40D: 17-40mmF4 L

Canon 40D: 100mmF2.8 Macro

Canon 40D: 100mmF2.8 Macro

The macro shots were taken by resting the camera on a "bean bag" for support. In this case some type of grain such as wheat was used, but most people take a small bag and fill it with beans, hence the name "bean bag. This makes a passable substitute for a tripod for low level shots, when one must lie on the ground to get the correct angle on the subject.

I was thinking about purchasing a tripod especially for this type of shooting as my Gitzo with Wimberley Head is not the right tool for this type of shot, but then I remembered an old Slik U212 that I no longer use and modified it for macro photography. I have had no chance to use it yet. If it works well, I will post a picture of it and give some more details.

Antler Growth Begins: Whitetail Deer

Another Sign of Spring

As the days grow longer and warmer, the whitetail bucks antlers start to develop. Progress varies from area to area and also depends on the age and physical condition of the deer. Many deer in Fulton County are much smaller than animals of the same age in Shenandoah Park.

This is a typical Fulton County button buck in excellent condition. Although new growth is not yet visible past the end of the hair which encloses the bases, I can tell that the bumps are much more prominent than they were a short time ago. Within a few weeks, the new growth should be plainly visible. Mature bucks should have plainly visible growth by now, but these animals are difficult to see in this area in the spring. In some cases they still have not shed last years antlers, although most do lose them in early February.

Canon 40D: 300mmF4

He should grow antlers ranging from two individual points per side, known as spikes, to a maximum of six points. Six points is the exception and not the rule, with most being spikes or four-points. In the east we count total points when describing an animal.

A Tale of Duplicity and Greed!

A Step Toward A Different Outlook

Late one Saturday morning during Pennsylvania’s spring gobbler season, I was patrolling a backwoods area by driving slowly along a narrow township road, which passed through prime turkey habitat. There were several spots in this area where one frequently found turkey hunters parked. As I topped a steep hill I came upon three hunters by the roadside. Hunting hours ended at 12:00 noon, and these individuals had quit slightly early and were gathered around their vehicles waiting for other persons yet in the woods to return from the hunt. I soon found I was dealing with two parties; one was hunting by alone, while the other two were traveling together.

After a perfunctory license check, I engaged the persons in conversation. It soon became apparent that one, Jim Stallings, was an excellent raconteur. He also loved to hear a good story and encouraged his companion to tell several hunting tales. Jim was likely in his middle 50s to early 60s, while the others were perhaps 70 years old. Jim’s eyes shone as the tales were recounted and he repeatedly stated that this was what hunting was all about. The kill was not important, but rather the ethical pursuit of the bird or animal and remembering, and sharing the great experiences that one had during the hunt. I left the encounter believing that this was one of the finest sportsmen I had met during my career.

Spring Gobbler hunting is a popular sport in Pennsylvania with only bearded birds being legal!

Time passed, perhaps several years. At that time Pennsylvania had a three-day antlerless deer season. Rifle buck season came in the Monday after Thanksgiving and lasted for two weeks. On the following Monday, doe season, as it was commonly called came in and it was usually a blood bath on the first morning. It was quite effective for an officer to patrol the back roads on that day as they were continually checking deer after the hunters had time to drag them from the woods. Many hunters followed the old principle of “making hay while the sun shines”, and it was common to find untagged deer, hunters with more than the legal limit, hunters without licenses for antlerless deer and other lesser violations.

Deer hunting sometimes brings out the worst in a certain type of individual and it seems that antlerless deer are often victims to some of the worst depredations!

To get back to the case at hand, Salty and I received a call the night before from an informant in a neighboring county. He asked if we knew Jim Stallings, which of course we did. But then he dropped a bombshell on us. He said that he went to the same church as Jim and he considered himself to be a good Christian, but he went on to say that what Jim and his group did when they hunted gave Christians a bad name and he wanted to see them brought to justice. He called us because he knew that we were familiar with the area in which this gang operated.

At that time one was required to have an Antlerless license, which was good only for the county in which it was issued. According to the informant, it was common for these people to use licenses issued to the county they were from and not Fulton County, where they were hunting. They were also known to kill more deer than they had tags for.

With the passing of the years, many details have become hazy, but I recall that we checked some other area at dawn and then headed for the area where the Stallings gang was hunting. We arrived about 8:30 in the morning and the rifles were still thundering about us. Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer, Anthony “Andy” Carbaugh, was with us, and he and I circled the killing zone while Salty approached from another angle. At the appointed time we converged on the spot where the shooting had come from and the carnage we discovered was disgusting. At this point I cannot remember how many deer were killed or the exact description of the violations, but they were numerous. I do recall that one hunter was still carrying a loaded weapon, and trying to kill another deer in excess of the legal limit.

We seized the rifles and other pertinent evidence and told the violators to meet us at the vehicles, which were at the same spot where we had the wonderful conversation in spring gobbler season. We arrived there before the violators and there was Jim Stallings. He was still quite a talker, but he wasn’t telling wonderful hunting stories now. Instead he was protesting that he just couldn’t believe the boys would do a thing like that, and he had no idea they were outlaws. We actually had nothing on Jim, but the rest of his group was a different story and it doesn’t seem possible that the illegal activity was done without his knowledge or approval, especially since our informant said that Jim was involved and in fact bragged openly on how he had the wardens fooled.

This incident and many more like it were to eventually have a major impact on reshaping my views toward wildlife conservation and management.

*Jim Stallings is a fictitous name, but the character is very real and described accurately to the best of my ability. The officer’s names are real with the exception that my brother was not known as “Salty” at the time, but currently uses that nickname on his blog, Country Captures, and the name has caught on around home as well.