Camera Critters: A Look At Two Pennsylvania Bull Elk

Winter is an excellent time to organize the photo files and process shots that were not worked with before and the last week or so has seen me make significant inroads in dealing with 2008s elk photos. Yes, I said 2008, not 2009--that is how far I am behind. It seems like I usually process a few of the best or more interesting ones soon after they are taken, but what with dealing with video and all, it is common to go for a long time before things are completed as they should be.

2008 brought a lot of sightings of bulls that while large compared to animals in western areas open to public hunting, are not particularly impressive compared to some of the monsters Pennsylvania grew in the past and still does to a certain extent today.

Both animals were wearing numbered radio collars, which are used in population monitoring, but thanks to Photoshop it was easy to remove them so the animals appear as they naturally would. (This does explain how I know the numbers in this case)

Bull 8A Roars A Defiant Bugle

On this particular morning the bulls were competing for the attentions of a cow and locked antlers repeatedly, but I was filming them with the camcorder at that point.

Bull 62 Challenges 8A

8A Bugles Another Response

According to reports, Bull 8A spends the summer many miles away at Sinnemahoning State Park, but he returned to Winslow hill for the 2009 rut. I did not see Bull 62 during the 2009 rut. I do not know if he died of natural causes, was killed during the 2008 season, or was still alive, but never crossed paths with me. Whatever the case, I did photograph and/or film him for the first time in 2006 and each year since - until this year.

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Winter, A Struggle For Survival

Many recent winters have had little substantial snowfall here in southcentral Pennsylvania, and survival has been relatively easy for the creatures of the great outdoors. Such was the case during most of the winter this year. This all changed last weekend when over 20" of snow fell.

Snow Makes Dramatic Photographic Opportunities

While the snow makes for great photographs, it makes it much more difficult for wildlife to find food. Deer usually feed by browsing on twigs or grazing in meadows and the deep snow makes grazing difficult. The worst case scenario is when snowfall is followed by a rainstorm, which in turn is followed by an extended cold snap. This causes a hard crust to form, which makes it impossible for the animals to reach the buried grasses and makes travel very difficult and hazardous.

Deep Snow Makes Travel Difficult And Food Hard To Find.

Property owners and managers that have access to a tractor with a front end loader or blade may easily improve conditions for wildlife by plowing travel lanes through grassy meadows. This has a two-fold benefit as it exposes grasses for wildlife to feed on and at the same time provides areas where they may walk without being stressed by the deep snow. Areas such as this will attract not only animals such as deer and elk, but are also excellent for turkeys and song birds.

Travel Lanes Increase Chances Of Survival And Provide Feeding Areas

I first learned of this management tool while working for The Pennsylvania Game Commission's game lands maintenance division, which is know as "The Food And Cover Corps" and have continued to use this principle to this day on lands which I manage for wildlife. There is no doubt that it is a cost effective way to assist wildlife in the bitter struggle of winter survival.

Game Commission Proposes Expanded Elk Season

Mature Bull: 2006

On January 26, 2010, The Pennsylvania Game Commission gave preliminary approval to seasons and bag limits for the coming license year. This includes significant changes in deer, bear, turkey and elk seasons. Seasons and bag limits will be finalized during The Commission's April 19-20th meeting.

As part of these sweeping changes there is a proposal to add an extended elk season for those few who are unable to fill their tags during the regular season.

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Winter Wildlife: Camera Critters

Outstanding wildlife photography opportunities have been rare lately, with the bitter cold winter weather making it difficult to stay outdoors for any length of time and the animals being mostly in a survival mode and often not doing anything especially interesting.

I was able to capture this doe grooming one of her fawns from a previous year. Deer are highly social animals. While they may disperse somewhat during summer and autumn, it is common for extended family groups to band together during late autumn, winter, and early spring, with a certain degree of dispersal occurring again in late spring as the new fawns are born. This doe lost her fawn from 2009 during the past hunting season, but she still has a doe and a buck traveling with her which were born in 2008 and are now over 1.5 years old.

All photos were taken with Canon 7D and 500mmF4 L lens.

Deer Grooming In Warm Rays Of Late Afternoon Sun

Sometimes an unusual visitor shows up at the natural bird feeder. Raccoons are mostly nocturnal animals, but this one arrived shortly before sundown to feed on the bird seed.

The Masked Bandit

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