Consider one or more chances for an elk when getting your general Pa. hunting license
Pennsylvania hunters may want to add the opportunity for an elk hunt when buying a general hunting license.
General hunting licenses went on sale Monday and one of the options people can choose is to participate in the elk hunting license lottery.
For 2023-24, 144 elk licenses (65 antlered, 79 antlerless) have been allocated across three elk seasons in different zones of the elk range in north-central Pennsylvania.
Jeremy Banfield, an elk biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said the number of elk tags each year is based on managing the number of free ranging elk and the number, frequency and intensity of elk conflicts with humans. For example, he said, “Areas where they have a lot of agriculture, we tend to put more tags there.”
“The goal has always been to allow slow growth, stable or a slightly increasing line if you draw it across the population,” Banfield said.
Overall, there are 34 fewer elk licenses this year than last, partly impacted by new study results.
The agency completed a three-year study with Penn State University of 127 young elk that revealed a calf survival rate of 63%. The research shows a lower than anticipated survival rate. A previous study of the herd that concluded 15 years ago estimated calf survival at 83%.
This is the first research in Pennsylvania that was able to monitor elk calves right after birth. An implant placed in the pregnant cows was able to notify researchers when the calves dropped, and the staff could then place electronic collars on the newborns. The enhanced technology also allowed the staff to discover stillborn animals and those that didn’t survive their first days of life.
In past studies, the researchers collared elk calves they found while scouring popular elk habitat, and the data wasn’t able to include calves that didn’t survive the birthing process or first days of life.
Hunter success rates
Overall hunters have been successful, but not all the tags are filled. Since 2010, the overall average rate of hunter success is 82%. The data shows 97% success for those hunting bulls, and 76% for antlerless animals.
When applying for a chance at an elk tag, the hunter has to pick a zone to hunt. Banfield said there is ample opportunity for both bulls and cows across the range open to hunting, but offers this advice: “If you just want to kill an elk, go to (Zone) 12, maybe 8. If you are interested in a big bull, want to be in the back country, you are willing to walk and go behind gates where you can’t take vehicles, I would say (Zones) 3, 10, and probably 13."
He also said Zone 4 is great and 14 is good, too.
“It’s all personal preference,” he said, pointing out that some hunters have camps in those zones and it may make sense for them to hunt near that area.
Record animals in Pennsylvania: One old buck, five elk take new top spots in Pennsylvania Big Game Records
What to know about elk hunting: Many options for those lucky Pa. elk tag winners
Dream hunts: Elk hunters find trophy racks in northcentral Pennsylvania
Elk tag lottery
The elk tags will be drawn several weeks earlier than in the past. Elk licenses had been awarded each year at the Elk Expo, organized by the Keystone Elk Country Alliance in mid-August. This year, the event will be held July 29-30, and should give the winners of the elk licenses a couple of additional weeks to scout or secure a guide.
The earlier lottery also led to the chances for an elk tag going on sale in February instead of when general hunting licenses went on sale.
“People are definitely buying them,” Banfield said. With the new time change for buying tags, he didn’t have a past year to compare the numbers but said they usually have a significant increase in sales traffic close to the deadline to apply, which is July 16 this year. “The last 48, 72 hours before the deadline is when the spike comes.”
Last year, the agency received 104,250 applications for the lottery of 178 elk tags. “We always hope to beat the previous years,” he said about more hunters becoming more interested in elk.
Hunting seasons
The licenses are awarded for three separate hunting seasons.
For the one-week general season to run Oct. 30-Nov. 4, 30 antlered and 42 antler tags have been allocated. In the archery season to run from Sept. 16-30, 18 antlered and eight antlerless licenses are available. And there are 17 antlered and 29 antlerless licenses available for the Dec. 30-Jan. 6 late season.
Hunters can apply to hunt in any of those seasons, two of them or all three. Each application costs $11.97 at license vendors and online at huntfish.pa.gov. Applicants are entered into a lottery, and licenses are awarded by drawing. Those who aren’t chosen will receive a bonus point that gives them an additional lottery chance in coming years. Bonus points continue to build up until a hunter is drawn. The more applications a hunter has submitted over the years, the more chances they have in the next lottery.
If drawn, hunters must obtain an elk license as well as a general hunting license. Elk licenses cost $25 for residents and $250 for nonresidents.
Be Elk Smart
Banfield reminds those who want to view the herd that the elk are large, wild animals.
The agency has developed a four-part Be Elk Smart program:
Give them space. Stay at least 100 yards from the elk.
Don’t feed them. Feeding wild animals creates bad habits for the animals and is illegal.
Don’t name the elk. Banfield said naming wild animals degrades them as independent wild creatures.
Do your part. You have a responsibility to help keep the elk wild. If you witness someone being disruptive or careless, you are asked to report the activity to the commission’s northcentral office at 833-PGC-HUNT or 833-PGC-WILD.
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors,Twitter @whipkeyoutdoors and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: how do I apply for an elk license in Pennsylvania? Game Commission
