Elk Bugling/Mating Season

Last Friday morning WPC Volunteers Mary Shaw and her husband Roy Weil went up to the Gilbert Tract in Elk County to listen to the elk bugling. At sunrise she was able to capture today's WPC Daily.

The Gilbert tract was once a 213-acre farm and is now a state gameland because Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) joined with three partners to permanently protect the elk's home range and make it accessible to the public.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation contributed funds that allowed WPC to buy the Elk County property. The land, like the 780 acres WPC purchased before it, has been transferred to the Game Commission, who will maintain and improve the elk habitat. One of Pennsylvania's premier wildlife species has a home because WPC members made it their business to protect them.

Seeing an elk for the first time is an extraordinary event and something you'll never forget. The majestic elk tower over deer, weigh up to 700-1,000 pounds, and have head gear so large it resembles tree branches more than antlers. Yet the elk are graceful and unassuming animals; until breeding season. During this time, the bull elks spar, whistle, groan and roar, clamoring for dominance.

Elk are most active early and late in the day as they move from feeding in open fields to the sheltered woodlands where they spend most of the day. They spend more time in open fields in September and October during the mating season.

When you're looking for elk, pay attention to everything. The presence of buildings doesn't necessarily mean you won't see elk. In winter, elk often visit lawns to graze bird feeders for seed and browse shrubbery. As a rule, when you see people standing alongside a road, or a band of cars parked along the shoulder, you can figure elk are near.

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has purchased more than 280,000 acres since we began in 1932. Ohiopyle, McConnells Mill, Moraine, Oil Creek and Laurel Ridge state parks all were purchased and protected by WPC.

Reference: Pennsylvania Great Outdoors.

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