Is Hunting Pa Elk Really Ethical?
July 14th, 2009
This time of year my thoughts start to turn towards the upcoming hunting seasons and preparing myself and my gear for the rigors that lay ahead. This is also the same time many people consider entering their names in the drawing for tags for the upcoming Elk season.
This year I really find myself struggling with the thoughts of more Pa Elk being killed and people calling it hunting. Being a life long hunter, I realize the fact that what I do is not animal friendly, but I pride myself in hunting in what I consider an ethical manner. When I think about hunting elk in Pa I can’t help but wonder if it is actually ethical to do so.
My main sticking point is that unlike whitetail, Pa elk are so used to being around people that they don’t know enough to try to hide and protect themselves. With very few exceptions, every encounter I have had with an elk in Pa’s woods ends with either me walking away after having all the time in the world to photograph it from every angle or the elk calmly walking away searching for food as if nothing was disturbing about me being there.
Shooting one of these animals would be no different than going to a deer ranch or high fence farm and picking out your buck, paying the owner, and dropping it from a heated tower blind while sitting in a Lazy Boy! Where is the sport in shooting an animal you could pretty much walk up to and pet?
I just don’t buy that it is good for the herd to have some thinned out. Like 800 elk is somehow too many and they need to be thinned out.
Maybe I am getting soft, or maybe I just don’t understand the sport in hunting Pa elk, but as it is now I just don’t see it as ethical! What about you? Feel free to share your comments as I value your opinions as well.
July 16th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I think the Elk should be keep in control, but hunting an Elk in PA is not like hunting as I have know it.
The PA House and Senate have passed a law Bill 747 to auction off an Elk permit.
One member to NWTF paid $28000 for a bull elk permit for 2009. What a shame for all the PA hunters that will never have a chance to do this because of taking care of special interst groups with members with a lot of money.
This law should be put to bed. PA hunters are not aware of this law and need to be informed.
July 16th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I knew about that law but I did not know the final outcome of the auction. WOW, $28K is a lot for an elk tag. On the positive side 20% can go to the NWTF while the remainder will go to the Game Commission for elk management.
I wonder if in July of 2013 when this bill sunsets if it will be re-authorized? If they keep going for that kind of money I bet it will.
Thanks for the info Robert.
September 27th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
We have a camp above Cook Forest and on many occasions when there’s not much to do there we take a ride to various places to look for the elk herds. What magnificent creatures!
As I have personally given up hunting, I have developed more of a “Live & Let Live” attitude especially to the elk. As someone in an earlier response said, “how can you justify shooting an animal you can just as easily walk up to, with either a camera or a gun?”. They have become use to people!
These viewing areas should be expanded to other rural parts of the state and advertising dollars spent to encourage more people to come and see just how beautiful they really are. Shooting an elk in PA would be the same to me as shooting a waging tailed dog. At this point in their recovery here in PA, they’re to valuable to harvest…..
September 27th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Your analogy of shooting a dog is one I think is very accurate. These elk are so close to being pets that hunting them would be just as challenging as hunting Rover.
October 1st, 2009 at 6:27 pm
This seems to be a very one sided forum… why not post everything that everyone says not only what you believe to be right?
October 1st, 2009 at 6:46 pm
@Two Sides to Every Story, your comments are not approved because they are either juvenile or filled with nonsense. You obviously dislike this site, so why don’t you just go away!
Or, just do your own website about how much you love killing pa elk.
October 4th, 2009 at 12:54 am
I’m not going to argue too much about the elk being hunted in PA one way or the other. I would love the chance to hunt elk here, certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity. As far as it being ethical, I would say it isn’t as bad as some may think. I live in the elk range and have spent a lot of time in the woods with these animals and can say that the ones that I have seen outside of the viewing areas, on the back roads, are as easily spooked as any whitetail I have seen. Just my observations, I’m sure others have different experiences.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
I say nurture, protect, manage, photograph them, and provide elk education in Benezette. Hunt them by lottery outside the town parameters. If they become overpopulated in town, allow the farmers in Benezette to thin them out with a special nuisance elk tag. They can always donate excess meat to the restaurants in town or give it to the needy.
Just my .02.