Photo by Brent Addleman
Pennsylvania Game Commission employees Rick Macklem, left, and Tony Ross take measurements of harvested elk at the Elk Hunt Check Station in Karthaus Twp. The hunt runs through Saturday.

By Brent Addleman

Editor

KARTHAUS TWP. – Activity at the Pennsylvania Game Commission Food & Cover Crew headquarters slowed from the opening day of the 2009 Elk Hunt. Six elk were harvested as of 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon bringing the two-day total to 19. Hunters have 24 hours to report to the station after harvest.
There are 39 hunters with tags still out in the field hoping to harvest a bull or cow before the close of the season on Saturday.
Game Commission officials at the check station are performing a variety of tasks, ranging from weighing the animals to collecting samples to reporting data as part of ongoing research. Data is being collected on the killed elk to check on the health of the herd, and is being done in conjunction with research currently being performed on whitetail deer.
“They are taking the brain stem and tonsil,” said Rick Macklem of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. “They will be used for checking chronic wasting disease, which is something we need to be concerned about. Blood samples are taken for disease monitoring for the most part.”
According to the Game Commission Web site, chronic wasting disease is a disease of the brain and nervous system that attacks the brain and produces small lesions that result in death. The disease has been found in the wild in 11 states, including New York and West Virginia, and Canada. The disease has also been found in captive herds in 10 states and Canada, including New York.
“There hasn’t been any[cases of chronic wasting disease] in Pennsylvania,” Macklem said. “We’ve been very fortunate to not have any confirmed cases within the state. That is why we continue to monitor the elk and deer that are harvested.”
The number of elk harvested is on the lower side of what it has been in recent hunts, according to Macklem. However, there are still four more days left in the hunt.
“Looking at it, doing the survey from all the hunters that were able to get a license, we survey and ask them what days they are going to hunt,” Macklem said. “The majority of them looked like they had the entire week available to them.”
Many of the hunters could be waiting for a trophy elk.
“Especially, maybe, the bull hunters, may have opportunity but they are waiting for that big one,” Macklem said. “Cows it is a little different. My understanding is anywhere up here in the Elk Range the acorns are just everywhere. So, the feed is there. They might be a little harder to locate because they are not moving around as much.”
The crowd at the check station dwindled yesterday. Nice weather on Monday brought out a number of curious onlookers, and moving the check station closer to Interstate-80 and Clearfield may have been a factor, according to Macklem.
“Overall, looking at the years past, through today we have a total of 19 checked in for two days,” Macklem said. “That is somewhat down from the first two days’ harvest of years past. But, things could definitely pick up.”