Like a lot of other folks these days, I too will be looking forward to placing the crosshairs of my rifle scope on a nice big buck. But, to be honest, I enjoy seeing all kinds of wildlife throughout the entire year.
For the past 40-plus years, my life and my work have revolved around wildlife. As a wildlife artist and illustrator for outdoor magazines, observing wildlife in natural settings is an important part of producing that final painting or illustration.
Even though it may not be part of making a living, observing our wild creatures is still something that almost everybody enjoys; that is, if it’s not a deer bolting in front of our car as we’re going down the road at 60 mph.
A couple of weekends ago, a number of other folks and I went a bit out of the way to observe wildlife — more specifically, Pennsylvania’s wild elk.
A good number of people gathered at the Quiet Oaks Campgrounds just a few miles up the mountain from Cross Fork. This is the more northern portion of Kettle Creek, and it’s prime elk territory.
I was teaching elk drawing classes at the campgrounds, but there was also a photography session, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission was present.
It’s very common to spot elk in this area.
As my wife and I were leaving the campgrounds late Saturday afternoon, we spotted a nice bull elk just off the road.
This area, along with the Winslow Hill Elk Viewing Area near Benezette, is a great place to see and photograph elk. Even if you don’t have expensive camera gear and large lenses, you can still get some pretty good photos even with today’s smartphones.
Also, since the elk have become accustomed to so many people being around, they are less likely to be spooked.
A word of caution, however, elk can be very aggressive this time of year, especially bulls, so don’t push your luck trying to get too close.
While driving around or hiking in the right places can lead to some interesting wildlife observations, I have also found another scenario that has led to some very interesting and unexpected wildlife observations. I’m referring to cameras — specifically, trail cameras and the security cameras located around our homes. You might be surprised by what shows up around your home, especially if you live out in the country.
Let’s be honest, one of the most exciting wildlife observations is a black bear. A few weeks ago, a customer was looking out my art gallery window in the middle of the afternoon when she yelled that a bear was running through my front yard. Interesting, but in reality, we see more bears and a whole lot of other more secretive wildlife on our cameras at night or in locations in the woods that have little human disturbance going on most of the time.
I recently took a count of what and how many different animals were showing up on the cameras we have located in a couple of wooded locations. Over about a two-week period, we saw deer every day or almost every day, and the other common critters like squirrels, porcupines, raccoons, and turkeys also showed up two or three times during that period.
The more intriguing observations, however, were a couple of bears one afternoon, followed by a coyote a couple of days later.
A couple of days after the coyote sighting, a large bobcat walked by the same spot, and later a fox.
One of the most interesting sightings, however, was a fisher walking by at around 9 a.m. and then walking back the other way a half hour later. These are wildlife observations that you would probably not normally see because some were at night, and because they were caught on camera, and where there was no human disturbance.
Whether I see it firsthand or while reviewing what my cameras were able to pick up, it’s always interesting to see what’s roaming around.
