The 2019 PA Elk Expo will be held Aug. 17 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Aug. 18 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Elk Country Visitor Center in Benezette.

This year’s Expo will feature a variety of events and over 100 vendors. The Elk Expo begins just before the popular elk rut gets into full swing and it is the largest elk celebration in the northeast U.S.

The Expo will feature several experts and a presentation by PA Game Commission elk biologist Jeremy Banfield. There will also be an elk calling contest, live exhibitions and tons of great food vendors.

Other featured programming includes the PA Game Commission elk tag drawing, Keystone Elk Country Alliance bull tag raffle, and live music from Mis’Bhavin, The Wrangler Band and Nick Forsyth. The PGC annual elk tag drawing will be live at the Elk Expo in the ECCO Building on Aug. 17. To be entered in the elk tag drawing, you needed to apply through the PGC website. pa.wildlifelicense.com.

If you missed out on the PGC drawing, you can still enter the Keystone Elk Country Alliance drawing for a trophy bull hunt. The tickets are $20 each or a six-pack of tickets for $100. The winner of the Conservation Elk Tag will receive a chance at a record 400+ Class Bull, a 59-day long hunting season, 6-day guided hunt, the ability to hunt across any of the open PA Elk Zones, and a free shoulder mount of your bull.

The online sales end at 8 p.m. Aug. 16.

Entrance to the Elk Expo and parking is free, but there is a $3/car fee to cover the cost of shuttle services. The shuttles leave from the Benezette Community Center on Route 555. The GPS address is 950 Winslow Hill Rd. Benezette, PA.

There is plenty to see and do in the area and it can be a wonderful way to spend one of the last weekends in summer. You will likely be able to see plenty of wildlife activity as well as the PA elk herd in this area of the PA Wilds. The area has plenty of public lands for hiking, fishing, horse riding and camping.

Sunday hunting

People have been inquiring about the news update on Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania. At this time, I spoke to Butler County Game Warden Jacob Olexsak and he had no updates to provide about any changes in the current hunting season dates.

The second license sales began on Monday and there appears to be plenty of tags available in all of our local WMU’s. WMU 1-A had over 30,000 tags and WMU 2-D had 21,500 remaining. The opportunity to hunt deer has never been greater if you want to harvest some venison.

Sharing the harvest

The PGC has also increased its contribution to the Non-profit Program, Hunters Sharing the Harvest from $20,000 to $55,000. The program ensures that venison can be donated by hunters to help feed the hungry through food bank programs. Last year, over 150,000 pounds of ground venison was shared through the donations by Pennsylvania hunters.

The PGC has a list of local meat processors that participate in the program each year and the Coordinator for Butler County is Tom Rossman (724-283-0449). Local Butler County deer processing centers to donate deer include: Bim’s Boloney, McKruits Custom Meat Processing, T.A. Giger Deer Processing, Rome’s Meats & Deli and Bob’s Deer Processing.

Consider donating an extra deer to feed the hungry and also extend your deer hunting season at the same time. Many of my hunting buddies have told me that they ended their hunting season early because they had more than enough venison already.

Canada goose season

The early Canada Goose season will open Sept. 2, which is less than a month away. The statewide archery season follows with an Oct. 5 opener for buck and doe with all the required tags in place.

That gives archers two months to brush up on their shooting skills and do some early scouting for food sources and travel routes.

It appears that there will be plenty of mast in the hardwood areas this year. Last year it was apples, but this year it will be acorns as the food of choice along with the fields of farmers …sore subject.

Don’t forget to ask farmers if you can hunt their property before you decide to get into an area where you are not welcome.

Last season, I couldn’t cover all the areas that I wanted to hunt because of the deer population expanding.

Until we meet again, get out and do something wild!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle