Paying to play

Susan Luse of Aaronsburg is not allowed to hunt elk in Pennsylvania this autumn, but you can. Or at least you can invest $10 to enter the elk license lottery, which will be held on the second Friday in September.

For the CDT/Mark Nale

Susan Luse, of Aaronsburg, harvested this 799-pound, 7x7 bull elk last November in Karthaus during the state’s annual elk hunt. With the harvest, Luse isn’t permitted by the state to reapply for an elk permit for five years. Hunters have until Aug. 28 to file their 2009 elk applications as the Pennsylvania Game Commission will hold its annual lottery on Sept. 11.

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Luse was one of a select group of a few dozen hunters lucky enough to draw a permit for last November’s elk hunt. A total of 45 licenses were available for the 2008 hunt — 17 bull permits and 28 permits for antlerless elk. According to PGC elk lottery rules, anyone drawing a bull permit, such as Luse, must wait five years before he or she can reapply.

Not only was Luse lucky enough to have her name drawn, but she also harvested a 799-pound bull elk while hunting near Karthaus on the opening day. Luse’s elk had massive 7x7 antlers, each measuring over 50 inches long. It was one of the largest elk shot last year.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission will hold a computerized public drawing in the auditorium of its Harrisburg headquarters on Sept. 11. At that time, the agency will award the 59 elk licenses authorized for this November. The first 20 drawn will receive a bull permit and the next 39 drawn will receive an antlerless elk license.

Interested hunters have until Aug. 28 to apply. This year for the first time, hunters must submit an application through the PGC’s new Pennsylvania Automated License System (PALS). This can be done at any issuing agent or by clicking on the “Buy Your Hunting License Now” in the upper right-hand corner of the PGC’s homepage at www.pgc.state.pa.us. There is no paper application process this year. Applicants must pay a $10.70 non-refundable application fee to be included in the drawing. Details regarding the elk season and drawing are available on pages 89-91 of the 2009-10 Pennsylvania Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations, which is provided to license buyers. However, individuals are not required to purchase a resident or non-resident general hunting license to apply for the drawing. If they are drawn for one of the elk licenses, they will then be required to purchase the appropriate resident or nonresident general hunting license before being permitted to purchase the elk license. Elk license fees are $25 for residents and $250 for nonresidents. Lottery-winning hunters must also view the elk hunt orientation video produced by the Game Commission.

Prospective applicants should study their Hunting Digest, which explains their opportunity to identify their elk hunt zone preference, or they may select “any.” If drawn and their preferred hunt zone is filled, applicants will be assigned another specific area by the Game Commission. To assist applicants in making this decision, information about the elk hunt zones and an elk harvest map depicting the locations of every elk taken by hunters since 2001 are posted on the agency’s Web site. This map can be viewed by clicking on “Take a Chance on an Elk Hunt” in the center of the homepage.

Not feeling lucky? Hunters applying multiple years since 2003 are given one preference point for each year that they applied for an application but were not drawn. Each preference point amounts to an extra chance in the drawing. So if you apply this year and are not drawn, apply next year and your name will be entered twice, doubling your chances to win.

Bobcat permits

The Pennsylvania bobcat permit drawing for the 2009-10 season is also approaching. Hunters and trappers have until Sept. 1 to submit an application via PALS. Just as with elk license applications, there are no paper applications this year. A total of 1,780 permits will be awarded.

There is a $5.70 nonrefundable application fee to be entered into the drawing. Details about the season can be found on page 76 of the 2009-10 PA Digest. The application process will be similar to that of the elk permit, in that lucky hunters will be selected during a computerized drawing. The drawing will also be held on Sept. 11, and preference points will be awarded to non-successful permit applicants, as well. The drawing is open to the public and will be held at the PGC’s Harrisburg headquarters, at 2001 Elmerton Ave. — just a short distance from the Progress Ave. exit of Interstate 81.

The bobcat hunting season will take place Oct. 24 through Feb. 20. The bobcat trapping season will be held from Oct. 25 through Feb. 21. The season will only be open in Wildlife Management Units 2A, 2C, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4D and 4E. This includes all of Centre County.

Webcast

PALS is new, so why not another innovative twist? The PGC plans to offer a live webcast of both the elk and bobcat permit drawings this year. To view the lottery, a special icon will be posted on the agency’s web-site on Sept. 11, the day of the public drawing. If all goes as planned, interested individuals can just click their mouse buttons and watch the drawing.

“Each year, tens of thousands of individuals apply for an elk license or bobcat permit,” agency executive director Carl Roe said. “Unfortunately, not all of them can make it to the public drawings and we are unable — due to financial limitations — to send everyone who applied a letter to let them know whether they were drawn. By webcasting the drawings, we hope to allow more people to view these events without having to travel.”

Even though only relatively few hunters are involved, nothing seems to generate excitement in the northcentral region like the elk hunt, and this year will be no exception. Last November, every hunter and guide with whom I spoke talked about the large numbers of exceptional- racked bulls that they saw before and during the season. Luse had 11 bulls in the field in front of her on the opening morning last year, and three of those would have made any hunter happy. Maybe you should throw your hat in the ring this year. It only costs $10.70 to play and you “gotta play to win.”

Mark Nale, who lives in the Bald Eagle Valley, is a member of the PA Outdoor Writers Association. He can be reached at MarkAngler@aol.com.

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