Northern Paradise

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• Canon XHA-1 HD Video Camera


• Kodak Easy Share Camera

This year we took our yearly summer vacation to beautiful Benezette, PA. Home of the free roaming wild elk in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania's elk herd was totally extirpated by 1867 and became totally extinct in it's Eastern range from New England, New York and PA. The PA Game Commission released elk from Yellowstone back into PA between 1913 and 1926. Today the herd has well over 700 elk. They range in Elk and Cameron Counties but are being seen more and more in Clearfield and Clinton counties.  If you have never seen PA's wild elk it is well worth a trip!!

We like the serenity and abundant wildlife we can see right from our window or deck from the places  we stay. This year we stayed at the first class accommodation's of Winslow Meadow Lodge.

This is home away from home. Everything you need except your food. 4 bedrooms, central air, TV, hot tub, large deck, etc.  The place was breath taking enough in itself.

As you all know...utilization of trail camera's allow even a different perspective on what lurks in PA's woods. It definitely helps me to sleep when I am up there just knowing that the technology will capture what magnificent animals that bound about while  I am lumbering away.   You see, when I go to beautiful Cameron county, I cannot sleep. Not because it's a new place away from home....but because I don't want to miss any wildlife that might be visiting outside the door. Just think about it; wild elk, bears, foxes, and numerous other critters free ranging in natural habitat.  My trail camera was out and it allowed me to reduce my nightly trips from the bedroom from 30 to about 20.  HA!! I just can't help myself! I go to the door peer out the glass with the spotlight to see what's there!  I'm like a little girl at Christmas.

My dad hasn't been to the area in over 20 years and my mom and Grandma have never seen Pennsylvania's wild elk. So Don and I suggested they should drive up early Tuesday and spend the day with us.  We all decided it was best to arrive around 6 AM so we could see the elk early before they bed.  Boy little did we know what a treat they were in for! That morning we awoke to a cow elk in the front yard and a nice rack buck in the back yard.

We woke up Jimmy and headed out to the gate to meet my family.  We could not have picked or put an order in for any better of a morning. It was if God placed an elk behind every corner and tree. Not to mention numerous does, fawns, calves, bucks, bears and turkeys.

We had been at our beautiful lodge for two days and had a general idea as to where some of the big bulls were.



So Don guided the tour. Right on the road to the lodge we saw about 6 cows and 4 calves.



The first stop would then be to where we had been seeing 3 big bulls. Sure enough there they were but that added one more big bull to the group and a lone cow. All within 75 yards off the road. Needless to say Mom and Grandma were in awe and dad was all fired up!



Down the road we come upon another 5 X 5 . On the way into town to see if the old bull # 36 was around we saw a flock of turkeys and poults crossing the road and a sow with a cub. Then headed down by the river and sure enough there were a couple cows and calves crossing the river. A beautiful site!

Mom, Grandma and Dad checking out the elk at a watering hole.

In town not far from the Benezette store was the big ol bull #36.  This bull is Old, bowed knees. I have pictures from him from years past. According to the PGC Attendant at Winslow Hill Information Center, he is estimated to be approximately 16 years old.



We proceeded back to the lodge seeing elk and deer all along the way. Pulling into our lane we have a herd of cows grazing in the lawn. Now up until this point we had only seen one cow elk around the property.



After a quick tour of the Lodge we decided to sit on the big deck and enjoy the breeze while Don prepared our meal.



A few minutes later a heard of elk, cows, calves and one nice bull emerged from the tree line and fed through the property.





The whole time the cows were "talking" giving out that high pitch call. It was absolutely grand! Mom and Grandma were in disbelief!  A short time later a cow elk came running into the yard and right behind her was the bull in an attempt to get her back with the other girls in the herd.  She wanted NO PART of it and stood her ground. She would not leave our yard. We all stood there in total awe. The bull departed back to his harem and you could hear the cows shrill calls in the distance. thinking that was cool, something then happened that sent chills up all of us. The Bull let out a bugle. YES A BUGLE!! Not once, but twice!!!! We could not believe our ears! I have never heard one bugle before. We never have made it up in the fall.  But to hear one bugle in JULY???? BREATHTAKING!  We all knew we had just been blessed with an amazing memory. We were just all so taken back. Mom was so happy. Something she said she always wanted to hear was an elk bugle and she sure got her wish!

Mom, dad and Grandma had to leave. They Had a wonderful time and we promised we would all go up and spend more time together again in this northern PA paradise.

The cow elk stayed in the yard for another 4 hours. In fact she stayed in the yard for another 2 days until we went home. She was a fixture. It was so nice to be able to go out and sit on the deck and watch a cow elk, numerous deer, raccoons all right before your eyes.

Jimmy trying to sneak on the deck not to spook the elk that came into the yard while he was out front.

Here Don was cooking down at the campfire ring and the cow elk came in.  Did you ever see the movie "Wild Hogs"? Well I think Don is going to "slap the Cow"  LOL.

We all agreed this was the best vacation we have ever had up there. we have always enjoyed the places we have stayed.  But to be able to experience all we did with my family for the first time was a true gift. I know we will be back again next year.

We are already making plans for next summer. Elk country Hide Away we already reserved our stay next September, 2010. This will be our first Fall visit and I can't wait!  Benezette is a world away from the city. To see PA wild free roaming elk in an untouched natural setting is something to behold. Paradise not far from home!

Waging War on Whistlepigs

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• Remington Model 700 VS SF II .22-250


• Leupold Vari-X III 6.5x20 50mm (Varmint)


• Leupold Katmai 8x32 Binoculars


• Harris Bipod


• Nosler Ballistic Tip Bullets - 50gr.


• Hodgdon Benchmark Powder


• CCI BR2 Benchrest Primers


• Medalist Silvermax Cap

Although a bow is my preferred weapon of choice for most of my hunting excursions, I’ve always had a love for accurate rifles and long-range shooting. I own a couple of deer and elk rifles that I consider to be fairly accurate by most hunters’ standards, but I’ve never had a rifle that was capable of producing the groups required by hardcore varmint hunters who consistently take shots at over 400 yards. But all that was about to change after a visit to East Coast Gun Sales earlier this summer.

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW FROM OUR HUNT!

I knew I wanted a rifle primarily for groundhog hunting, but also capable of taking coyotes, so before I made the trip to East Coast, I spent a lot of time researching different calibers. After a lot of reading and some talks with some experienced varmint hunters, I had pretty much settled on a .22-250 for the low recoil, flat trajectory, and superior accuracy with a wide range of different loads. My conversation with the staff at East Coast confirmed these facts and after some time examining several different models, I left that day with a new Remington 700 VS SF II and a few accessories guaranteed to help me drive tacks.

The new .22-250 during its first trip to the range.

I could hardly wait to get back home and head to the range to sight it in. After a few rounds at the 100-yard target, a couple of the bullets appeared to miss the paper until I realized that they’d found the same hole as earlier shots. Yes, this rifle was something special! Some fine-tuning at the reloading bench produced even more impressive results, and after a session at my neighbor’s 300-yard range, I was confident that I could kill a whistlepig at that distance.

John glasses the field, looking for grass grizzlies.

Fortunately, not long after getting my rifle sighted in, Jason and I received an invitation from John and Chris O’Hara to come and hunt groundhogs near John’s home in central PA. John works for Summit Treestands and his son Chris is the Event Director for the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show held in Harrisburg, PA every year. After hearing that John and Chris were die-hard varmint hunters with many years of experience under their belts, I was excited to hunt with them and learn as much as I could.

Taking aim while Chris and John watch for the impact.

Jason and I met John and Chris on a Friday after work with plans of hunting that night and again the following morning. The weather was perfect with lots of sunshine and light winds. We were soon perched on top of a knoll overlooking several hundred acres of rolling hayfields interspersed with strips of corn. The plan was to sit for a while and see if we could catch any woodchucks feeding in the freshly cut hayfield.

My first whistlepig with my new rifle from East Coast.

At first, the action was slow. But after about 20 minutes, a cautious grass grizzly emerged from the woodline and slowly entered the field. Without a rangefinder, our group decided the shot would be roughly 200 yards. John took careful aim and sent a 55-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip through the varmint’s chest. We all congratulated him on a nice shot and were happy to be on the board.

John takes careful aim at a distant hog.

A short time later, another whistlepig appeared at the end of the long field. This time, it was my turn and the distance to the hog was slightly over 300 yards. I was hoping my first shot of the evening would be a little shorter, but I wasn’t about to pass up a good opportunity to test the new rifle. When I squeezed the trigger, a puff of smoke flew from the top of the marmot’s head and he dropped in his tracks. The other guys whooped and hollered and I breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the gun performed so well and relieved that I hadn’t botched the shot. Not that I wasn’t confident, mind you, but it’s not often that I shoot at that distance!

Chris with a nice hog he took after a well-planned stalk.

The rest of the evening, we took turns shooting as more chucks emerged from their holes. It sounds funny to say, but the O’Haras take an approach to varmint hunting that would probably be characterized as “run and gun” by most hunters. We moved from one spot to the next, glassing the known hole locations and moving on if no hogs were visible.  The tactic proved to be very effective!

John gets in position for a 450+ yard shot.

The action was steady and we harvested hogs from a variety of locations. John was the MVP of the night, notching kills both off-hand and at distances over 450 yards. We all had an absolute blast (pun shamelessly intended)! As the sun began to sink below the rolling hills, we had taken 13 whistlepigs and were all excited to find out what the next day would bring.

The makings of the infamous "double", two hogs with one shot!

Saturday morning came with the threat of thunderstorms as day progressed, so we grabbed some quick breakfast and headed for another one of John's hot spots.  Storm clouds loomed in the distance, but we got set up overlooking a likely spot and hoped to get a few shots in before the rain started.  As we glassed the fields below, I heard John say, "There's one! No, there's two!"

My face was priceless after taking both chucks off the bale!

John later told me that the chance to take a "double" usually occurs about once a year for a die-hard varminter.  And John would certainly know, after averaging between 500 and 700 groundhogs a summer!  Being the excellent hosts that they are, both John and Chris wanted me to have the chance to take the shot.  We didn't have time to argue, so I quickly found the hogs in the crosshairs.  As the .22-250 barked, both marmots tumbled off of the back of the hay bale.  I was ecstatic to say the least!  And that's when the effects of Groundhog Fever set in...I shook and laughed and bawled all at the same time!  Well, maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but I was pretty wound up!

Whistlepigs beware, we're coming to a field near you!

I can't thank John and Chris enough for the invitation to hunt with them and showing us how the pros kill hogs.  Well, maybe there's no such thing as varmint professionals, but if there were, these guys would be it!  I learned more about long-range shooting in those two days than I probably could have in two years on my own.  On the way home, I was actually taking notes and trying to remember all of the tips I'd received over the weekend.  No kidding!

I can tell you that if you've never given varmint hunting a try, you owe it to yourself to set aside some time this summer.  It had been quite a while since I'd set my sights on a whistlepig, and I honestly forgot how much fun it is!  Plus, it's a great opportunity to introduce youngsters to hunting while the weather's warm and sitting motionless for hours isn't a requirement.  And like John told me, he rarely meets farmers who aren't accomodating and happy to rid their fields of the burrowing pests.  Give varmint hunting a try this summer, you'll be glad you did!