Elk Expo underway in Kersey

Dick Anderson

The seventh annual Pennsylvania Elk Expo is underway on the fairgrounds in Kersey, Highlights include a drawing for elk-hunting licenses and a wide variety of seminars and educational exhibits.

A portable Elk Education Center is open for public tours from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. The center displays some of the bulls harvested by hunters during recent elk hunts. Local elk-hunting guides will answer questions. A chainsaw carving demonstration will be operating during those same hours.

Outdoor adventurer, writer and photographer Freddie McKnight will present a seminar entitled Pennsylvania Predator Hunting at 6 p.m. Friday. He'll spotlight coyotehunting, from scouting and equipment to calling and shooting tips.

Friday's schedule concludes with a 7 p.m. program by Rusty Snyder, "The Deer Lady," who has raised deer commercially for 20 years. Saturday's special events begin with a seminar, Archery Deer Hunting, by Dick Anderson from Quaker Boy Calls at 11 a.m. He'll talk about stand placement and calling techniques.

At noon, the Elk Expo will come alive with a performance by Tim Bradley, a world-class exhibition shooter from Arkansas. Bradley will emphasize the discipline, concentration and gunhandling techniques necessary for successful shooting.

A video filmed by elk enthusiasts Carol Mulvihill and Tom Murphy, will be shown starting at 1 p.m. Footage includes a water rescue, an ice rescue and the birth and collaring of elk calves.

Dick Anderson returns at 2 p.m Saturday with another seminar, Fall Turkey Hunting, teaching calling techniques and setting up for a successful shot.

With digital cameras becoming commonplace, Freddie McKnight will return on Saturday at 3 p.m. to provide wildlife photography pointers. Elk Expo attendees who would like to take a guided tour of areas often inhabited by the majestic animals will leave the Expo grounds caravan-style Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Pa. Game Commission will hold its elk license drawing Saturday at 5 p.m. Ten names will be drawn for the Sept. 1- 27, 2008, season. Forty names will be for drawn the Nov. 5- 10, 2007, season.

Among the exhibitors on the grounds both days will be the Great American Whitetail Collection, with realistic replica mounts of some of the highest-scoring whitetails in the world.

The Elk Expo is sponsored by the Northern Pa. Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau.