The Benezette area of Pennsylvania is home to a large herd of wild elk. The period from mid-September to early October is a great time to photograph the elk, as they are active with their rutting season, and there is some fall color to spice up their surroundings.
There are a number of viewing areas where food has been planted for the elk to graze on, so chances are good for seeing at least a few elk in these locations. Elk are most active in the early morning hours around sunrise, and in the late afternoon hours leading up to sunset. We had the most luck locating elk at the viewing areas near the Elk Country Visitor Center and near Winslow Hill.
The elk at the Visitor Center were usually on the opposite side of the fields from the designated walking areas used for viewing, so you will mostly likely need a long telephoto lens here. For this location, I used my Canon R7 crop sensor camera with an adaptor, an EF 500 f4 Mk II L lens, and a 1.4x teleconverter, which worked pretty well. With an effective focal length of 1120 mm, I could fill the frame with my elk subject that was standing across the field, and still keep my aperture at f5.6 or f6.3.
Here are a few images taken from the Visitor Center location:
This Bull Elk was standing in the early morning sun in front of a tree line that was still in deep shadow. The resulting black background really made the subject stand out. (1/1250 sec, f6.3, ISO 800)
Bull elk bugling in the red glow of sunset. (1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 1600)
Bull elk rounding up his female companions and their young. (1/1600 sec, f6.3, ISO 800)
Bull elk at evening twilight in front of some colorful trees. Taken with the R7 and the 500 mm f4 lens. (1/320 sec, f4, ISO 3200). I did not use the teleconverter as this elk was closer to us and it was fast getting dark out. This allowed me to get the most out of the excellent light gathering capabilities of the f4 lens at its maximum aperture.
This is the only elk that is guaranteed to be there all of the time for photos. Otherwise seeing elk at each viewing area is “hit or miss”. Nice spot for a group photo though…
We also had good luck seeing elk at the Winslow Hill viewing area in the fields along Dewey Road. There is a small parking area on the side of the road which adjoins to a gravel/dirt road that allows you to have a closer view of any elk that are passing through these fields.
Besides being able to get a bit closer to the elk, there was also more color in the fields and on the trees at this location:
This bull elk was bedded down about 50 feet off the roadway. It was our closest encounter with an elk. It was shot handheld with a R7 crop sensor camera and a 100-500 mm lens zoomed out to 500 mm. Effective focal distance is 800 mm (1/320 sec, f7.1, ISO 1000).
Bull elk with some fall color. Taken with a full frame Canon R5, adaptor, and the EF 500 mm f4. (1/2000 sec, f7.1, ISO 1250)
Two bull elk at sunrise with backlit fog at the top of the hill along Rucki Road. Taken handheld with the R5 and 500 mm f4. (1/2500, f6.3, ISO 3200)
Elk in a field of goldenrod near Rucki Road during late afternoon. The light on this elk and goldenrod was just amazing. Much of the time he was facing away from the sun, so I had to wait for key moments when he would turn to look the other way. Taken with my R5, EF 500 mm f4 and a 1.4x teleconverter on a tripod Effective focal distance was 700 mm (1/640 sec, f5.6, ISO 250).
This bull elk paused for a moment to soak up the late afternoon sun at Rucki Road. The background color and lighting on the elk made this one of my favorite images from the trip. Taken with my R5, EF 500 mm f4 and a 1.4x teleconverter on a tripod Effective focal distance was 700 mm, but I also cropped in on this photo to make a more intimate animal portrait (1/1250 sec, f5.6, ISO 250).
Ten Planning Tips for Photographing Elk in the Benezette area of Pennsylvania
- Use a long telephoto lens and stay a safe distance from these beautiful but wild animals! A small pair of binoculars may also come in handy for spotting elk.
- For most places, you should plan on using a sturdy tripod with a sturdy ballhead (or a gimball head if you have one). Capturing memorable images of the elk can definitely become a waiting game that requires patience. You don’t want to be handholding a long lens the entire time while you are waiting for the moment to happen.
- Plan to rise early and stay out late. Best opportunities to see the elk in favorable lighting is around sunrise to early morning, and late afternoon to just past sunset. Fast telephoto lenses with larger apertures will help.
- Seeing elk at any of the viewing areas is always a “hit or miss” affair. Expect that you will have to drive around to different places until you find elk activity. The road gate to the visitor center is usually locked at night and does not open until around 7:30 or 8:00 am. I recommend you start your search at sunrise at Winslow Hill or one of the other areas first, and then head to the visitor center if nothing is happening at those areas.
- Visiting in October is less likely to have rutting behavior, but more likely to have some color in the surroundings. Visiting in mid to late September will have more rutting activity with the bulls, but less color. You have to decide what is more of a priority for the images you want to make during your visit. I was hoping to catch some bulls jousting antler to antler, but never saw it. I think I was there too late (Oct 7-9) to capture this behavior. We did see good color in the area.
- If you go in October, dress in layers and bring some warm clothes. It was in the 30’s in the early morning hours, but very comfortable in the afternoons.
- I recommend booking your lodging six months or more in advance. Lodging is very limited in this area, and gets booked up very quickly. If you wait, you will only have the least desirable places to choose from. We tried booking about two-three months out, and almost everything was gone. We ended up staying in the Benezette Hotel in Benezette. It is conveniently located very near the elk viewing areas (15 minutes away), but I don’t really recommend this place unless you like to rough it. It can be very noisy late at night with loud music in the bar downstairs, the rooms are very small and spartan, and you also share two bathrooms with about 10 other rooms. I think the hotels in St Mary’s, which is a further drive away (30-40 minutes), may be a better option, depending upon your need for creature comforts.
- There are not many dining options around Benezette. The only place we saw open was the restaurant at the Benezette Hotel, which was always crowded, and the food was ok. Expect long waiting lines on weekends. St Marys will have more choices for food.
- Allow yourself a couple of days in order to get some good elk viewing opportunities in good light. You only need a few of these to make the trip a success!
- Hearing bull elk make their bugle calls is a haunting, but unforgettable experience.
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