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PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 2513 PRINTER'S NO. 2620
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 356
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY HADDOCK, GREINER, VENKAT, HILL-EVANS, K. HARRIS,
PASHINSKI, KULIK, BURGOS, MERSKI, GUENST, STEELE AND NEILSON,
OCTOBER 23, 2025
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON GAME AND FISHERIES, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, NOVEMBER 18, 2025
A RESOLUTION
Designating November 3 DECEMBER 27, 2025, as "Pennsylvania Elk
Hunt Day" in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Today, approximately 1,400 elk call this
Commonwealth home, with most of these animals residing in the
north-central region of the state; and
WHEREAS, Each year, nearly 500,000 people come to this area
of Pennsylvania to witness its native elk population; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has seen its elk population both
dwindle and flourish multiple times over hundreds of years; and
WHEREAS, In the 1700s, elk could be found across Pennsylvania
and the eastern United States, but European settlers and
indigenous populations overhunted the native elk during this
era, leading to the entire eastern elk population in
Pennsylvania going extinct by 1880; and
WHEREAS, By 1913, while Pennsylvania had exhausted its elk
population, elk in the Rocky Mountain region were experiencing
overpopulation, leading to many elk in Wyoming being transferred
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to other states, including Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Through the efforts of the Pennsylvania Game
Commission, 50 elk were shipped to this Commonwealth from
Wyoming, with the elk being evenly split between Clearfield and
Clinton counties; and
WHEREAS, Two years later in 1915, an additional 95 elk were
brought to this Commonwealth from Yellowstone National Park and
were distributed between Cameron, Carbon, Potter, Forest, Blair
and Monroe counties; and
WHEREAS, Shortly after the arrival of the initial elk
shipment, the General Assembly passed a law prohibiting the
hunting of elk until November 1921, when a two-week hunting
season would be held; and
WHEREAS, The first regulated elk hunt in Pennsylvania took
place in 1923, two years later than originally scheduled, and
only permitted the hunting of bull elk with four or more points
on at least one antler and only allowed hunting through
stalking; and
WHEREAS, These hunts were an annual occurrence until the
final hunt took place in 1931, though many other elk were killed
illegally by poachers or by disgruntled farmers after elk had
disrupted their crops; and
WHEREAS, Later, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Pennsylvania Game
Commission accelerated its efforts to manage the elk population,
taking action to improve elk habitats in response to damage
caused by strip mining in this Commonwealth in the preceding
decades; and
WHEREAS, Habitat management and elk research conducted by the
Pennsylvania Game Commission has allowed the Pennsylvania elk
population to grow to its current levels; and
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WHEREAS, In 2000, the General Assembly and Governor Tom Ridge
passed a law authorizing elk hunts to return to this
Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, In 2001, the Pennsylvania Game Commission issued
this Commonwealth's first hunting licenses for elk and held a
regulated hunting season 70 years after the original
Pennsylvania elk hunts ended; and
WHEREAS, Since then, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has
annually held elk hunting seasons, with tens of thousands of
hunters applying to the commission for their chance to hunt a
Pennsylvania elk; and
WHEREAS, Today, the Pennsylvania Game Commission holds three
elk hunting seasons each year, an archery season in September, a
rifle season in November and a late hunting season in late
December into early January; and
WHEREAS, In 2024 alone, more than 55,000 hunters submitted
applications for just 140 elk licenses for these three elk
hunting seasons; and
WHEREAS, Hunters across this Commonwealth consider it a once-
in-a-lifetime privilege to hunt an elk in Pennsylvania, with
many hunters submitting multiple applications over several years
for the chance to participate; and
WHEREAS, This year, the general LATE elk hunting season in
this Commonwealth will begin on Monday, November 3 SATURDAY,
DECEMBER 27, 2025, and will last until Sunday, November 8, 2025
SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2026; and
WHEREAS, Hunting elk is a celebrated aspect of Pennsylvania's
storied hunting culture, and the House of Representatives should
recognize the importance of this tradition to Pennsylvania's
hunters while celebrating the anniversary of Pennsylvania's
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first elk hunt over a century ago; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate
November 3 DECEMBER 27, 2025, as "Pennsylvania Elk Hunt Day" in
Pennsylvania.
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