A new first for me

[jsweka]

I had a great day at work today!  

I'm a fish biologist and we are starting a brook trout monitoring study in north central PA (Sinnemahoning Creek watershed).  So today I was running arround to all our proposed study streams deploying temperature loggers and witnessed something I'd never seen before - All 4 PA big game species in a single day!  

Saw several does and fawns, a hen turkey with polts (yes turkeys are considered big game in PA), a good sized black bear, and the biggest bull elk I've ever seen.  Even in velvet with quite a bit of growing time left he was still the biggest bull I've ever seen.  Going to be a monster come this fall. It figures that I didn't have a camera with me.

Yep, it sure beat sitting behind the computer crunching numbers and writing reports today and got my blood pumping for hunting season (4 long months from now.)

Just thought I'd share a new experience for me....

[Mudd]

That was a way cool experience! Don't you just love it when that stuff happens!

Thanks for sharing a delightful days experiences with us.

God bless,Mudd

[huskyarcher]

May be a dumb comment but i was not aware Elk were in PA...wish they were in NC!!!

[Shakes.602]

Ya Gotta Love the Fact that You had a Great Day, AND got Paid to Have it!!!

[Chris Shelton]

Originally posted by Shakes.602:
Ya Gotta Love the Fact that You had a Great Day, AND got Paid to Have it!!!

AMEN!

[jsweka]

huskyarcher - Yes, Rocky Mountain elk were reintroduced in PA back in the 1930's and their population has slowly grown.  There's been a limited lottery hunting season on them for about 10 years now.  The Game Commission gives out about 40 or so tags each year depending on the current population size.  I never applied for one before simply because of the very low odds of getting a tag, but after seeing that big boy today, I'm starting to reconsider.

[jsweka]

Today made up for the majority of my time spent behind a computer and/or sitting in meetings.  Made me remember why I pursued this career.

[tkytrac]

What a great day that must have been!!

[mrpenguin]

We all need to remember to thank God for blessing like these... great day, man... I'm jealous!

[kadbow]

NICE!

[owlbait]

1994 I was able to shoot a black bear, turkey, elk, and a couple deer. Only the bear came from out of state. Seeing all four in one day is especially cool!

[crotch horn]

Very cool indeed! Next time you see the big boy put a collar on for me. I need to win the lottery first, then get that bad boy. I hunt in Susquahanna county for deer & turkey. Deer population is down quite a bit where I hunt.

[Keith Zimmerman]

Wait til fall...  Someone with a corncob and lead pipe will kill that bull in someones yard during one of their hunts.  I grew up in Elk County so I am familiar with the herd.

Sounds like a great day!!  But I would throw in 1 more game animal to make it more special...a coyote.

[bowbenderman]

MMMMMM, do you guys have any job openings!!!

[Eric Sprick]

Great day!  As said before its even better when you are paid to be out there.  Congrats on having a job like that.  Eric.

[huskyarcher]

jsweka, thanks for the info. Im going to college for this stuff so maybe i can have a few days like this in the future!

[levibear]

John, The Spirit was with you today.