Before I drew a cow elk tag in 2015, I'd never gone to see the Pennsylvania elk.

Like many other people, though, I often said, "I'd love to go see the Pennsylvania elk." If you've felt this way, make this the summer you actually do it. It's an easy drive.Since the best times to see elk are early morning and dusk, I'd advise an overnight stay and a visit to the Elk County Visitor Center in Benezette (info@elkcountyvisitorcenter.com,

www.elkcountyvisitorcenter.com). You have a huge range of lodging options (www.pawilds.com), such as cabins, campgrounds, hotels and motels, and Bed and Breakfast Inns. Nearby state parks include Parker Dam, with tent or RV sites and rustic cabins, or Sinnemahoning, with 35 tent or RV sites.The Elk County Visitor Center, open every day from June through August from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., has three observation trails, and also a 22-minute education presentation.The visitor center has become such a popular destination that it can be crowded on the weekends - it's best to arrange a midweek visit during the summer months. If you're using a GPS, plug in 950 Winslow Hill Road, Benezette. Also you should be aware that cell phone service in the area is spotty or nonexistent.The story of the elk's return to Pennsylvania includes healthy doses of faith and daring. By 1867, elk had become extirpated in the state due to market hunting, habitat loss and lack of wildlife protection laws.In 1913, 50 Rocky Mountain elk - which were starving during a severe Yellowstone winter - were trapped in Wyoming and shipped to Clearfield and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania. They were trapped and loaded onto on box cars. When they arrived by train in Pennsylvania, they were individually loaded into crates. The crated elk were then loaded onto wagons, pulled by horses for delivery to the reintroduction sites.Somehow they survived the journey, in fact, between 1913 and 1926, 177 elk were trapped and transferred from Yellowstone National Park and South Dakota to Pennsylvania, and 22 were relocated from a private reserve in Monroe County. A hunting season was allowed in 1923.But at about that same time, the fledgling elk herd was unable to withstand additional challenges.Some were stricken with "brain worm", a parasite that they can pick up by eating snails and slugs. Some were killed because of crop damage. The hunting season was nixed in 1931; by 1965, the elk population was estimated at just 35.The Pennsylvania Game Commission had spearheaded the elk reintroduction efforts from 1913-26, and although those efforts had fallen short, interest in elk rekindled with additional support from foresters, land managers, universities and biologists in the 1970s.In 1971, Penn State University and the PGC conducted a formal elk census, finding 65. Working with the Bureau of Forestry and organizations such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Pennsylvania Game Commission launched new efforts to establish a sustainable elk population.They focused on the needs of elk, such as suitable habitat on public lands and fencing to prevent crop damage. At about that same time, new laws required that strip-mined lands be reclaimed, with grasses and trees planted.The elk population grew steadily. In the 1980s PGC wildlife biologists began to radio collar elk to learn more about their home range size, as well as food and habitat preferences.With the help of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the PGC purchased public lands for elk habitat and initiated a program to erect electric fences around farm fields. Elk were also trapped and transferred to reduce the number of elk near farm fields.The strategies worked. By 1999, the elk population had grown to 500. In 2001, a limited elk hunt was initiated and continues annually. In 2010, with support from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the PGC, the Keystone Elk Country Alliance opened the elk visitor center in Benzette.Elk-human conflicts, which include reports about nuisance/damage, sick or injured, or road kills, are comparable to reports from other species such as bear and deer. Unfortunately, given the elk's comparatively large size, conflicts may be "amplified," said PGC Elk Biologist Jeremy Banfield."Every wildlife species has something associated with it, and elk reports are fewer than those about deer and bear," Banfield said. "That's also because elk are contained in a specific area of the state.""Elk conflicts are amplified because of their size and nutritional needs," he explained. "It's very different to have five deer in a cornfield, compared to five elk in a cornfield."The $10 from each elk license application fee to directly to the state's Game Fund, which is the game commission's general funding source.Also, the Keystone Elk Country Alliance (KECA) held a special bull-elk license raffle which raised $157,150; those monies will be used in Pennsylvania for the state's elk.The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation held a silent auction for a special bull-elk license in January 2015, raising $52,500 which will also be used to benefit the state's elk herd.