Pennsylvania Game Commission staff reported results from the annual aerial elk survey and recommended maintaining elk tag allocations at recent levels to preserve a stable population trajectory.

The commission’s aerial survey, conducted Jan. 21–Feb. 10 with high‑definition and thermal imagery, produced a point population estimate of about 1,342 elk and an estimated detection rate of roughly 64 percent based on radio‑collared animals used in the mark‑recapture framework. “Point estimate for this year was 1,342,” the presenter, Jeremy Banfield, said; staff described the multi‑year trend as broadly stable with confidence intervals overlapping year to year.

To translate survey estimates into harvest levels, staff use a population model that factors non‑harvest survival, known harvest, long‑term success rates and local wardens’ input on human–elk conflicts. Based on that model, staff recommended keeping allocations at the same level as recent seasons: 65 bull tags and 75 cow tags, split across three seasons (archery, general, late) and across 14 hunt zones.

Staff said the recommendation aligns with the commission’s management objective to maintain a stable or slowly increasing elk population while improving the bull:100‑cow ratio toward an objective of at least 25 branch bulls per 100 cows. Staff added that if the commission does not see a desired three‑year trend in sex ratios, harvest levels could be adjusted for the 2026 season.

Commissioners asked whether CWD in cervids should motivate growing the elk population now to “pad” numbers in case of later disease spread; staff said increasing elk numbers could also increase the risk of disease transmission and recommended following the management plan’s stability objective. No formal vote was recorded during the briefing; staff said tag allocations would be part of regulatory proposals.