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| © Marci Geise |
Willard Hill is from Fulton County, Pennsylvania. He attended Shippensburg University with the goal of becoming a history teacher. His path changed and he went to work for the PA Game Commission until 2007. He served as a maintenance worker and Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer. For the last five years of his career, he served as maintenance supervisor for Fulton County and portions of Bedford and Franklin Counties.
Willard began photographing wildlife in 1974 and switched to video in late 1990. By 1999, he was working with still photography again and has continued a mixture of the two to this day.
Willard has been published in Bugle magazine, Pennsylvania Magazine, The Richard King Mellon Annual Report and the PA Game Commission calendar. His work is featured in the theater presentation at the Elk Country Visitor Center in Benezette, PA. Most of the elk in the movie were filmed by Tom Murphy of Weedville, PA, but Willard filmed much of the other species shown. He also filmed the tremendous bull fight that occurs near the end of the movie.
Willard visited Elk County for the first time in winter of 1995 and soon began a serious effort to accumulate a large body of footage with the goal of producing an elk film. Upon retirement, he intensified his efforts and “The Truth About Pennsylvania’s Elk Herd” was released in September, 2008. The two hour and 42 minute film gives a brief history of PA elk and goes on to cover their life cycle, with special emphasis on the rut. It also covers “elk culture” on Winslow Hill, primarily as it existed from 1995 through 2001. It concludes with an in-depth look into elk management Issues.
In October, 2007, Willard became the first on the internet to write extensively about PA elk and management issues, when he launched the “Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer” blog. The blog covers other wildlife, with an emphasis on white-tailed deer and eastern wild turkey.
Willard spends over 300 days a year filming and photographing wildlife. When he is not working with elk, his primary areas of interest are deer and turkey.
Willard released a second film in September, 2012 titled “Running Wild in Pennsylvania Elk Country”. This film features elk, but it also covers other species found in elk country. As a result, the viewer comes away with a good understanding of both the life cycle of elk and other key species such as deer and turkey.
Today, Willard continues to film and photograph wildlife. He also writes about photography and conservation issues.
Willard and his wife, Susan, have a daughter, Amy.
Contact information:
htpvideo@gmail.com
147 E. Hill Road, Needmore, PA 17238
htpvideo@gmail.com
147 E. Hill Road, Needmore, PA 17238