William Zee of Doylestown, PA (Bucks Co.) harvested a 9x8 bull elk that has been officially scored by the Boone and Crockett Club (following the 60 day drying period) at 442-6/8. The massive elk will soon claim the top spot in the PA record books supplanting the 2006 elk taken by John Shirk that scored 441-6/8. Mr. Zee was one of only 18 hunters to be awarded antlered elk tags for the 6 day season and he took the record setting elk on November 1, 2011. The current world record non-typical elk is scored at 478-5/8.
Each year tens of thousands of resident hunters apply for the chance to receive a PA elk license. This past year 56 elk licenses (38 antlerless and 18 antlered) were granted to PA applicants following the annual lottery drawing. It is estimated that the PA Game Commission receives around 20,000 applications annually for the license drawing and harvest limits for bull and cow elk are set each year following an extensive herd population study conducted by the PGC.
The price for an application is $10.70 and can be completed online prior to each hunting season at the PA Game Commisions online license service at www.pgc.state.pa.us Once you reach the PGC’s homepage there is a link to BUY YOUR LICENSE click on it and you will be redirected to the sites Outdoor shop where you can purchase fishing, hunting and trapping licenses and submit associated applications for elk tags.
Since the elk hunting programs inception in 2001(and through 2009)152 antlered elk have been harvested in the state of Pennsylvania. Antlerless elk harvest totals for the same period are 223. The success rate for all hunters over this period is 81%. For the fortunate few hunters that draw a bull elk tag the success rate is even higher, 94%.
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