In August, I got a phone call from a friend telling me he was at Benezette for the annual Pennsylvania elk tag drawing and the third bull tag drawn was matched to my name. After interviewing several outfitters to guide me on this hunt-of-a-lifetime, I chose Big Bull Outfitters of Byrnedale, Pennsylvania. After spending a day with Jarred and Eric McCarthy, it was obvious that they had the edge over the other outfitters because they were bowhunters too and they knew what my needs would be. It was decided that Eric would be my guide.
In mid-September, my cousin, David, and I went to Benezette. On Saturday evening, I was driving down Route 555 when I spotted a big bull with 18 cows. He was huge, and I was able to get some photos of him.
Fast forward to October 30th. Upon arriving at elk camp, Eric told me to get on some camo so we could go take a look at the bull we would be hunting. He took me to a high ridge that we could see down into a bottom where there were 5 bulls and about 18 cows bedded. Eric told me to look at the dark-antlered, big bull lying in the middle. As I did, I was taken aback and told Eric that I knew this bull already and I had photos of him from back in September. He was a 7x8, and Eric confirmed he was big enough to shoot.
Trying to get this bull alone and on public land or private land we had permission to hunt was not easy. I went back to camp for lunch, and Eric and Jarred went out to see if they could find the 7x8. I was about to take a nap when Jarred pulled in and said, “We gotta go. We have him bedded on state game lands.”
After a short stalk-planning meeting, I was able to put myself within 34 yards of the bull before he stood up and offered me a broadside, steep uphill angle shot. I released the arrow and it looked good, but I was not happy with the penetration of it. After we waited for half an hour, we took up the track. As I had feared, the shot was not as good as I would have liked.
The next morning, we went looking for the bull. After a while, we split up and Eric told me to meet him back at the truck. When we met up, he told me he had good news and bad news. The good news was that he had found the bull alive and it was only about 100 yards from the truck, but the bad news was that he was on private land that we could not get permission to go on. I hunted him that evening in hopes that he would leave the private land, but he didn’t.
The next morning, the bull had crossed Bennett Branch and was really hurting. After some discussion, we decided it was in the best interest of the elk, the Game Commission’s concern, and me that I take my rifle instead of the bow. After some maneuvering, I was able to get a shot in him. I thought he was going to drop, but instead, he staggered out into the creek where it was not legal to shoot and stood there until he finally lay down and died. He was a monster bull as he green scored 372" and weighed 813 lbs., the second largest bull of the season.
From applying for a bull tag for 15 years to seeing this bull in September to finding out I would be hunting this bull to actually killing him in November, all I can say is that it was in our destiny to meet. A big thanks to Big Bull Outfitters for this hunt!
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