Talk about coming out of the gate at full speed!
In a historical day for Pennsylvania, a bowhunter harvested the Keystone State's first-ever archery bull elk on the opening day of the inaugural season.
The state allocated five archery bull elk tags earlier this year, which would become valid Sept. 14 when the season opened. One of those recipients was Jim Lickfeld.
Though elk numbers have been looking good as of late, but it's hard to ever know how any inaugural hunting season will pan out. However, most people probably wouldn't predict a bowhunter landing a 7x6 dark-antlered bull the old-fashioned way.
With the help of guide service from Trophy Rack Lodge and world-champion elk caller Al Morris, Lickfeld was able to put eyes on a shooter right off the bat. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, one of their own, Tyler Hock, was able to capture the entire hunt on video and will likely share it with the public soon.
According to a Facebook post from Trophy Rack Lodge, PGC officials had approached Lickfeld and asked if they could send someone to document, to which he happily agreed.
They didn't have any luck the first morning, but they did hear a number of bugles. Later that evening, however, things started to heat up when they heard the first bugle at 7:10 p.m.
No more than 10 minutes later, Lickfeld's bull came into view. At 7:35, Lickfeld pulled back with the bull standing broadside at 57 yards, then let an arrow fly through both lungs. After running about 60 yards, the bull dropped.
It's wild enough that someone actually shot a bull on the first day of the first archery elk season, but that would be the bull of a lifetime for any seasoned big-game hunter.
It's probably safe to say the future is looking bright for Pennsylvania elk hunters!
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