Editor’s Note: Elk County Outfitters, 717-439-5795, [email protected] and https://www.facebook.com/elkcountyoutfitters/ is located in north-central Pennsylvania near Caledonia in what’s known as the Pennsylvania elk range. The company, headed-up by Brian Hale, provides guided hunts for the lucky people who win elk tags in the State of Pennsylvania. In the 2022-2023 season, 178 elk tags were available for the entire state, including bull and cow tags. Pennsylvania has three seasons for elk hunting – archery, general and late. In the 2021-2022 season, Elk Country Outfitters guided a total of 36 elk hunters combined between all three seasons.

Pennsylvania Elk Hunting:

• 2023-2024 Digital Digest
• 2023-24 Downloadable Digest (PDF)
• Rules & Regulations
• How to Apply for an Elk Tag
• Video
• Application period for licenses is mid-June through July 31.
  • Apply online for the elk license drawing and application status check – For most seasons, there are four options for application:
• Antlered Only: Applicant is only interested in hunting antlered elk.
• Antlerless Only: Applicant is only interested in hunting antlerless elk.
• Either-Sex: Applicant is interested in hunting either antlered or antlerless elk.
• Point-Only: Applicant is NOT included in the current year’s drawing but is awarded the bonus point.

• You must apply separately for each hunting season.
• September 14-28, 2024
• General November 4 -9, 2024
• Late Season December 28, 2024 – January 4, 2025
• Each application costs $11.97 (all three seasons will cost $35.91)
• Hunting License: General is required
  • Prices included in the link above.
  • A general hunting license is not required to apply, but is required to accept an elk tag.

What Are the Chances of an Out-of-State Hunter Getting a Bull Tag in Pennsylvania? Brian Hale explains, “At this writing, there is no non-resident cap on elk tags. In other words, out-of-state hunters can apply for an elk tag in Pennsylvania just like a resident can. However, I believe that will be changed eventually because 33% of our archery elk tags for the State of Pennsylvania went to out-of-state residents. That has caused quite a stir with the residents. Many resident hunters have been talking to their legislators and saying, ‘Hey, we must put a cap on the number of non-resident hunters who get bull tags. We have taken two monster bulls – one scoring 455”, and the other scoring 449 3/8” at Elk Country Outfitters. There has been an explosion of non-resident elk hunting in Pennsylvania by about ten-fold.

“However, the Keystone and the Governor’s tags cannot be applied for by out-of-state hunters. The Governor’s tag is given to the highest bidder after the hunter is approved and vetted. Recently that tag sold for $275,000. In contrast, the Keystone Elk Country Alliance sells chances – you get one chance for $20 or six for $100. Each one of those chances is put into a drum and one is pulled out – the lucky winner. You can find more information on their website.”

Looking for more content? Check out our YouTube channel and watch “Why I Hunt with Black Powder” by John E. Phillips.

Expert Guidebooks on Elk Hunting: Best Sellers

Secrets for Hunting Elk
The quickest, easiest (if there is an easy way), and safest way to find and take that bull elk of a lifetime will be to hunt with a guide.

Chad Schearer, a longtime Montana guide and TV personality, told me, “My hunter is my gun. If I get to the elk, and my hunter isn’t with me, then we don’t take the elk. My job is not only to find the elk but also to help the hunter get to the elk and make the experience as enjoyable as I can for him.” That’s the kind of fella with whom I want to go elk hunting. 

An elk hunt can be tough, but it doesn’t have to be so tough that you don’t enjoy it. That’s why this elk hunting book starts with the confessions of an elk guide and with Chad Schearer’s philosophy of what the guide and the hunter’s relationship should be.

A good portion of your success will depend on your physical condition, and Matt Morrett of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania explains how an eastern hunter can get ready physically during June and July to hunt western elk, the animals he describes as, “Like deer or turkeys on steroids.”

Wayne Carlton, well-known elk hunter and TV and video personality from Montrose, Colorado, tells us what types of elk calls to use and what to say to the elk. Mike Miller of Colorado, another elk guide and Mossy Oak video personality, has tactics for the best equipment for bowhunting and gun hunting elk.

You’ll learn helpful strategies and hunting tips in this book, as well as some straightforward hunting methods that will help to make your elk hunt more successful.

“Thanks to the advice in your elk hunting books, I was able to call up a nice 6-point (6X6) bull elk! He was bugling like crazy. I called him in from about a ¼ mile away. Called him into bow range (about 40 yards away). It was a thrill!” ~Rob Brannon

VERSIONS: AUDIBLE & KINDLE

---

Elk: Keys to 25 Hunters’ Success
Often just one tip or tactic makes the difference in whether you take an elk home to dinner or have to hike back to the truck by yourself. In John E. Phillips’ latest elk book, Elk: Keys to 25 Hunters’ Success, you’ll learn from successful elk hunters the strategies they use to find and take elk.

Many know that the technique that seems to work most often is to hunt where other elk hunters don’t and understand where the elk are before you go on a hunt by studying data from each state, visiting HuntData (see chapter 1), examining maps, and reading postings on elk forums.

This book also tells you how to get ready physically for an elk hunt, including participating in Train to Hunt Competitions, what gear you need to take, how to enjoy a successful do-it-yourself elk hunt, or how to pick the best elk guide for you. You’ll also hear about the X System and the Broken Y System of hunting elk. 

Although no one person has all the answers on how to help you find and take your elk, I’m convinced that this book’s outdoors men and women will teach you how to have satisfying elk hunts.

As my friend Karl Badger once told me, “Elk hunting doesn’t get any better than when I ride horses into the high backcountry, see two grizzly bears, hear a pack of wolves howl close to camp all night long, eat plenty of delicious food prepared on a fire and enjoy the company of good friends.”

VERSIONS: AUDIBLE, KINDLE & PRINT

---

How to Find Your Elk and Get Him in Close will teach you the tactics of 10 nationally known elk hunters, to help put that giant bull that’s been screaming at you from afar, in your lap. You’ll learn what some of the best guides, outfitters, and successful elk hunters do to find elk and get them in really close.

Also in this audiobook, you’ll notice that the majority of the experts call elk to within bow range. We selected numerous bowhunters and bowhunting guides, since the bowhunter has to get much closer to a bull than the gun hunter does – often less than 20 or 30 yards – practically in your lap.

On one elk hunt, I’d heard this bull bugle all morning. My guide had called him within 30 yards, and he was standing just inside black timber. I saw the smoke from his nose wafting out into the icy air less than 30-yards away. All the bull had to do was step out, and I could take the shot with my bow. But then, through no fault of my guide or me, the bull vanished.

The only conclusion I could come up with to understand why the bull I wanted to take with my bow hadn’t stepped out and given me a shot, was because he got raptured. He evidently had left the earth with no trace of himself.

This hunt was when I started wanting to learn more about hunting elk up close. In this book, I’ve tried to find some of the most knowledgeable, experienced, and practical elk hunters. I’ve always found that the best way to learn any outdoor skill, is to either hunt or fish with the best sportsmen in that field.

Often, in elk hunting, that means elk guides, who generally hunt every day of the season and receive a salary for every hunter they guide. So, I’ve put together a group of some of the best elk hunters I know to help us all learn how to find bull elk and get them in close.

VERSIONS: AUDIBLE, KINDLE & PRINT

Tomorrow: Best Elk Country Outfitters’ Bull Elk