You might recall from the Nov. 15 issue of this paper a story about Lancaster County hunter Jeff Saxinger winning a coveted tag to hunt for bull elk in northcentral Pennsylvania.

Saxinger took that tag and shot a nice 7x6 bull on opening day of our elk season, Nov. 2.

Well, it turns out Saxinger wasn't the only local hunter out there chasing bull elk this year.

Robert C. Fricke, 42, of Brecknock Township, also was among the 20 hunters to draw bull tags in this year's elk-license lottery.

Fricke, whose family owns Hawk Valley Golf Course, applied for the elk drawing on a whim this year for only the second time since Pennsylvania's first modern elk hunt was held in 2001.

"I applied the first year like a lot of hunters, and I meant to apply every year after that, but I just never did," he said.

Like Saxinger, Fricke learned he'd won a bull tag when an outfitter from elk country called him Sept. 11 — the day of the lottery drawing — to offer his guiding services.

"I was bouncing off the walls here," Fricke said. "But I confirmed it with the Game Commission."

Fricke had some elk-hunting experience under his belt when he drew his Pennsylvania tag.

He shot a bull with his muzzleloader in New Mexico in 2001 and had unsuccessfully hunted elk in Montana with his bow in 2006.

Fricke knew drawing a Pennsylvania tag meant he would have a good shot at tagging a real trophy-class bull.

"I knew right away I was going to hold out for something nice," he said.

After doing a little research on the Internet, Fricke hired Elk County Outfitters to guide him on his hunt.

Fricke's tag was for Elk Hunt Zone 4, which encompasses land in Cameron County.

On Nov. 2, Fricke and his guide spent the day watching a privately owned field that was visited by some cows, calves and bulls, but the bulls didn't impress him.

The next day, Fricke's guides took him to a large commercial orchard, where elk often congregate.

Early in the morning, before legal shooting hours had begun, Fricke's friend, Mike Rumer, of New Jersey, spotted a couple of bulls through binoculars about 400 yards away.

"He said one of them was a really good one, and I knew he'd been elk hunting several times, so I trusted his judgment," Fricke said.

The hunting party waited until the hunting day started and until there was sufficient light for Fricke to shoot.

It became clear the group wasn't going to get any closer to the bull, so Fricke was going to have to take a roughly 400-yard poke with his .300 Winchester Magnum.

That's a makable shot for a rifle like that, but Fricke only had it sighted in for 100 yards.

"I didn't know where to aim, so I asked the guide and he told me what to do," Fricke said.

Fricke's shot was true and the bull began to wobble. Fricke moved to about 100 yards from the elk and delivered the coup de grace.

His bull turned out to be a 7x6 that measured just over 321 inches.

At the Game Commission's elk check station, the bull tipped the scales at 580 pounds dressed, which meant it probably weighed 754 pounds on the hoof.

"It was everything I expected," Fricke said of the hunt. "The way it all went down, with me having to make a challenging shot — I really enjoyed it."