By Joe Kosack Already offering some of America's best elk hunting, with record-book bulls and quarter-ton cows being shot annually, Pennsylvania now has created a two-week elk archery season and a seven-day afterChristmas cow hunt. Things just keep getting better. The new format sandwiches the immensely popular general elk hunt - to be held this year from Nov. 4 to 9 - between the archery season - Sept. 14 to 28 - and late cow season - Jan. 4 to 11. The archery season provides the rare opportunity to hunt among bugling bulls during the peak of Pennsylvania's rut, Game Commission elk biologist Jeremy Banfield said. "Those two weeks surely will be some of the most exciting days to be afield with a bow in Penn's Woods," Banfield said. But the cow hunt holds the potential for magic, as well, he said. "Think about tracking elk in the fresh snow of a January hunt," Banfield said. "It's an elk hunt that surely will generate more excitement every step of the way." These new hunts both have low numbers of tags available, and hunters will be spread out across the elk range. No hunter will have bonus points in the Jacob Dingel ns share action JULY 2019 3