Pennsylvania Game News - February 2022 - 10

No. 1 all-time nontypical elk taken with a
firearm. What's more, it will - pending a
Boone & Crockett Club panel review set
for this summer - stand as the sixth-largest
nontypical elk ever taken anywhere.
Special, indeed.
" It was pretty incredible, " Kramer
said. " I don't know how many elk have
been killed over the last 150 years, and
how many more with big racks have
been found, deadheads. But to get the
sixth-largest of them all, out of that many
animals, that's pretty rare. I don't think
anything will beat that one for me. "
Getting it was no accident.
The owner of Kramer Concrete Construction,
Kramer said he works " a bare
minimum " of 10 hours a day, six days a
week, for much of the year. But he hunts
hard, too. He's in the woods about 40 or
50 days every fall, hunting nearly every
weekend, chasing elk, mule deer, antelope
and bears. Kramer even took a sheep in
Washington this year.
He applies for tags all around the
country, eyeing unique hunts especially.
" I use the excuse of hunting to travel,
to go new places, to see new things, to see
new country, walk through the woods in
a new place, " Kramer said. " I meet new
people and make new friends. "
He applied for a Pennsylvania elk tag
via the general lottery every year but a
few since 2001. He routinely entered the
KECA raffle, too, in 2020 buying $600
or $800 worth of tickets.
You might say he was excited when
he won.
" When I drew, I ran around the house
a couple of times, " he said with a laugh.
Then, he got serious.
The prize package that accompanies
the KECA tag includes a guide. But
Kramer called around to several services,
and ultimately chose to go with Elk
10
County Outfitters because they had pictures
of six or seven elk, each with more
than 400 inches of antlers.
Much more, Kramer added
" They weren't elk that were 402 inches
or anything. I mean they were 415-plus, "
Kramer said. " So it was a case where, if
one or two of these ends up getting killed,
there are still a significant number of other
giant, beautiful elk out there. "
He kicked off his hunt earlier than
expected.
Kramer had a Colorado mule deer tag
and was on the ground there hunting as
of Sept. 1. He expected to stay a week,
but instead harvested an animal on the
second day.
" I was halfway across the United
States, " Kramer said. " I thought, I've got
a few more days off work, why don't I just
go to Pennsylvania? My season's open.
Maybe I could at least look around. "
It was a whirlwind trip. He arrived on
a Friday, hunted Saturday, looked around
Sunday and flew home Monday.
He saw quite a few elk in that narrow
window, including one really large bull.
But already planning to return, he passed
on it to target three others.
" They were kind of in a class above
all the other elk, in my opinion, " Kramer
said. " One of them was the bull I ended
up killing. "
He planned to return to Pennsylvania
later in September, but a two-week case
of pneumonia changed those plans. Then,
in mid-October, a guide from Elk County
Outfitters called, saying they had a lead
on Kramer's massive bull. He hurriedly
booked a flight, leaving Washington late
on a Sunday night and arriving in Pennsylvania
around noon Monday.
There was one problem. That quickly,
his monster bull moved onto private
ground to which they had no access.
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2022

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