BENEZETTE TWP — His five-year wait was worth it.

Robert Domachowski of Butler harvested the heaviest antlerless elk of the season in Pennsylvania when he bagged a 590-pounder Nov. 7 in Elk County.

"It was unbelievable,"Domachowski said. "This was the first time I've hunted elk in my life."

A hunter for nearly 50 years, Domachowski said his elk kill was "the catch of a lifetime for somebody like me."

Domachowski has put his name in the elk hunting lottery for each of the past five years. This was the first time he was selected to receive an antlerless elk tag.

He spent Nov. 5 and 6 hunting with his grandson, Sean Komer of McKees Rocks, and guide Lance Brewer. Komer returned home Nov. 6 to get back to school.

Before getting his elk, Domachowski had to pass on two spiked bulls he and Brewer saw only 15 feet away from them. On Nov. 6, they saw a 300-pound black bear.

"Not allowed to shoot those,"Domachowski said. "But I was amazed at how close we were to them."

Domachowski figured he had bagged his elk on his first day in the woods. He shot at a 450-pound antlerless elk at 10:50 a.m. Nov. 5, but it took off down a hillside.

"I would have eventually gotten it, but a younger guy was at the bottom of that hill, put three shots into that elk and got it. That's the way this game works sometimes."

But two days later, patience paid off.

"Lance and I were walking along a logging road and saw this elk laying down along the side of a hill,"Domachowski said. "It got up and I had a clear broadside shot at it.

"My first shot got him in the vitals, just below the shoulder, from about 50 feet away. He bucked his back legs like a bronco and started running toward us. Lance hollered to shoot him again and I did, hitting him in the shoulder."

Still, the elk kept coming.

"My third shot got him in the neck and he dropped down right on the road, only 15 feet in front of us,"Domachowski said. "I couldn't believe how big it was."

The elk measured 14 feet long and its 590 pounds was 26 pounds heavier than the next biggest antlerless elk harvested.

The largest antlered elk was 792 pounds, taken Nov. 6 in Clearfield County by Dennis Henry of Greensburg.

Of the 40 licensed hunters, 33 harvested an elk this year, Pennsylvania Game Commission director Carl G. Roe reported.

"Elk are one of North America's premier big game animals,"Roe said in a released statement. "It's an unparalleled experience for hunters, particularly those who can't afford to go on an expensive one- or two-week guided elk hunt out west."

Count Domachowski among them.

"I've always hunted small game, rabbits, pheasants, etc.,"he said. "The biggest deer I ever shot was a 9-point, and that was back in 1976 or so.

"I never dreamed of doing something like this."

Domachowski plans to enter next year's lottery for an antlered elk license. Should his name be picked, he would become ineligible to apply for an elk license for five years.

Elk hunting season returned to Pennsylvania in 2001 after a 70-year absence.