The Sunday morning crowd at the Benezett Diner in Elk County was much to my liking, as the after-church rush of eight to 10 people was handled quickly by the waitress-cook staff of two.

Beaver Boy and I were the guests of Jeff and Janet Colwell of Hicks Run Outfitters. Although we had been on some successful bobcat adventures with this team, this discussion centered on elk hunting in Pennsylvania.

Jeff and his wife Janet are serious about wildlife and are well-known in this area for guided hunts, fishing trips and guided nature photo tours of all species of flora and fauna.

Between bites of a sandwich, Jeff Colwell relayed stories about the elk herd and some of his most memorable hunts as a registered guide.

Both of the Colwells are both guides, and they hunt all over the Quehanna Wilderness in the north central section of the state.

Janet Colwell was featured in Pennsylvania Game News last year as being a guide for a successful female elk hunter, along with her daughter, Cody Frank.

This trio was the first all- female team of hunters to tag a Pennsylvania elk, a feat that was considered a landmark in the outdoors community.

When I asked Jeff Colwell about his most memorable hunt, he indicated the 2006 elk season as his most significant.

"I received a call from a man named John Shirk from Lancaster County, and I had a nice bull in mind for his hunt," he said.

As fate would have it, Jeff Colwell and his hunter would become part of hunting history.

Colwell had done some last-minute scouting to assure his hunter that he would have a fair chance of harvesting a nice bull elk.

A bull with a 6x6 rack is considered a very respectable set of antlers, and Colwell had located several options for him to choose from for his hunt.

Colwell had videotape of the different bulls and was going to show him several that they might seek.

During one of his scouting forays, Colwell came upon a bull that he had never seen before.

"I knew this bull was special, and that I'd like to let him stay back in the wilderness until the day I drew a tag, but I had a responsibility to tell my hunter all about this magnificent elk," Colwell said.

"Once John saw the video, he wanted to go for the trophy bull that had points coming out everywhere."

On Nov. 6, 2006, Colwell and Shirk searched the State Forest Lands in the Quehanna Wilderness. At nearly the end of the hunting day, Shirk harvested the trophy bull with a .30-06 Remington rifle.

"I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw that the bull was a 10x11 non-typical with a massive rack" said Colwell.

"That bull weighed around 849 pounds, and, recently, I found that the antlers scored a phenomenal 442B\, in the Boone and Crockett system. If this score stands up, this elk could be in the top 10 of the all-time record book."

In the meantime the Colwells will have to wait for the final rulings and measurements of the Boone and Crockett Club.

Jeff Colwell went on to explain that the club conducts an awards program in North America every three years. The most recent awards program ended in December.

In the next three years, there likely will be other contenders, but the odds are not likely that many elk will score higher than this one.

Life will go on in Elk County, and the small resident population in the Benezett area will try to make it through another frigid winter with the elk, bear and bobcats.

Jeff Colwell plans to be at the Harrisburg Outdoor Show with the trophy elk this week. He will continue to take his hunters deep into the wilderness in the hopes that they will get a trophy of a lifetime.

Jay E. Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.