Banfield said. As always, some of the elk roaming Pennsylvania's landscape are true bruisers. The average cow weighs between 450 and 550 pounds, the average bull between 700 and 850. But there are always larger specimens out there, Banfield said. And some of those really brawny bulls sport equally impressive headgear. " Our average bull is about 6.5 years old, and by then they typically feature a 6-by-6 set of antlers, " Banfield said. " But the really big bulls hit their prime when they make it to ages 9 to 11. That's when they hit their peak for antler development and their ability to maintain a harem. Every year someone kills one of those bulls and it scores 390 or 400. " From a management perspective, Banfield said it makes no sense to see bulls decline and eventually die of old age. Hunters who want to target really big bulls like that might want to concentrate on a few particular areas. " Hunt Zones 10 and 13 have produced some monsters in the past few years, " Banfield said. Together with Hunt Zone 14 - where the elk population is on the upswing -Hunt Zone Evidence of increased elk numbers has resulted in 23 additional elk licenses being made available in 2021-22 compared to the previous license year. A record 56 bull tags will be awarded across three seasons. Applications must be submitted by July 31. 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total Archery Antlered 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 Archery Antlerless General Antlered 3 2 2 4 3 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 General Antlerless 18 3 4 6 4 4 4 8 1 Late Antlered 13 6 6 77 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 Late Antlerless OPEN TO ALL HUNTERS WITH A VALID ELK LICENSE 1 1 1 2 2 1 3 2 2 14 15 32 10 11 1 2 4 2 2 3 2 1 5 3 3 39 Total 33 8 11 18 10 9 12 16 8 27 18 17 187 Jacob Dingel