Woman bags bull elk, a first

Until now, such a thing was un-herd of.
ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. -- A woman who started hunting three years ago is the first on record to bag a bull elk in Pennsylvania, a state Game Commission official said Wednesday.
Janet Gruber, 42, of Ellwood City, shot the bull Monday, the first day of elk season, in Jay Township, Elk County. Gruber was accompanied by two female guides, Janet Colwell and Colwell's daughter, Cody Frank.
"We decided to do all girls," Gruber told The Associated Press. "We decided that since I was the first female bull hunter, we were going to make a little statement."
Got first license
Gruber was the first woman to get an antlered elk license since the state reinstituted elk hunting in 2001, Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser said. One woman got an antlerless license in the 2001 lottery and killed an elk, and two other women got antlerless licenses this year. No women got elk licenses last year.
More than 26,500 people submitted license applications for 20 antlered and 80 antlerless elk during this year's hunt, which runs through Saturday. There are an estimated 700 elk in the state's herd.
Gruber has hunted deer -- but never bagged one -- along with grouse, pheasant and turkey. She felled the 543-pound bull elk with one shot through his back right shoulder.
Living room decoration
Gruber planned to drop off the head at a taxidermist and have the meat processed on her way home later in the day. She plans to hang the bull's head in her living room.
"We have nice, high ceilings -- 16-foot. We have a couple of spots we're thinking about," Gruber said.
"There aren't that many women hunters, especially when it comes to big game. I don't know if they're intimidated or think it's just a man's thing," Gruber said, "but we can do it just as well as they do."