ESPN Hunting

While the Spider Bull of Utah is grabbing the attention of North American elk hunter, two other states have a lot to be proud of.

A Washington hunter recently smashed the Evergreen State's Rocky Mountain elk state record and Kentucky, of all places, is boasting an amazing recovery of elk and has recorded kills up to 390 Boone and Crockett Club inches.

Two Kentucky record-smashers?

In Kentucky, at least two hunters killed bulls that challenge the current state non-typical record.

Larry Holland shot an 8x8 that was green-scored in the 390-class, according to the state's Department of Wildlife Resources.

"I killed it about two miles from where I was born and raised," said Holland, who took the elk at 242 yards with one shot from his .300 Winchester Short Magnum rifle. "I was just excited to kill the bull, it wasn't about the size. To possibly have the state record, I'm thrilled."

Hunter Kelvin Jackson took the second big Kentucky bull, a 7x8 in Harlan County. Jackson's elk green-scored in the 370-class.

The current non-typical record is 349 0/8, which was taken by Andy Kidd of McCreary County.

"We saw a lot of 320-class bulls come in, fairly young bulls," said Tina Brunjes, the state's big-game program coordinator. "That's a good indication that they're getting a lot of good nutrition and shows a lot of potential to get really big as they get older."

The rifle bull elk quota season ended Oct. 11., but archery season for bull elk continues through Jan. 19, so more record bull could be on the way.

Kentucky issued 131 bull elk tags this year, including regular lottery drawings, landowner permits, special Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission conservation permits and one youth tag. Kentucky's elk herd now numbers about 8,500 animals.

A Washington whopper

In Washington, hunter Dan Agnew reportedly knocked down a green-scored 449-gross, 436-net, non-typical Rocky Mountain elk. The current record is a 2003 bow-kill that measured 421 7/8.

Agnew also set another record by paying $65,000 for the eastside Governor's Tag, the highest ever in Washington. The bids rose because hunters knew this big bull was somewhere out there in Game Management Unit 162 in the state's southwest.

Agnew hired two local guides and shot the bull after a short hunt on Sept. 2.

"A lot of people have really given me a hard time because it sounds like I kind of showed up and shot him and went home, and that is kind of what happened," Agnew told the Spokesman-Review. "But that has never happened to me before. I've spent months looking for big elk and come home empty-handed."

Agnew is not new to big-game hunting. The Vancouver, Wash., hunter has several B&C bulls under his belt. One 410 elk, shot in Arizona in 2003, has the distinction of the longest main beam in B&C records: 66 3/8 inches.