Clubhorn's amazing life
By Carol Mulvihill, Outdoor Writer

An elk herd "celebrity," Clubhorn grew to be a dominant male in the Benezett area, despite an early-life injury that earned him his nickname. Certainly one of the most amazing stories of any eastern elk, Clubhorn was killed by poachers in 2005.

Once upon a glorious autumn in 1999, a two-year-old bull elk in Pennsylvania suffered a serious and unusual injury. His left antler was partially torn from the skull plate during a fight with another bull. Game Commission personnel tranquilized the animal and sawed off the dangling antler, allowing the base and skull plate to fall back into place, and to eventually heal.

Rawley Cogan, who was the elk biologist at that time, gave the five-point antler to a camper named Tom Foster who was undergoing cancer treatments. He was very pleased to receive an antler from a Pennsylvania elk.

For three successive years, the bull grew a distorted antler on the left side. Part of it pointed downward with the end resembling a blunt club. Hence he earned the nickname, "Clubhorn," or "Clubby."

In 2003, the left antler grew out to the side and back with a cluster of points resembling a claw instead of a club. The beam still slanted slightly downward.

Meanwhile, his right antler developed to trophy size and quality. This bull elk obviously had good genetics, even though his injury made him one of a kind. During the rut that year, he was seen in a remote area on Huston Hill, tending a group of seven cows.

Then an amazing transformation took place. In 2004 and 2005, his left antler grew upright but still maintained unique characteristics. The left pedicle or base of the antler was positioned lower on the left side of his head and crowded his left ear. It sometimes appeared that his left ear was drooping when he would turn his ears forward.

When his antlers were covered with fuzzy velvet skin during the spring and summer months, his left antler was white instead of the usual light brown color. When he rubbed off the velvet, he looked like a trophy bull.

Every year after his injury, Clubhorn grew a main beam on the left that was blunt on the end. Even when his antlers grew upward, the blunt end of the left main beam was a reminder of the years when he grew a club-shaped left antler.

Another distinction is that his left brow tine was nearly double the length of the right brow tine and resembled a saber. This was a constant characteristic in the years following his injury.

In addition, the bull elk had developed a huge body, weighing close to 900 pounds, and had a robust bugle that came from deep within his gigantic rib cage. He was a formidable contender in the rut.

The Clubhorn ultimately became a dominant bull elk in the Pennsylvania herd on Winslow Hill in Benezette during the rut in 2004, and again in 2005. This animal was greatly admired and valued. The sight of him would stop traffic on Winslow Hill every time.

Over the years, the bull was easily recognized by avid elk viewers and photographers alike. After October 2005, the magnificent eight-year-old bull elk was neither seen nor photographed again after his life was taken by poachers (see related story, page one).

Pennsylvania's most recognizable elk is now gone, as is his famous predecessor, Crazy Legs, who was also killed by poachers.