Dr. Don Newman, Andreas, has no trouble playing a reel of hunting highlights in his mind.

There's no doubt that the record-book elk he downed during the annual Pennsylvania elk hunt is one of them, from beginning to end. The bull scored 407 3/8, with an 8 x 9 rack, and was the second-largest shot in the 2016 season. Field-dressed it weighed 776 pounds.In fact, let's start at the beginning. Newman, who grew up on Long Island, became a business partner with Dr. Ben Houser. The two presently operate Houser Newman & Associates, a state-of-the-art Ophthalmology and Optometry center along Route 443, Lehighton."I was about thirty years old and he (Houser) got me into hunting," Newman said. "He was a great teacher."Newman's first success was bagging a fall turkey. He hunted with shotgun and rifle for many years, then added archery hunting to his pursuits.He also began hunting out of state, getting a 360-class bull elk in Utah and five Pope & Young mule deer, including the tenth largest mule deer taken in velvet in Utah.But it was home in Pennsylvania where he bagged his biggest elk."I put in to the elk draw for about four years, then thought, well, I'll never get a tag so I had stopped," Newman said. "Then for some reason this year, I applied again and got drawn."He was taking a shower when his wife brought the phone to him, saying, "Some guy from the Pennsylvania Game Commission wants to talk to you."Newman said he initially thought someone was pranking him, but once he realized it was all real, he was speechless. More than 30,000 people apply each year."Then I had two months to prepare for the hunt of a lifetime," he said. "For a week or two I did research, talking to western hunting buddies and a couple of Pennsylvania outfitters."Newman chose Elk County Outfitters, which is run by Jack Manack. He was guided by Kim Rensel. He'd been drawn in Zone 6, which is not noted for big bulls."Once I had talked to Jack I felt I'd found a kindred spirit," Newman said. "I told him that since I was lucky enough to get a tag,"I wanted to get a 400 bull, and that if I didn't, I'd be happy going home with nothing."A hunting friend from Utah, Steve Bennett, flew in to join him on the hunt.Manack had scouted and found a great bull which had come into Zone 6 after the elk rut."We went up Saturday, scouting all day, and saw nothing until almost at dark we saw a big bull, eating acorns," Newman said. "We spotted him again on Sunday but he was on private land that we couldn't hunt."Manack spoke to the landowner and got their party permission to hunt there. Monday morning, they sneaked into the area and waited for daylight. They were also joined by a cameraman from a television show called Keystone Wild Outdoors."While we were scouting, we had all found a certain tree that looked like an elk (rack)," Newman said. "As it was getting light somebody said, 'There's our elk tree again.'"But it wasn't the elk tree. It was the huge bull, and he was with a group of six other bulls, about 300 yards away. Newman took his rifle - a .300 Winchester Short Mag custom made by Mike Burns of Tamaqua - and some shooting sticks and crept along a woods line to get into position for a shot."He was coming towards me, and I was waiting, but I could have shot at any time," Newman said. "But he kept coming and I wanted to wait for the right shot.""Finally he turned to his left, my right, and I waited until his near front leg went forward, and made the shot," Newman said. "He walked in a short spiral, made a kick and went down - didn't go more than 30 yards or so."The shot was 182 yards. Newman said it took all they had - four men - to get the bull loaded for the ride to the check station."It was so cool, the enthusiasm at the check station - there had to be about 200 people there, some asking permission to take pictures," Newman said. "That was a really great part of the whole experience.""I've been on a lot of great hunts," Newman said."This one was first class all the way."