I may be off track here but something sure sounds fishy about this. Anyone that knows anything about elk hunting knows that PA offers very few tags and has a very tightly controlled hunt. The OP mentions that when he personally drew a PA elk tag he was warned about this outfitter. Fair enough but if an outfitter is known to be somewhat suspect then why are they allowed to have any participation in the hunt at all? I draw your attention to the following line of the OP's post: "Each year since 2014, Elk County Outfitters have donated six days of guiding service to the lucky hunter who wins the drawing." It sure appears as though they have been allowed to be part of it for some time. In a guided hunt one of the main responsibilities the guide/outfitter have is to ensure they are adhering to all applicable laws and to make sure the client also adheres to them. So my question is, just where was the breakdown? With the guide/outfitter or with the state of PA by allowing them to participate? Something just doesn't sound right.
Now I will also state that I have ZERO respect for this so called hunter! Anybody that draws such a tag and then sits on their butt at home while the guide/outfitter looks for a big animals and awaits a phone call is not a hunter. That is a shooter and a killer but not a hunter. To sit around waiting for a call and then just making a 90 mile drive to the kill site isn't what I would call hunting. While it may not be illegal, it isn't ethical in my mind. Personally I would not allow an animal killed under those conditions to ever hang on my game pole. As always, feel free to disagree but the man didn't deserve that elk even if there were no violations. You earn elk through sweat and labor not a phone call.