The Adirondack State Park in up state NY is over 6,000,000 acres in size. Thats a lot by even western standards. Yet the hunting is hard. Very hard. Most of it is old growth forest which supports less wild life. That means they're spread further too. For big game it's black bear & deer. We have moose but there hasn't been a season since before I was born. The land leases are getting higher & taken up by down state trash. Those easterners the rest of you don't like. Here we can't stand the down staters. Our ENCON (Environmental Conservation) has mismanaged forever. Like only a liberal dump like NY can. The extreme hunt for $$$ is just starting here only because the trophy potential isn't as great as out west. It will catch up though.
You should have shot at that plane buzzing the elk. No loss as far as I'm concerned. Might have been more satisfying too!