Cow elk question

[memtb]

Just curious how a person not only shoots the "lead cow" out of a herd of several hundred elk in the dead of winter, but how the hell you distinguish which one is the "lead cow"? I think in large herds the lead cow theory is more akin to a fairy tale.

Plus, IMO, even if you could shoot the "lead cow" it would be dumb to do so for a lot of reasons...

I think this myth has perpetuated itself from people selecting a cow with a calf, killing the cow then killing the calf that is reluctant to leave the cow your buddy just whacked.

I look large herds of elk over for a while and try to pick a cow that doesn't have a calf before I shoot one. If you look them over for a while, its not that hard to do...high cow/calf ratio's in a herd are 30/100 meaning lots of cows in a large herd don't have a calf.

Where I hunt and the same goes for where I started my elk hunting......elk are seldom in large herds. If we see a group of 50 or so......we think of it as a very unusual anomaly! Which is the reason we chose to hunt these locations. Where the elk tend to gather in very large herds.....it’s often “feast or famine”! I much prefer to hunt an area where a few elk can be found in most any drainage. But, that’s just me! memtb

 

[sbhooper]

My experience...lots of folks outsmart themselves and over-think it.

We are discussing a bit of apples to oranges, actually. If you watch a herd that was spooked on public land (but not currently being shot at), there are definitely experienced cows leading the pack to the safety zone. If they are being shot at currently, it is everybody for themselves.

 

[BuzzH]

In small herds, maybe. Big herds, no.

 

[undercover]

I appreciate all the responses, for sure some tasty tidbits of info. Just trying to process and analyze some elk behaviors as I am still quandering what unit to apply for. This is a whole new world for me. Its like the first time I went caribou hunting in the northern reaches of Quebec, when we called the outfitter a couple days before we left he said the caribou were not there yet. I could not comprehend that statement until we showed up to camp a couple days before Thanksgiving. Not there means literally nada, zilch. But when they were there it was a head on collision of tens of thousands of bou. Love this stuff, thanks hunt talkers

Blessings

Brian