Killing a cow = killing the calf???

[fwagner]

I'm heading to northwest Ontario for a moose hunt. My father has a bull tag and I have a cow tag. I'm not allowed to shoot a calf. My question is if I shoot a cow that has a calf am I basically killing the calf as well? Will the calf link up with another cow? I'm getting to the point on my hunting career where that is a hard pill to swallow. Must be losing my edge . Thanks for your help.

 

[Sask hunter]

Personally I would be Leary of it especially up north with wolves and stuff. I live in the SK farmland and I am sure shooting the cow would be fine but personally I don't. I could see if you shot a doe or cow elk it might be alright since they are in herds and the calf could stay with the herd but moose are pretty solitary.

Hopefully a fat yearling walks out for you

 

[fwagner]

That's what I'm looking for! The outfitter has been seeing a lot of twins, definitely wouldn't shoot a cow with twins.

 

[FAIR CHASE]

Too many variables.

Kind of surprised nothing in the regs addressing cow with calf.

 

[wytex]

Moose calves are not like elk and deer, they need momma.
Pass on the cow with a calf.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

I'd pass on the cow with a calf

 

[shootbrownelk]

Shooting a cow Moose with a calf is illegal in Wyoming. If you kill the cow...you kill the calf.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

Shooting a cow Moose with a calf is illegal in Wyoming. If you kill the cow...you kill the calf.

Also illegal in Alaska to shoot a cow with a calf (cow permits are controlled hunts).

I've watched calfs nursing in my back yard as late as mid-August...
I wonder if other ungulates (elk, bison, etc.) nurse that late?

That August nursing cow was pretty skinny...you could see her rib cage.
A barren cow would probably yield more meat..they seem to be consistently big cows.

 

[JMG]

Sounds like a personal decision and choice. I'm sure the biologist would not have issued cow moose permits without the population being able to handle the harvesting a cow with or without calf or calves. As Fair Chase indicated . . . Too many variables. A motherless calf may be OK.

Your choice and decision.

Good luck to you and your father, though.

 

[kmf]

I understand the feeling and I'm sure you will find a fat cow by herself. I assume you will have a guide that will be ready for the situation. As far as population and management, the overall high population makes up for harvesting females. Often we don't realize the unintended consequences of our hunting choices. Example is shooting everything with antlers year after year. The healthy removal of some females from the area or herd is beneficial in many environments. Another way to look at it is just hunt the deer/moose/elk and not the wolves and see what happens. Have a great hunt.

 

[6speed]

Not sure what the regs say up there but I took a young legal bull with antlers under 6" on my Idaho antlerless moos tag. Best thing I've ever eaten and the only antlerless moos I saw without a calf.