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Out of curiousity, what is the average weight of elk, bulls and cows respectively?Living in Ohio, I've never had the opportunity to hunt elk (no matter how much I want too),but I work with a group of guys who have.One guy today told me he has seen cow elk killed that weighed 900 pounds and bulls that weighed 1500.I said he's full of it.If I'm wrong, somebody set me straight and I'll apologize to him tomorrow.I would believe those weights if we were talking moose, but elk?
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil... ...is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
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Nad I'll add that although I haven't hunted them, I have seen elk in the wild, and that is what I'm basing my incredubility on.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil... ...is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
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IME, for RM elk, average cow will run 350-550, average bull run 500-750.
a really big cow will be 550-600, a really big bull will go 800-900.
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Coastal Roosevelt are the biggest, The only one I weighed was a spike at 125lbs a quarter on the hook. Add the hide, head, guts probably 800-900 live. I've shot a few rag bulls that were ~30% bigger and have seen a few big bulls that were more like 50% bigger. My guess is Rockie MT are probably 20% smaller.
"Life is tough, even tougher if your stupid" John Wayne
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RUGER # 1 - "One guy today told me he has seen cow elk killed that weighed 900 pounds and bulls that weighed 1500." Not to say there might be a cow elk or bull somewhere in the many States and Canada where they live that might weigh that much ..... I've hunted elk in Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, in many camps. I've never shot or seen either that'd weigh that, nor have I talked with any elk hunters who've ever seen any that large. Just my experience. I will say I'de surely love to see a 1,500 pound bull! L.W.
"Always go straight forward, and if you meet the devil, cut him in two and go between the pieces." (William Sturgis, clipper ship captain, 1830s.)
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Campfire Oracle
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Same IME...except when they are dead and a mile or more from the truck...by the time we ( notice I didn't just say "I"...)get them there, I'll sign any affidavit that the elk weighed the mythical 1000pounds! Easy.... Ingwe
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Yep, and that is per quarter!!!
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oh dude, you'd never guess how much I thought my first moose weighed by the time I got all of it back to the truck....
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Campfire Oracle
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oh dude, you'd never guess how much I thought my first moose weighed by the time I got all of it back to the truck.... Moose weigh more than a ton..don't they??? Ingwe
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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IME, for RM elk, average cow will run 350-550, average bull run 500-750.
a really big cow will be 550-600, a really big bull will go 800-900. Thats about what I thought.Thanks guys.
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In my experience big mule deer does weigh at least 200 pounds and spike and cow elk weigh 900. All 6-point bulls weigh a ton and all moose (and Cape buffalo) weigh 2 tons.
I know this because of information obtained by first-time hunters, and the statistics have been backed up by magazine writers.
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In my experience big mule deer does weigh at least 200 pounds and spike and cow elk weigh 900. All 6-point bulls weigh a ton and all moose (and Cape buffalo) weigh 2 tons.
I know this because of information obtained by first-time hunters, and the statistics have been backed up by magazine writers. Who can argue with logic and 3rd party evidence like that! Hemi
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I've only seen one bull elk that probably weighed 1,000 pounds on the hoof. He was killed by my guide in Alberta and he was an absolutely huge old thing. Ugly horns, worn out, toothless and absolutely enormous. He actually outweighed Chub's 60-inch fully mature moose by at least 100 pounds. I'm trying to remember the weight, but it was something like 860 pounds; gutted, skinned, head & legs off. It was amazing comparing the size of the elk and Chub's moose. And it was so damned tough that you could not eat the gravy. I guided for many years and have thrown around a lot of elk parts and pieces. Mostly, I'm thinking mature bulls run, as you say, 500 lbs to 750 lbs (for a damned big one) on the hoof. And I've seen some bulls, spikes mostly, that were so small that a very strong man carried the gutted carcass. I've never done that, I never was that strong and/or stupid, but I've actually seen men carry a spike. Elk, of course, are subject to sexual dimorphism and the cows run somewhat smaller. I've personally killed some pretty huge cows, just trying to knock off the herd leader, and they can be decent size. I've also seen quite a few little cows that only went 250 or so for the slick carcass. I haven't killed many Roosevelt elk, but they look the same to me on the ground. Hell, it's just a dead flippin' elk But, the common knowledge is that they are larger than Rocky Mountain elk. Prolly so, I imagine. Elk are all pretty good size and they eat a hell of a lot better than deer. And that's all I know. Steve
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Never weighed a whole animal but the last cow we cut up weighed 156 LB's of boned wrapped meat, minus the ribs. That included the paper and a few pounds of beef suet for the burger. We split her three ways was why she was weighed. Can't remember if we ever weighed one before. I would call her a average barren cow.
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so damned tough that you could not eat the gravy That's funny, can I use it?
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke 1795
"Give me liberty or give me death" Patrick Henry 1775
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Jack O'Connor's line was, "You couldn't even stick a fork in the gravy!"
Ben
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Elk weigh too little on the hoof and too much on the ground (especially if you are packing them out on your back).
And they most always weigh more around the campfire....
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What I always find amazing is those 1000 pound elk come out in 4 backpack loads...
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Well, I never weighed one, thou I packet a few out over the years, they start out oh 450 or so lbs on the hoof and three tons by the time you get to the trail head and the truck.
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