The harem bull will not do 90 cows. Likely the satellite guys are responsible for the majority. We see herds in the fall numbering 200-300 with a couple dandy bulls running the show. The satellite boys, however, are quite good at sneaking in and hustling a hot cow off to the side.
Many years back a couple of Oregon NE units were down to 4 or 5 bulls per hundred cows. One could find 50 cows a day across the season and never spot a bull. The final result was an extremely extended calving season with the predators also experiencing an extended season on calves. They cut tag numbers in those units and got the bull/cow ratio to around 25/100.
Some of the Starkey Oregon work also showed that a cadre of older bulls (5 yr) were much more efficient breeders than a herd dominated by spikes. Made for a shorter more condensed calving season too saturating the predators.
Last edited by 1minute; 05/22/22.
