Shot the lead cow in a herd moving below me at about 50 yards on Thanksgiving Day in 1984. Turned out to be a 1-1/2 year-old "heifer."
If she was in the lead, it was temporary. A lead cow gets the job by being the meanest old bitch in the herd. Elk society operates by size and strength.
This isn't unlike a 4x4 bull with 20 cows that we ran into while bowhunting some years ago. We did some head scratching about how the little guy got all those cows. I'm thinking he stole them while the herd bull was fighting somewhere. We ran into them again an hour later when the 4x4 was bawling his head off and nursing his wounds while a nice 6x6 was admiring his new ready made harem.
