Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting pictures from my cow hunt

Notice that there are no cows.


Cows are still being hunted and they know it, wheras the bulls are growing pretty tame at this time.


These small bachelor herds are common right now North of Alamosa. In the coming weeks some herds will grow to over 100 head - all bulls.


Notice that the antlers are pretty busted up. Even one with a missing beam. Locals say there are too many animals concentrated in this small area near the sand dunes.


Tomorrow I shall resume my qweest for a cow.

Alamosa. Have youe ver been able to particpate in those special hunts they have to get the elk out of the seed potatoe fields north of Monte Vista?

Those pictures remind me of Elk we saw on private land in Montana in a rancher's hay field about 250 yards from the road. You could almost taste them but we couldn't hunt them without paying a very high price.

Looks like the big dog is laying down for your photo.

Thanks for uploading!

I've never done the hunt where the potatoe farmers are given the vouchers. Those voucher tags can become costly depending on how you procure them. Several hundred bulls were taken from the fields on those voucher tags during the summer months. I heard that some nice bulls were taken but none with fully developed antlers.

The name and location for these type of the herd reduction hunts changes from year to year. In fact, this will be the last year for the particular hunt I am doing due to the expansion of the Sand Dunes Nat'l Park. Locals complain that these large areas of unhuntable land may create elk population problems similar to those of Estes NP or Roosevelt NP.

We have similar issues on hogs here, they tear everything up, but its a cash cow so to speak, so you hear ranchers bitch about the hogs, but if you want to hunt, its a tresspass fee.

You'd think that if they wanted the elk thinned, it would be a minor fee or please come shoot em.....

Doesnt' seem to be that way though..

Alamosa.I know a farmer who owns land on the North side of Russell lakes.He says the DOW just comes up and gives him a hand full of vouchers. However,the big ranches on the east side of the valley sell those vocuhers.This fellow I know claims that a lot of times, people from those ranches come over and harrass the elk herds over to thier property.

The DOW gal down at that office says tha talthough there is a lottey drawing if there are voucheres left,she has never known it to occur.

This photo was taken real close to Russell Lakes. I was looking for a duck hunting hole there in August '08. This bull had himself a nice little herd. Notice the hay in the background.


It is not only the potatoe farms that get raided. One fella told me he had a field of cut alfalfa, which I guess is a pretty valuable crop. He said it was impossible to keep the elk out of it. He said he made some money by bringing in hunters every day and also received gov't compensation for damages but it still didn't cover the loss.

It has to be a heck of a problem for landowners. I hear these big sprinklers can cost $10K easy. The first thing they always say is don't hunt near the sprinklers. These elk seem to know that by the way they stand underneath it.

Hey Alamosa,

Nice pics, I hope to be after one of those bulls next October in the area north west of Monte Vista.

Good luck with your cow hunt.

In that area there are a confirmed 3,000 elk by the sand dunes, and on the south side of the highway down to the New Mexico boarder another 3,000 confirmed. they do cause extensive damage to crops and fence. Land owners do get to file game damage claims and are usually compensated for the damage. being that gmu 83 is almost completely private it doesnt get the hunting pressure that some other units do so the elk are definately on a boom. gmu 82 is similar the sand dunes has a lot of property and the public land is steep and deep so not as easy to go get an elk.