Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Which antlerless elk would you shoot?

If you were presented with an opportunity where you could look over a herd of elk consisting of varying ages from calves, 1.5 year olds all the way to an old matriarch cow, which one would you choose to shoot and why?

Closest one!

Preferably up hill and near the truck.

Edit: And why? An old cow has a value to the herd, but if she is the closest, she sucks at her job. Every herd reduction elk I ever harvested (two so far) has been the closest one. Easy to haul out is a huge bonus!

I would shoot a medium size one, standing close by and broadside.
Much quicker to cut; easier to carry out; more tender than old wise ones.
BTW, this is exactly what I just did last weekend

Consistent with the other posts, it being above the road is the most important thing.

A 1.5 year old cow was the best one we ever shot--almost as fine a calf, but much more meat.

If they're moving so you can tell which is which, I'd avoid the one in front - the lead cow. She got her job by being the meanest, raunchiest old bitch in the herd. There's no guarantee on meat quality but odds are that there'll be better ones following her.

Last fall I picked out 1 cow in a herd of maybe 80. It was pretty much a guess but I lucked out and got a good one, very good eating. It helped that it was in the 30's and raining a bit. She was way up on a steep mountainside & I had to skin & dress her then leave her there until morning when I could bring up the llamas.

anyone who shoots an elk below the road is one of the following:
a. inexperienced
b. has a horse
c. is brain dead

Mr Chuck,

d. all of the above.*

Are a riot to watch!
Well worth the price of admission!

Good time to brake out a cereal bar of some jurky , especially when they get to a water crossing!

*Admitting the 'all of the above' tendencies, on occasion.

I like hunting below the road! Everybody else is smarter than me so they don't hunt there but they push the elk down there for me. I don't have any problem walking up hill!

What's a road in elk country.

I shoot the youngest. Even if it's a yearling.

We like medium sized cows... Even at that I have never had a bad cow elk.. one or two calves.. My wife liked them, but I thought they were too soft or mushy.. I would take a nice cow every time over a bull..
Often the choice of what cow is decided by which one moves into a clear shooting zone.. that is the one I pick..

I shoot the one that looks the chew-ist

Calf first; dry cow second.

it's not that hard to pick a dry one......

if you have time to 'look over the herd', they's a bit different color......

If it's not far from the truck, the biggest, healthiest-looking one that looks like she's got some fat on her. If it's a long haul and I'm alone, maybe a smaller one, maybe not. I like elk meat.

One that looks like an elk and has lots of meat on it's bones?

How hard is it?

The one that gives me the best shot. From calf to grandma.

I eat them all.

With the coming of the wolves, we're more and more finding them in subdivision backyards. You need to shoot them over the delphiniums.

It's funny to think what kind of chit goes thru ones head just before taking the shot. Last year I took my cow and there were about 20 others there to pick from. They were traveling single file away from the road and truck. I parralleled them for a while (unnoticed) so I could find a good shooting lane. Scrub oak was too thick when I first heard them and then moved in to where I could see them. They were moving single file about 80-90 yards away and I pulled the rifle up to pick the fattest juciest looking one. I didn't want to take the lead cow, watched about 8 head go by and told myself I needed to pick a good one before they were all gone ...Sometimes hesitation will get you an empty plate: Knowing that, I pulled the trigger on this one (which looked pretty tasty to me ..)...



The 9.3x62mm did an exceptional job on her...

My brother and I laid prone, 235 from a herd and waited for one to clear. They were up hill, the evening wind was in our favor and we had time on our side... They only needed to go about 5-10 yards to be clear, and had over an hour of light to do it in. There was a HUGE cow in the group, that looked like she was hitting the gym. Every time she would move, her muscles would ripple and flex. She was easily one of the largest cows I had ever seen. We opted not to shoot that one! This one stepped clear first and I think she was an excellent cow to take. She was mature, but not huge I would guess 500 ish pounds, but probably less. The meat was great and the downhill drag was cake

Awesome story, that's what it's all about....

Several years ago we found a group of 10 cows and calves. We took three cows and a calf out of the group. My cow was considerably larger than a spike a friend got the next day. Good eating too.