Antlerless elk.cow or calf first?

[mediumrare]

My wife and I were fortunate to draw antlerlesss elk tags(sask).my elk hunting experience is very limited.my question is if we had a cow calf pair come in what would be our best chance of harvesting both animals?Should the cow be shot first or the calf if this scenario arose?There's a high elk population that needs thinning.or maybe it doesn't matter which one goes first.it is a rifle hunt.thanks!

[shooter12]

I would shoot a young cow elk with no calf if I were you if there is a choice and population needs to be thinned .
S12

[Desert Eagle]

Cow first. Calf will stand around and wonder what happened.

[landowner]

Originally Posted by Desert Eagle

Cow first. Calf will stand around and wonder what happened.

Not in the fall , during hunting season I’m thinking

[mulecrazy]

Originally Posted by landowner

Not in the fall , during hunting season I’m thinking

I have shot cows in November and December. both times, the rest of the herd watched us gut them.

[Greatwest]

Originally Posted by mulecrazy

I have shot cows in November and December. both times, the rest of the herd watched us gut them.

Did u by chance shoot the lead cow. Seen this before a couple times if you shoot the lead cow the rest of the herd doesn’t know what to do and usually stand a little ways off all confused. Only trouble with shooting the lead cow is she’s usually an older cow and chance of tougher meat is greater.

[Jays toyz]

Originally Posted by Greatwest

Did u by chance shoot the lead cow. Seen this before a couple times if you shoot the lead cow the rest of the herd doesn’t know what to do and usually stand a little ways off all confused. Only trouble with shooting the lead cow is she’s usually an older cow and chance of tougher meat is greater.

Not the only problem. The old cow knows where the best hiding spots are and where the good feed is. I think it was a meateater podcast talking about how a herd can be decimated by the loss of its lead cow.

[landowner]

As someone who has feed decimated by elk , I wish that was true. Another old cow will pick up the torch and be back at my stack yard in 24 hours many times.

[Husty]

I would shoot the Cow before the Calf.. that being said my brother got an Elk Calf a few years back and was the best eating elk i have ever had.

[Big Grey Wolf]

I made the mistake to shoot the lead cow a couple years back, she was a monster but terrible eating. I bet she was 20 years old. Biologist doing elk study said the older cow elk are almost never shot as to smart, first out of their beds and heading for deep cover.

[mediumrare]

Great thanks alot for the answers!

[mulecrazy]

Originally Posted by Greatwest

Did u by chance shoot the lead cow. Seen this before a couple times if you shoot the lead cow the rest of the herd doesn’t know what to do and usually stand a little ways off all confused. Only trouble with shooting the lead cow is she’s usually an older cow and chance of tougher meat is greater.

One cow was in a group of about 20, only 3 cows and the rest were spikes and raghorns. we shot 2 cows out of the group. mine was decent size and my brother in laws was a 1.5 year old. The other was possibly the lead cow. She had a massive body and was fairly old. She was one of the best eating animals I have ever shot. very tender and great flavour.