Interesting Read: As Female Elk Age, They Become Practically Impossible to Hunt

[FutureMountains]

As Female Elk Age, They Become Practically Impossible to Hunt

Considering I have a cow elk tag this fall - challenge accepted.

 

[treedagain]

ummm......,,I don't think so, unless that old cow is hiding in the trees all year under a rock she is one of the herd most likely the lead cow. she may be spookier or move the herd when she gets nervous. but in reality still an easy target.

 

[Stone_Ice_1]

I think this probably depends on the area you hunt and the habits of elk. In Southwest and Central Montana the elk, especially the cows are usually in large herds. These herds can number 100 or more. Of course the older cows will just be in with these herds. However in Northwest Montana it is pretty rare to see a herd of 10 elk or more during the season. It is more common to see small numbers from 1 to 4 elk together. Seeing as this study was done in Alberta and western Canada and isn't that far from Northwestern Montana I could see this being the case.

 

[rideold]

From my read of the cited studies on behavior it sounds more to me like those elk that exhibit behavior that results in slower movement and avoidance of open areas survived where as bold elk that did not avoid open areas and/or moved faster did not survive. The studies did not seem to correlate age as strongly as behavior. The mention of age and behavior was stated as a supposition rather than a statistically verified study. Makes sense. If an animal inherently is more cautious it will be more likely to live longer. Same goes for homo sapiens.

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

i think any game animal that gets hunted and lives in a pressured area gets a lot smarter with each season they survive, this Roosevelt Cow didn't get the Memo, when I found her , she was alone with her grown yearling from last year

 

[esracerx]

Impossible? No. The same article says its rare for a bull to reach 4 years old.

 

[tjones]

The author knows very little about elk.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

The author knows very little about elk.

This was my exact thought. And i know very little about elk compared to a lot of you around here.

 

[elks]

I would tend to agree with the study. Simply put older animals tend to behave different. They get older for a reason. While it could be a chicken vs egg argument, they are harder to kill.

Having guided and hunted cow elk in NW Colorado I have seen some big old lead cows that manage to lead their herds through an on slaught of hunters with minimal death. I have no doubt these older cows understand the relative effective range of hunters. They also know exactly where to bed, where to run, etc. One year we had a herd that was constantly crossing our property onto the neighbors. Both outfitters on both properties tried almost daily to catch that herd. From the 3rd week of November to the 26th of December, we killed 1 cow and 2 calves out of that herd of 40+. Then on the 26th a guy managed to shoot the lead cow. In the next 2 days we were able to take several cows off the herd. That lead cow had whistlers smaller than a cany corn and were wore down to gum line.

My boss swore that same lead cow had done the same thing for the last 6 years.

As for the idea that few bulls live over 4. There is some truth to that, especially depending on the area. Colorado is a prime example where most bulls are killed before age 5.

 

[teej89]

the author could lose the gif with wonder woman and the cow head if she wants to be taken a little more seriously...