Are cows easier to hunt?

[johnsd16]

I am not an experienced elk killer (2 bulls, 1 spike and 2 cows between me and my boys) but have hunted them enough from Sept to Nov to have the opinion that cow hunting is significantly easier on the whole than branch antlered bull hunting. If you lump in spikes the gap closes a lot. There are just more cows, they are less pressured a lot of times and their habits are more predictable I think.

 

[mad_angler]

Why didn't you shoot one of them cows out of that 40 cow bunch,you skipped over that part ,please don't shoot the big old ones

Sorry. I should have elaborated.... when I saw the herd, shooting light had just ended.

And I know nothing (like I said). Why shouldn't I shoot a big, old cow?

 

[mad_angler]

Maybe my real question is: are there cows that are not in the big herd?

I've seen (in October during rifle season)
- A spike wandering around alone
- A pair of nice bulls feeding about a mile from the herd
- A group of 4 nice bulls feeding about 800 yards from the herd
- A large herd of about 40 mixed elk

Based on that very limited data, I assumed that all cows were together and in the big herd.

 

[mad_angler]

Maybe my real question is: are there cows that are not in the big herd?

I've seen (in October during rifle season)
- A spike wandering around alone
- A pair of nice bulls feeding about a mile from the herd
- A group of 4 nice bulls feeding about 800 yards from the herd
- A large herd of about 40 mixed elk

Based on that very limited data, I assumed that all cows were together and in the big herd.

And a follow-up question: When I saw the bulls feeding by themselves, I assumed that they were slightly smaller bulls that got kicked out of the herd. I assumed that no cows were part of that group or going to join that group. Was that a bad assumption? (again, this was Oct 10 rifle season)

 

[Sacrvrrat72]

Heading out after Christmas to NV to find out. Hoping they are pretty easy to find.