Sorry. I should have elaborated.... when I saw the herd, shooting light had just ended.
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)
Big old cows are LEAD cows ,they lead the family groups around and watch out for danger, even the bulls keep track of them the big cows may be 10-12 years old, if that's the only shot you have it's fine. Where did the 40 head bunch go ? You should've tried to keep track of them, they tend to stay in the same place unless someone spooks them hard .it seems like the lead cows get fixated on an area for a week or two and stay around that area. "That area " may be a few square miles like a certain draw or slope, they feed down hill at night then go back up at dawn, sometimes, when it's overcast they stay out too late or they want to eat more when they know weather is coming In. Sometimes they come out early in the afternoon . If this is hunting in Colorado be sure to stay out after opening weekend, don't get tired and go back for lunch. Stay out, you could walk back away from camp or your vehicle then hunt back in the afternoon so it's not a long walk back in the dark. Elk are HAY BURNERS they worry more about eating than hunters unless you or someone Hard spooks them like driving the truck up the mountain shooting, (I've seen it )
