Ran into a bachelor herd today

[jacobini]

Buddy and I ran into a bachelor herd today - 11 bulls somewhat high up in snowy terrain. Spent some time reading online and it seems like bachelor herds are rare this late in the season. We're looking for a cow - is a bachelor herd any indication that there is a herd nearby that they will join to winter or no correlation? There has been a decent amount of snow here (southeast idaho) and more in the forecast and we think the herds have probably moved down already as we have covered a lot of ground up high and couldn't find anything.

 

[idahohikker]

Cows are likely moving down. The bigger bulls will be solo or in batchelor herds. They won't be joining the cows for another month or two. There can be exceptions but that's my experience, talking to biologists, etc.

Bulls can be pretty stubborn in staying up high sometimes. On mild or average snow years, they can be at 7,000 in January on south facing slopes.