![]() His harvest was not huge, though over twice as big as a deer, and it would be very tender. I pointed in another direction and said, “Then follow this single set of elk tracks and you’ll soon find a nice sized yearling.” He thanked me and immediately started following that lone set of tracks. I felt sorry for him, then asked him, “Do you have an either sex permit?” He said that he did. The downcast hunter put his feet in the tracks of the long-gone herd and set out with slumping shoulders, ready to stomp deep snow for the rest of the day, if necessary. I pointed toward a hopelessly arduous drainage. While I was field dressing my elk, another elk hunter walked up and admitted he was tracking the same herd that I had just sent running. With only a few hours left of elk season, my meat was on the ground. One year I ended up hunting from archery season the first of September straight through to the end of a late rifle season in December and was absolutely thrilled to finish the season, at last, with a nice big cow piled up in the deep snow. It's easier to keep the meat clean from a cow elk. A nasty old rutting bull is often caked with dried mud and his lower body is usually covered with his own urine. Killing a branch antlered bull during the peak of the rut is a great thrill, but a nice clean cow is so much easier to field dress and skin. Many states allow either sex during archery season. When I kill a cow, I can't wait to tell him, because they are always so glad to hear it! When I kill a bull on one Montana block managed ranch, I kind of hate to tell the rancher. Ranchers are happy to lose less hay to the elk that is needed for their cattle. When cows are culled as needed, it is a win-win-win situation. If more hunters would be willing to kill some cows in those areas, the herds would be healthier and the numbers of bulls would actually increase. In many areas it is important to take some cows out to benefit the herd.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |